Rum cake

Every time my sister went to Jamaica, she would bring back Tortuga rum cake for me in a golden hexagonal cardboard box. The cake was always moist and damp, fragrant of butter and rum, and studded with walnuts. Yum -- definitely one of my favorite cakes ever.

There were times when I tried to recreate this cake at home, using a regular sponge cake with a rum syrup poured on, but it just didn't taste right. Then one day I saw a recipe for rum cake on the blog Always Order Dessert where Alejandra attempted to make it at home after also becoming obsessed with it. Sure enough, her recipe is quite close to the real thing. But I made some adjustments to her recipe to suit my taste and cut down on a lot of the fat. It's still really moist with a damp crumb, just the way a rum cake should be.

There's nothing quite like cutting into a moist cake and eating a whole wedge. It doesn't happen often, but I made it happen all through my birthday week. Now all I have to do is go running.

Rum cake
inspired by the rum cake on Always Order Dessert
Serves 8

100g (1/2 cup + 1/3cup) all purpose flour
54g (1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tbs) potato starch or corn starch
28g (1/3 cup) milk powder (I use Semper brand in Sweden)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (use 1/2 tsp salt if using unsalted butter)

55g (4 tbs) salted butter, softened
2 tbs canola oil
100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
80g (1/3 cup) milk
80g (1/3 cup) dark rum (I used Captain Morgan's)
33g (1/4 cup) fil, buttermilk, or yogurt
25g walnuts, chopped

Rum syrup:
25g (2 tbs) salted butter
2/3 cup water
80g (1/3 cup) sugar
2 tbs dark rum

1. Sift the flour, corn starch, milk powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.

2. Preheat oven to 170C/325F.

3. Grease and flour a cake pan (I use a 7 inch ceramic pan).

4. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the oil, eggs, milk, fil (or buttermilk or yogurt), and rum.

5. Fold the dry ingredients and walnuts into the wet mixture until well incorporated.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until a skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7. Allow the hot cake to rest in its pan while making the syrup: Boil the water, sugar and butter until thickened on medium low heat. Add the rum and turn off heat. Pour slowly and evenly over the entire cake.

If you can, allow the cake to rest at least 6 hours before devouring, as the flavors are more prominent then. Enjoy, perhaps with a cup of coffee or tea.  


** Thank you husband for taking some lovely photos of our cake!