Its My New No-Fail

I'm a cake person. Its just that simple. If you offer me the choice between cake and pie, nine times out of ten I'll go for the cake. I don't mind making pie, I even make my own pie crust. M says its awesome, and while I'm glad he likes it, my instinct is to eat the filling out of the pie and leave the crust. The one thing I'd say I like more than cake is a good cupcake. They're a little more involved to make (spooning into the cups, making sure all the cups are level), but I love the single-serving option (not that I'm ever known for stopping at just one). Even better than the cupcake is the mini cupcake. M and I refer to them as cupcake shooters - they're like shots, but in cupcake form. Genius! So given my affection for cupcakes, any cake recipe I come across has to know that it will very soon make the transition from cake to cupcake. This recipe was no exception.


Bacardi Rum Cake

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• ---Cake---
• 1 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts
• 1 18-1/2 ounce yellow cake mix
• 1 1-3/4 ounce (4-serving size) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup cold milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum
• ---Glaze---
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum

Preparation:

Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts on bottom of pan. Combine all cake ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes on high with electric mixer. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool in pan. Invert on serving plate. Prick top with fork. Drizzle glaze over top of cake. Use brush or spoon to put extra dripping back on cake.

Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Note: The rum will cause steam. Be careful not to burn yourself.

I found this recipe on about.com in the desserts/baking section. I made it for Valentine's Day and frosted the mini cupcakes with a lime Royal Icing. So good! When Mom asked what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday, this recipe immediately came to mind. It is very easily converted into gf/df/ef, which makes it an automatic winner in my book. When we went shopping for gf cake mix, the only thing we found was a chocolate mix. So what frosting would go best? We decided on a marshmallow frosting, but finding one that was df is hard. We came across this one in The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, by Fannie Farmer.

Marshmallow Paste (Frosting or Filling)

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 pound marshmallows
• 2 T hot water
• 1/2 t vanilla
  

Heat sugar and milk slowly to boiling point without stirring. Boil 6 minutes. Cut marshmallows into pieces. Melt in double boiler, add hot water, and cook until smooth, then add hot syrup gradually, stirring constantly. Beat until cool enough to spread, then add vanilla.

The one thing with this frosting is that you need to keep it warm while you're putting it on your cakes or cupcakes. When it cools it doesn't spread well and will tear your cake's surface. It firms up nicely in the fridge.

So the chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow frosting were awesome! They reminded me of the moon pies I used to buy on my way to school. You pretty much could use any cake mix, keep or omit the rum, and use any frosting. I left the nuts out of the recipe, and didn't miss them. The pudding mix makes the cake super moist, too. Happy eating!