A Gilt Nutmeg

If you don’t like rum, then this is not the recipe for you: this is a VERY rummy pound cake.  I’m not sure why exactly my cake turned out so very dark-I baked it to the time Rebecca suggested and it didn’t seem overbaked on top, so I was quite surprised to see it pop out of the mold this color.  The cake sure tasted fine and was certainly the right buttery color on the inside, so I’m not too worried.

Overall, I’m not the biggest fan of rum, but if you want an adult cake for an adult gathering, this is certainly a recipe you should give a try.

Shawnda picked this recipe and you can see how the other PPQ’ers liked the recipe here.

Totally Rummy Pound Cake
from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather

For the cake:

• 1 1/2 cup pecans
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup dark rum

For the glaze:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 cup dark rum

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 10-12 cup bundt pan.
2. Spread the pecans out on a baking sheet and bake them for 5-7 minutes.
3. Take 1/4 of the pecans and coarsely grind them in a food processor.  Keeping the rest of the pecans separate, roughly chop them and put them aside.  Use the 1/4 cup of coarsely ground pecans to dust the inside of the greased pan.  Shake the pan around so that it’s evenly coated in pecans.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter for 1 minute.  Add the sugar and beat for 2 additional minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl down with a spatula.
5. Add the eggs and beat for 2 minutes.  The batter should be light yellow and well incorporated at this point.
6. In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder and mix together.
7. Add approximately one third of the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and beat on low until the flour is fully incorporated.  Add half the sour cream and mix.  Repeat with the next third of the flour, the rest of the sour cream, then the rest of the flour mixture.
8. Finally, add the vanilla and rum, beating until thoroughly incorporated, then gently mix in the chopped pecans that were set aside.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake about 1 hour 20 minutes (although I wonder if that time is too much-keep checking yours and pull out as soon as the top seems done and slightly springs back when pressed).
10. Let the cake cool 15 minutes then invert it onto a wire cooling rack and let it cool for an hour before serving.  In the meantime, make the glaze.
11. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the water, sugar, lemon juice and rum.  Bring it to a boil for one minute before taking it off the heat.
12. Poke the cake repeatedly all over with a toothpick or wooden skewer and then pour the glaze all over the cake.  The instructions say to pour all of the glaze over the cake, but there’s so much of it, that I poured only about 2/3 of it before I decided that it was just too much glaze.  You can use your best judgement over how much glaze you want to use.
13. Rebecca suggests that the pound cake flavors will mellow overnight, so  try baking it a day or two before you plan to serve it.  Enjoy-but try not to get drunk off two slices!