Butter Rum Cake for the New Year

Some people eat Black Eyed Peas for New Years. This year, I'm going to start my own tradition and eat rum cake.

When I went home to Texas for the holidays, I was determined to make a butter rum cake like my mom used to make for holidays when I was in high school.

I made one, thinking it would definitely come in third place behind the chocolate cake or fudge pie in the competition for crowd favorite (chocolate is very big in our house) and watched it disappear before the rum glaze had time to completely soak into the golden sponge. I had to make another one the very next morning.

There's something indescribable that happens when that buttery rum glaze goes swimming in that piping hot cake straight from the oven. It doesn't make the cake soggy as you would expect - if anything, it makes it more 'cakey' while forming its own luscious yet light on the tongue icing (kind of a sauce/icing hybrid.)

Besides I figure, if Black Eyed peas bring luck, butter rum cake has to do one better than that.

Butter Rum Cake

Cake:
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
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 (we just used Bacardi gold)

Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark rum (again - we just used Bacardi gold)



Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease (well!) a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle brown sugar 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 or stir well. Pour batter over the brown sugar in the pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by combining 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a medium pan over medium heat. Allow to come to a boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, to keep from boiling over (you may need to lower the heat a hair or take it off the burner for a few seconds now and then to keep it from boiling over.) Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup rum.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poor a third of the glaze over the hot cake WHILE STILL IN THE PAN. Let it soak for 10 minutes, then gently turn out onto serving plate. Carefully poor or brush the remaining glaze over top and sides (I just pour it all over the top then just dump the rest in the center to let it soak in on its own time.)

Ideally, let the cake continue to soak for several hours - and good luck with that... People were scooping the glaze out of the center and drinking it at my house.

But then again, we're heathens.