1. It made 2 loaf cakes. Bonus! I don't give anything away that I have not tried!
2. I knew that with Rum in the recipe...twice, I could not go wrong!
So, off I went to the liquor store to buy a small bottle of dark rum. This is not something that I keep in my house. I have vodka, all the alcohol to make chocolate martinis....but no dark rum. Never fear, the liquor store in only 2 blocks away. Everything else for this recipe was already in my kitchen. Now....I say that it was in my kitchen, it does not mean that it was Dorie ready. She likes to use eggs at room temp. Which is great....when I remember to take out the eggs. However....9 times out of 10 that is not the case. I have a tendency to take too long to figure out what I want to make and then I don't have the time to let things come to room temp. So....I discovered a little secret. You can place eggs in a bowl of warm...not hot...WARM water to help to bring them to room temp more quickly.
So here we go....Rum Drenched Vanilla Cakes
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking from my home to yours"
Cakes:
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 1/3 cups sugar
2 plump moist vanilla beans, split length wise, seeds scraped out, and reserved, OR 1 1/2 TABLESPOONS pure vanilla extract
6 large eggs, preferably at room temperature. (This is so when you add the warm butter it does not cook your eggs! Thanks Kristin for that tidbit of information!!)
2/3 cup Heavy cream
2 1/2 Tablespoons dark rum
1 stick plus 7 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled.
FOR THE SYRUP
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark rum
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 8.5x4.5x2.5 inch loaf pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pans on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular sheets stacked one on top of the other.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Put the sugar and the pulp from the vanilla beans, if using them, in a large bowl and, working with your fingers, rub them together until the sugar is moist and thoroughly imbued with the fragrance of vanilla. (If you are using extract, add it later, after you've added the eggs.) Add the eggs and whisk them into the sugar, beating until they are thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the extract, if you're using it, then whisk in the cream, followed by the rum. Continuing with the whisk or switching to a large rubber spatula, gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions; the batter will be smooth and thick. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions. Pour the batter into the pans, smoothing the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. (As soon as the cakes go into the oven, make the syrup.) After about 30 minutes in the oven, check the cakes for color. If they are browning too much, cover them lightly with foil tents.
Meanwhile, make the syrup. Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rum. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.
When the cakes test done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding them and turning them right side up on the rack. Place the rack over a baking sheet lined with wax paper, and, using a thin skewer, cake tester, or thin-bladed knife, poke holes all over the cakes. Brush the cake all over with the syrup, working slowly so the cakes sop it up. Leave the cakes on the rack to cool to room temperature.
Cake #1
So Wednesday night, I managed to get these 2 loaf cakes done as well as another round of my favorite Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp. That is what happens when you can get Cortland apples for $.70 a pound! And as the loaf cakes sat on the counter cooling and my house was filled with the wonderful smells of apples and cinnamon, I sat content in the big chair at the kitchen table chatting with Kylie on the other side of the world, surrounded by puppies! One of my favorite things!
Now...I said that I never share things that I have not tried. Well...at least that someone in my family has tried. I just went through the last 6 months of working out and losing weight and eating healthy. After losing more than 90 pounds...I am not in any way ready to put it back on. So...I let my family eat most of the things that I make. But I digress, As I wrapped up the Rum cake for Heather and the other was sitting on the counter, I was seriously debating sending it to my friend Samantha but no one had tried this. So I looked at my husband and asked if he would be willing to try a slice to make sure that it did not suck. Of course he was more than willing to take the chance and assured me that it was good.
So, now...I can't send this cake to Samantha...it has a slice off the end. Ugh. So I sent the 2nd cake to work with Calvin hoping that the rest of his fellow co-workers would simply take a slice just because it was there, and hope that he did not bring any of it home. It was gone by mid afternoon. Whoo hooo!! Before I even knew how well the cake went over, I was already baking another 2 cakes. One to send to Samantha of course, which she should be getting today, and then I had no idea what I was going to to with the other. Now, the second cakes did not come out of the pans as well...clearly, not enough grease and flour...mental note for next time....but the cakes were just as good, or so I was told. Calvin again took the 2nd cake to work with him, I did manage to get a couple slices off to my mother before he took it and a picture..but not a good one...it was a gloomy gloomy dark day in Wisconsin today....although, the temp is WONDERFUL! But taking the picture on my kitchen counter, not ideal...not enough natural light!
This is the only thing that is left at this point, and this picture is a little better. :)
Now, the round 2 of the Rum Drenched Vanilla Cakes was not the end of my baking for the day....I also completed another batch of the White Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies and a Batch of Butterscotch Pudding cookies with Butterscotch Chips.
White Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Ingredients
* 1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks softened)
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1/4 white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 1/4 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 (4 ounce) package jell-o instant pudding mix (White Chocolate Pudding)
* semi-sweet chocolate chips
* White Chocolate Chips
Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350º F. with mixer beat wet ingredients until light and fluffy. In separate bowl stir together by hand flour, baking soda and Jell-O. Gradually add flour mix to wet ingredients mixing until smooth scraping bowl often. Stir in chocolate chips.
2. Drop dough with a tablespoon on baking sheets coated with non-stick spray or parchment paper.
3. Bake in pre-heated oven 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets, then remove to wire racks to cool completely. (if you can wait!)
Butterscotch Pudding Cookies with Butterscotch Chips:
Ingredients
* 1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks softened)
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1/4 white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 1/4 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 (4 ounce) package jell-o instant pudding mix (Butterscotch Pudding)
* Butterscotch Chips....about a 12 ounce bag. :)
Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350º F. with mixer beat wet ingredients until light and fluffy. In separate bowl stir together by hand flour, baking soda and Jell-O. Gradually add flour mix to wet ingredients mixing until smooth scraping bowl often. Stir in chocolate chips.
2. Drop dough with a tablespoon on baking sheets coated with non-stick spray or parchment paper.
3. Bake in pre-heated oven 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets, then remove to wire racks to cool completely. (if you can wait!)
And that brings us to today...I am all set and ready to make fresh Italian Bread to go with our dinner tonight...White Noodles, which the girls have been begging for for weeks. I thought that it would be a good addition! And maybe a different cake for dessert....Off to the kitchen...
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