Coconut Rum Cake
Ah, the flavors of the Caribbean... This extra-moist, tender cake is infused with two flavors—coconut and rum—that go play off each other beautifully.
1 1/4 cups (2 sticks + 4 tablespoons) butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 drops coconut flavor (optional)
1/4 cup rum (we like dark best)*
4 egg yolks
3 whole large eggs
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Hi-maize Natural Fiber (or cornstarch)
3/4 cup coconut milk powder**
1 cup milk**
1/4 cup rum or vanilla syrup to brush over warm cake (see recipe below)
Glaze
1/2 cup coconut milk powder***
3 tablespoons rum****
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk or cream
Rum or Vanilla Syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup liquid (either water + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; or 2 tablespoons water + 2 tablespoons rum)
*Or replace with rum flavor to taste + an additional 1/4 cup milk.
**Or substitute 1 cup light coconut milk for the coconut milk powder and milk.
***Or substitute coconut flavor to taste.
****Or use rum flavor to taste, and increase the milk or cream by 3+ tablespoons.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup tube or bundt-style pan.
Beat the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt, and flavoring till fluffy. Beat in the rum, then the egg yolks and eggs, one at a time, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. Whisk together the flour, Hi-maize Natural Fiber, and coconut milk powder. Mix in alternately with the milk until all is combined. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.
Bake the cake for 50 to 60 minutes. While the cake is baking, make the rum or vanilla syrup by heating the sugar and liquid together until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is clear. Let the syrup cool before using it. Remove the cake from the oven when it's lightly browned, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Brush the surface of the cake with some of the rum or vanilla syrup. Allow it to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a serving plate. Brush with the remaining rum or vanilla syrup. Cool completely before mixing glaze ingredients together. Drizzle with glaze. Yield: 12 to 16 slices.
Reviews
06/22/2009
Delicious! It was a very impressive cake and had a dense texture - like a moist, rummy pound cake. My only problem was that I had too much batter. I had a 12 cup bundt cake mold and the cake rose about an inch above the edge. Kind of scary looking in the oven at it! Then it fell - also scary. There was cake on the top of the inner tube and on the sides that had to be peeled off, but when I turned it over after it cooled, all was well. It looked beautiful and tasted great. I will use about 1/4 cup less of the batter next time though. Also remember to sift the flour and confectioners sugar. I did the flour but somehow forgot the sugar and my glaze was a bit lumpy.
07/02/2009
I made this recipe last evening, using a 10-cup "fancy" bundt pan. At KAF's recommendation, I filled the pan 3/4 of the way with batter, and had enough left over to make two mini cakes in small loaf pans. (I probably could have combined the leftover batter into one tin and made one larger mini-loaf). It's a very rich cake, which unmolded beautifully. I'm giving the recipe 4 stars because it wasn't as aromatic as I had hoped, but next time I'll just adjust the flavorings a bit to suit my taste. The smaller cakes were sampled last night, and got two thumbs up from my companions. As the previous reviewer noted, the cake does puff in the oven, so I'd recommend making sure that you don't overfill your pan. It did retreat a bit towards the end of the bake time, settling perfectly into the mold.
10/29/2009
This should be called Coconut Yum Cake! It is a fantastic recipe. I've been meaning to make it for months now but have been intimidated by the complicated-looking recipe. In reality it was a snap to make. I used the entire recipe in a lovely 12 cup bundt pan available through KAF. It didn't spill out of the pan into the oven, but did have some overflow. Next time for a tidier appearance I'll use a little less now that I'm familiar with how much it rises (it didn't fall for me). My hubby requested I leave off the glaze & icing since we aren't a big fan of sweets, which I did, & the cake alone is amazing. Very moist, tender & not at all "dense" (but I whipped a lot of air into the butter/sugar mixture). When I make it for others I'll add the glaze & icing, but for just my family we enjoyed it plain. It was gone within 48 hours! If it has a chance to go a little stale it I was thinking would be good buttered & grilled & used as the base of a sundae (coconut cake, vanilla ice cream, hot fudge & whipped cream). Thanks, KAF, for yet another wonderful recipe!
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