Tag: dark rum

Categories
Dessert

Make their tummies ‘rum’ble with tropical cake

Cuban rum cake is a light, flavorful dessert with fresh whipped cream, toasted coconut, pineapple, and of course, a homemade rum sauce that is brushed over the entire cake.
Cuban rum cake is a light, flavorful dessert with fresh whipped cream, toasted coconut, pineapple, and of course, a homemade rum sauce that is brushed over the entire cake.

We were able to spend a fantastic evening with some great folks this past week for a celebration of Christmas in July.

We hosted the meal last year, so it was our friends’, Adam and Samantha’s, turn to do it this year. They decided to celebrate the theme of the night by creating an entire menu of Cuban food.

As will be no surprise, I volunteered to make dessert, and after lots of online research, I decided to try a light, fruity cake—with a bit of rum included for good measure.

This recipe comes from the company site for Imperial Sugar and was written by Chef Eddy Van Damme, who has the nickname of the “Prince of Pastry.” You can find the original post at https://www.imperialsugar.com/recipes/cuban-rum-cake. I adjusted some of the ingredients a bit in my version.

Print

Cuban Rum Cake

Cuban rum cake is a light, flavorful dessert with fresh whipped cream, toasted coconut, pineapple, and of course, a homemade rum sauce that is brushed over the entire cake.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, coconut, Cuban dessert, Cuban food, dark rum, orange juice, pineapple, vanilla, whipped cream

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 8 egg yolks
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk or milk with a touch of vinegar
  • 2 cups cake flour
  • 1 cup sweetened coconut

Rum Sauce

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/8 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup light or dark rum I used dark
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 8 ounces pineapple sliced or in chunks in juice

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Prepare two eight- or nine-inch round cake pans by buttering and flouring them. Set them aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, for about 30 seconds each.
  • Beat in the salt, baking powder and vanilla. Beat in the buttermilk and cake flour, alternating between them.
  • Split the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Let the cakes cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the pans by inverting them onto plates and setting them aside to cool completely.
  • Turn the oven off, but spread the coconut on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper and place it in the oven for about five minutes or until the coconut is lightly browned. Set it aside.
  • For the rum sauce, combine the butter, orange juice, sugar, rum and vanilla in a sauce pan, and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. Let it boil for two minutes, then remove from heat. Set the mixture aside to cool.
  • When the cakes are cooled, prepare the filling. Beat the cream, vanilla and sugar on high speed until stiff peaks form. If necessary, prepare the pineapple by cutting it into bite-sized chunks.
  • To assemble the cake, place the first cake on your serving plate and prick the entire surface with a toothpick.
  • Brush half of the rum sauce onto the cake, letting it soak in. (This might take a moment.) Spread about one-fourth of the whipped cream onto the cake and top with the pineapple. Place the second cake on top and repeat the process with the rum sauce before coating the entire cake with the rest of the whipped cream. Finish the cake off by sprinkling it with the toasted coconut.
  • Keep the cake refrigerated until you’re ready to serve.

This was absolutely delicious and received rave reviews from the group. There wasn’t much left of the cake, despite all of us overindulging beforehand on an amazing meal. It had great tropical flavor, and even if the rum part scares you a bit, I’d say go for it. It definitely did not feature a “boozy” taste. Instead, the rum amplified the orange and pineapple flavors.

There are few things better than sharing a good meal with a good group, and this weekend was no exception. As summer is starting to wind down, it was a wonderful way to wrap up a busy July.

This piece first appeared in print on Aug. 4, 2022.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Banana dessert can foster sense of warmth for ice cream

Bananas foster is a great, warm dessert, which is easy to make and fun to light on fire.
Bananas foster is a great, warm dessert, which is easy to make and fun to light on fire.

I believe it was sometime during college that I first got to experience going to one of those Japanese restaurants where the chef makes a big show while cooking in front of you.

If you’ve never been, I recommend it. It’s nice to be entertained and fed at the same time.

One of the tricks they inevitably do is to stack the rings of an onion up to resemble a volcano, dump in some flammable cooking liquid, and then light it on fire. The result is an inferno that shoots straight up for a moment, and it’s a big crowd pleaser.

I’ve always been fascinated by recipes that let chefs light things on fire. It’s just the right amount of danger I need in my life—a very, very low amount—and it satisfies my inner desire to safely play with matches every once in awhile.

So, since I still needed to get rid of lots of bananas this week, I decided to try my hand at one of those fire-lighting recipes: bananas foster.

I will warn you that bananas foster includes the use of alcohol, which you can totally leave out if it’s not your thing, but then you’ll also skip the fire lighting step, too. The recipe I used is on the blog “Baking a Moment.” You can find the original post at https://bakingamoment.com/bananas-foster/. I doubled the cinnamon in my version.

Print

Bananas Foster

Bananas foster is a great, warm dessert, which is easy to make and fun to light on fire.
Course Dessert
Keyword banana, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 bananas
  • 1/4 cup dark rum
  • vanilla ice cream for serving

Instructions

  • Combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large skillet (you’ll need to fit the bananas in there later, too) over low heat.
  • As the butter melts, keep whisking the ingredients together until they’re smooth and fully combined.
  • Slice the peeled bananas in half lengthwise and crosswise to get four equal pieces out of each banana.
  • Add the bananas to the sauce and gently stir to coat them in the sugar mixture.
  • Let them cook for about five minutes or until the bananas are fully warmed through.
  • Now, you could skip this next step and go straight to the ice cream, but I highly recommend doing it.
  • Remove the bananas from the heat, and drizzle the rum over the top. Using a long match or a wand lighter, light the surface of the liquid on fire (you’ll barely be able to see a flame, and you’ll be able to hear a soft whooshing noise). Let the fire burn until it burns itself out.
  • Serve the bananas over scoops of vanilla ice cream, making sure to drizzle the sugar mixture over top, too.
  • Refrigerate any leftovers to reheat and use later on.

This was nice and warm and perfect for a cold evening while still getting to enjoy a little ice cream. If you’re not a big fan of the taste of rum, what I would describe as the “alcohol taste” burns off, so it really just adds some depth of flavor. It doesn’t taste like you’re taking a shot of liquor.

And, if you have no use for a full bottle of dark rum, I’d recommend buying one of those mini bottles like you’d see in a hotel bar. They are generally about 50 milliliters, and since 1/4 cup is about 59 milliliters, you could get away with just using one little bottle and not have to deal with leftovers. Plus, they’re often about $1, so that’s a pretty cheap, quick investment for a delicious dessert.

Also, in my case, bananas foster gives you a chance to light something on fire, if just for a moment, and that’s just the kind of excitement I need in my life these days.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 22, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Exit mobile version