Conquering the Rum Cake

Oh, it was so rewarding to finally get the Rum Cake just right!  Whoo Hoo, I was a happy camper last night.  And, as promised on Facebook, I'm here to share the recipe with you!

First, a little back ground story.  See that paper in the picture?  That's the recipe written down by Gail, my mother-in-Law, years and years ago.  I don't know how I came to have that notebook of her recipes, but I am honored to have it.  The Rum Cake recipe is the very first recipe in her little notebook.  She used to make this cake for Casey's birthday every year so I never tried it until after she passed away.  And for the last six or so years I have been unable to attain the glory that was her Rum Cake!

I joked last night that all these years she's been watching from Heaven and having a good laugh as I miss her mark year after year.  Well, I have been following her directions to a T, so I couldn't figure out what the catch was.  I even looked up recipes on the Internet last year for comparison.  All the recipes I looked at were pretty much the same as the original recipe.  See, the problem with this cake is that everyone kept telling me I had too much rum in it.  Well, I followed Gail's directions.  How could my cake be turning out any different than hers?

After much debate, I decided to tweak the recipe a little this year.  Instead of waiting until the end to add rum to the glaze mixture, I added the rum and water at the same time and boiled it all for five minutes.  Let me just tell you that was the trick to getting this cake just right!  So, here's my slightly adapted version of Gail's Rum Cake.  Enjoy!

Bacardi Rum Cake
1 pkg Yellow Cake Mix
1 pkg Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix (I used the small box)
4 eggs (I think I only put in three, whoopsie!  The batter was a little thick, come to think of it!)
1/2 c Chopped Pecans

Mix cake as directed on package (my cake mix only called for three eggs, so maybe I was okay).
Put chopped pecans in the bottom of bunt cake pan.
Pour cake mix over pecans and bake (I baked at 350 for 45 minutes).

Rum Glaze
1 stick Butter
1/4 c Water
1 c Sugar
1/2 c Rum

Melt butter in saucepan, stir in water and sugar.
(Stir in rum here if you want the buzz-free version of the cake.  Trust me, it's now or never!)
Boil 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in rum (only if you want the buzz-inducing version, Designated Drivers recommended!).
Drizzle over cake.

And there you have it!  If you make a rum cake of your very own, please come back and leave a comment letting me know how it turned out!

Written on Friday, December 21, 2012.  Posted on Saturday, December 22, 2012.

Yummy: Mini Meatloaves & Mac and Cheese

You know, it's never good to find a really appetizing recipe on a blog when you're hungry!  But, that's just what happened to me this afternoon.  I opened my email from Life as Mom to find a simply yummy picture of meatloaf and mac and cheese staring back at me!  I don't think I've ever heard anyone put paprika in meatloaf, but I may have to give it a whirl.  Oh, and I have been wanting to try homemade mac and cheese for a while.  Although, I don't think it would save money to make it from scratch. 

You know, I never ate meatloaf before I was pregnant with Patty.  And I was a lot skinnier in my life before kids.  Think it could be the meatloaf? 

Written on Friday, October 26th.