RUM CAKE - in fact, PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN RUM CAKE

Much to my surprise, Min from The Bad Girl's Kitchen (who I already loved for making me an honorary Bad Girl) organized a surprise party with nothing but beach inspired recipes from many of my favorite bloggers! What a wonderful surprise when I stumbled across this last night. I was so surprised and thrilled, and it even made my wife cry a bit... Take a second and head over to this post and see an INCREDIBLE number of useful recipes for all those folks stuck in snow. We all need a little sunshine and beach dreams. Cook one of those and imagine a few moments in the sun. Will do your soul good.

Click HERE to get to the Our Krazy Kitchen post of all these amazing recipes! And it is not too late to play along... There is an easy way for you to attach a tropical recipe if you would like to be a part of the party!

Here's a bit of the logo from yesterday OUR KRAZY KITCHEN Blog Post

Well, Here is my contribution
to the party

Rum Cake!

Now, this recipe is more of a creation of necessity than following a recipe. I found a recipe that uses corn meal in the ingredient list. I had some left over from my Anadama Bread baking experience. Any chance to use an ingredient I already had in my pantry was going to be jumped on!

The look of the cake inspired the pineapple. I am in a temp kitchen that is sparsely stocked. Ideally, a rum cake would be in a bundt pan. I do not have a bundt pan. But, I did have a Pyrex bowl that would make a domed shaped cake. But that would not be visually appealing... How about an upside down cake, and what is more logical than a pineapple upside down cake! And, here is where I got a little break, I found a can of pineapple slices comparatively cheap (only $1.50). So, here we go...

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
6 large eggs
1/4 cup dark rum
the juice of one fresh lime
the zest of one fresh lime
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon baking powder


1 can pineapple slices
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon dark rum


And finally, another 1/2 cup dark rum!


Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour a round domed Pyrex pan

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. I have a whisk, and no mixer or kitchenaid... A great workout.
• beat in eggs one at a time
• add 1/4 cup rum, lime juice and zest, stir till well mixed
  
• add flour, corn meal, spices and baking powder, mix very well. Another great workout
• Meanwhile, make a mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon of rum, mix well, until the sugar has been dissolved.
  
• Coat each side of the pineapple rings in the sugar mixture and arrange in the bottom of the bowl in an attractive manor. I sliced the last few in half to make a border.
• Pour cake batter over the pineapples and bake for @1 hour, or until a toothpick can be inserted and comes out clean.
• Allow to cool for a bit. But while the cake is still warm, insert a skewer into the cake top 100 times (don't count, just make a bunch of holes).
• pour the final 1/2 cup rum into the holes
• Flip the cake so the bottom is the top and listen to the oooohs and aaaahs!
  

OK... The verdict. I can do better.

Actually, I loved this and would think it was god's creation. BUT, recently I had a sample of an Island legend... (click on the photo to get to her website)

AUNTIE's RUM CAKES
(she does mail order if you want to try the best)

Her's is better... Quite a bit better.

So, what was the difference???

Her's was more tender and sweeter. Her coloring was more appealing, almost a sunshine yellow.

Next time, I will not use a dark rum, I will use a sweeter flavored rum that is clear (imagine coconut rum!). Hopefully that will get me the bright yellow color.

I think I will cook just a shade less. I probably over cooked the cake. That will make it less dry.

And finally, I am going to try a tip from my Anadama Bread post that also used corn meal. I will allow the batter to sit for a few hours, and allow magic to break down the sugars in the corn meal. If you read the Bread Baker's Apprentice book, the author goes into detail about what happens when you let corn meal soak. One of which is to have a sweeter bread because the natural sugars in corn are allowed to break down.

But it tasted GREAT... Looked GREAT and feels like an island recipe.

So, a GREAT CAKE... but a cake in process. Any tips???