Name: Rum cake with rum glaze
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 110 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: Caribbean
Ingredients: 100 g pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional, go on the bottom of the tin); 4 eggs; 3 egg yolks; 120 ml dark rum; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp almond extract (optional); 300 g plain flour (type 405); 200 g light brown sugar (firmly packed); 200 g sugar; 2 tsp baking powder; 0.75 tsp salt; 225 g butter, soft; 115 g butter; 60 ml water; 200 g sugar; 90 ml dark rum; 1 pinch salt; butter and flour for the tin

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 165 °C (conventional). Grease a Bundt tin (about 12 cups, roughly 2.8 litres) with butter and dust with flour; scatter any chopped nuts over the bottom.
Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, rum, vanilla extract and almond extract in a bowl.
Mix the flour, both sugars, baking powder and salt in the mixing bowl on low speed for 30 seconds, add the soft butter and work it in for about 2 minutes until the mixture looks like cookie dough.
Add the egg mixture in three portions; after each addition, first stir in on low speed, then beat for 2 minutes on medium speed and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Pour the batter into the tin, smooth the top and bake for 65 to 75 minutes until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, for the glaze, melt the butter, add the water and sugar, bring to the boil and simmer over a medium to low heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Take off the heat and stir in the rum and salt.
Using a wooden skewer, prick the base of the cake at intervals of about 1 cm, up to three quarters of its height, brush on half the glaze and let it soak in; if it stands on the surface, keep pricking.
Turn the cake out onto a plate and gradually brush the remaining glaze over the top and sides so that it soaks in rather than drips off. Let it cool completely before slicing.

Drink with it

Aged rum · excellent match
Aged dark rum, neat or over one ice cube
The vanilla, caramel and wood notes of an aged rum mirror the rum glaze and carry the sweetness; a rum you also use in the glaze is the surest bridge.
Drinking rum neat: how to get to know a bottling
Mellow whisky · good match
Mild bourbon-style or Irish whiskey, neat
The vanilla and honey of the whiskey suit the butter and brown sugar.
Whisky with food: cheese, chocolate, and savory dishes
Cognac and brandy · good match
Cognac VSOP, neat
Dried fruit and vanilla from the wood complement the butter and sugar glaze.
Cognac and Armagnac: Two Origins for Brandy
Fortified wine · good match
Pedro Ximénez sherry or tawny port
Raisin, nut and caramel notes combine with the nuts and the rum glaze.
Port wine: understanding Ruby, Tawny, and Vintage

Why it pairs well

Sweet with sweet: the cake is soaked in rum, and an aged rum in the glass carries on those flavours instead of contrasting with them.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 165 °C (conventional). Grease a Bundt tin (about 12 cups, roughly 2.8 litres) with butter and dust with flour; scatter any chopped nuts over the bottom.
Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, rum, vanilla extract and almond extract in a bowl.
Mix the flour, both sugars, baking powder and salt in the mixing bowl on low speed for 30 seconds, add the soft butter and work it in for about 2 minutes until the mixture looks like cookie dough.
Add the egg mixture in three portions; after each addition, first stir in on low speed, then beat for 2 minutes on medium speed and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Pour the batter into the tin, smooth the top and bake for 65 to 75 minutes until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, for the glaze, melt the butter, add the water and sugar, bring to the boil and simmer over a medium to low heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Take off the heat and stir in the rum and salt.
Using a wooden skewer, prick the base of the cake at intervals of about 1 cm, up to three quarters of its height, brush on half the glaze and let it soak in; if it stands on the surface, keep pricking.
Turn the cake out onto a plate and gradually brush the remaining glaze over the top and sides so that it soaks in rather than drips off. Let it cool completely before slicing.

Drink with it

Aged rum · excellent match
Aged dark rum, neat or over one ice cube
The vanilla, caramel and wood notes of an aged rum mirror the rum glaze and carry the sweetness; a rum you also use in the glaze is the surest bridge.
Drinking rum neat: how to get to know a bottling
Mellow whisky · good match
Mild bourbon-style or Irish whiskey, neat
The vanilla and honey of the whiskey suit the butter and brown sugar.
Whisky with food: cheese, chocolate, and savory dishes
Cognac and brandy · good match
Cognac VSOP, neat
Dried fruit and vanilla from the wood complement the butter and sugar glaze.
Cognac and Armagnac: Two Origins for Brandy
Fortified wine · good match
Pedro Ximénez sherry or tawny port
Raisin, nut and caramel notes combine with the nuts and the rum glaze.
Port wine: understanding Ruby, Tawny, and Vintage

Why it pairs well

Sweet with sweet: the cake is soaked in rum, and an aged rum in the glass carries on those flavours instead of contrasting with them.

Rum cake with rum glaze

Preparation

Drink with it

Aged dark rum, neat or over one ice cube

Mild bourbon-style or Irish whiskey, neat

Cognac VSOP, neat

Pedro Ximénez sherry or tawny port

This pairs well too.

Baba au Rhum

Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce (Bratapfel)

Banana Cream Pie

Chocolate Brownies

Rum cake with rum glaze

Preparation

Drink with it

Aged dark rum, neat or over one ice cube

Mild bourbon-style or Irish whiskey, neat

Cognac VSOP, neat

Pedro Ximénez sherry or tawny port

This pairs well too.

Baba au Rhum

Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce (Bratapfel)

Banana Cream Pie

Chocolate Brownies