Cherry Rum Cake

           This recipe is one of the firsts I have made. I made it last October for my 21^st birthday. Yeah, I know, I made my own cake…very sad. I thought back to one of the best desserts I have ever eaten, and I remembered a cake that a classmate brought into a Spanish class fiesta during my freshman year of high school. And I’m not lying when I tell you that the cake tasted like heaven.
            Now don’t let the rum scare you away, because it is definitely what makes the cake super moist and flavorful.  If I am telling the absolute truth….I like to make myself a little rum and coke to drink while making this recipe. It just seems like the right thing to do.
            I found the original recipe at allrecipes.com which is a fantastic site if you are just starting out. Anyone can post a recipe there.  Here is the original recipe.

I really promise that I will get better at taking pictures of my food.
I bought a DSLR camera recently so that should help a little bit.

Here is how I would rate this recipe:

·         Easiness---6---The cake itself is very easy to make, but the glaze is tricky because it can burn very easily.  Be sure to not leave the stove while making it.  It is also easy for it to boil over so watch that too.

·         Yumminess---9---I love moist cake. In fact, it’s the best way to eat cake.  However, this cake can get TOO moist, so be careful with your glaze.

·         Repeat---10---Absolutely. I have made it twice already, and will probably make it again come fall time. It reminds me off fall for some reason.

INGREDIENTS

·         * 1 cup chopped walnuts

·         1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

·         1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

·         4 eggs

·         1/2 cup water

·         1/2 cup vegetable oil

·         **1/2 cup dark rum

·         1/2 cup butter

·         1/4 cup water

·         1 cup white sugar

·         **1/2 cup dark rum

·         ***

DIRECTIONS

·         Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over the bottom of the pan.

·         In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in the eggs, 1/2 cup water, oil and 1/2 cup rum. Blend well. Pour batter over chopped nuts in the pan.

·         Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto serving plate. Brush glaze over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze and repeat until all glaze is used.

·         To make the glaze: in a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup rum.

*I omit the walnuts and use cherries instead, because I am not a big fan of walnuts.

**I use clear rum, not dark. I am not sure if this makes it taste different or not.  I am interested in trying to make it with Malibu rum and make a Strawberry flavored cake mix to make it more summery.

***The second time I made it I added about a tsp of Cherry Extract, hence the name Cherry Rum Cake.