Da Da Rum

So the next thing I shall talk about is my rum cake! Rum Rum Rum! Yum Yum Yum!

This is one of the most delicious and easiest cakes, ever to make. I sort of cheat because I use a boxed mix, but it's only because it is more moist than anything I could make on my own (as of right now. I'm experimenting with yellow cake this weekend. More on that, later.)

Ingredients and Tools:

Ingredients for the Cake:
1 box of yellow cake mix (I usually use Duncan Hines)
1 4-serving size box of instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold milk (you can also use water if you're tryin' to keep the lactoses away)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum (I use Meyers)

Tools:
Oven
Mixing bowl
Spatula
Hand/stand mixer
Measuring cups
Bundt cake pan

Glaze Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark rum (more Meyers, please!)

Tools for the Glaze:
Stove
Saucepan
Spoon
Measuring cups
Bamboo Skewer
Pastry brush

Directions:
For the Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Grease the Bundt pan and then flour it. (When I flour cake pans when I make a boxed cake, I use a bit of cake mix instead of flour. It won't turn your cake white, and it will taste like the cake itself! Ta-Da!)
3. Mix all of the cake ingredients together and beat for about 2 minutes with your electric mixer. (Told you it was easy).
4. Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
5. After the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes ALL over the place while the cake is still in the pan (while it's still warm). Get the skewer all the way into the bottom, you want the glaze to saturate that cake! (Sometimes, if I'm feeling generous, I make a double batch of the glaze).

For the Glaze:
Right after the cake comes out of the oven and is hokey-poked with holes, start the glaze!
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan
2. Stir in the water and the sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the rum It will steam and possibly scare you, just keep stirring, you'll be fine!
4. Slowly pour the warm glaze over the cake (while it is still in the pan). It's okay if some sits on the top for a bit...let it soak in.
5. After is has been soaking for about 30 minutes or so, invert the pan onto your serving plate.
6. Use the pastry brush to get any leftover glaze onto the top of the cake.

Smile! It's done...and is tasty even after a few days of sitting out. It's good in the toaster oven 3 days later. It freezes beautifully. It is amazing!

Notes: You can do it with other flavors of cake/pudding mix. Some people add 1 cup of nuts to the mix (I don't 'cause so many people are allergic these days). It is delicious! Enjoy!!

Guinness Cupycakes Part 2 (Well, it's turned into a cake..)

So those Guinness cupcakes that I made last night- I ended up making 12 cupcakes and then a nine inch cake. For 2 reasons...well maybe 3.
1) I only had 12 cute green and blue plaid wrappers
2) We'd eat all of the cupcakes (which we did, there are only 3 left)
3) I couldn't find my other muffin tins. And I was lazy- didn't feel like filling more liners and waiting for them to bake.

Ok, the recipe. I adapted SmittenKitchen's "Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes" recipe.
Cupcake Tools:
2 Mixing Bowls
Measuring Cups and spoons
Mixer
Whisk
Small saucepan
Rubber Spatula
Muffin Tin or cake pan
Regular Sized Muffin Tins and Cuppycake liners (we had cute green'n'blue plaid ones)

Cupcake Ingredients:
1 cup stout-I used Guinness. (open the can, pour and let it sit for a minutes before you get the final measurement, because as any good Buffy fan knows: "Beer: foamy")

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the rest of the Nestle Toll House from the cupboard)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream (I actually used about 3/4 of a cup...I was feeling particularly liberal)

Frosting Tools:
Mixer
Mixing Bowl
Rubber Spatula
Measuring Cups and spoons
Pastry bag (you can get on from Target for less than $10. OR Cut off the bottom tip of a Ziploc Bag)

Frosting Ingredients:

3 cups confections sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (I used Caramel Bailey's 'cause that's what we had. And I probably used about 4 and a half tablespoons)

Cupcake/Cake Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. (Or spray some Pam on 2 8 or 9 inch cake pans. This time I made 12 cupcakes and 1 cake)
2.Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly. (It got a little seperate-y for me. I just ignored it and hope it would turn out- it did)
3. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend.
4. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.
5. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine.
6. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
7. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.(That is, if you don't eat them all first)

Frosting Directions:
1. Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy.
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
3. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.
4. Ice and decorate the cupcakes. Make sure the cupcakes are totally cooled. It usually takes a few hours. I didn't frost mine 'til the day we served it. (St. Patrick's Day!!) I used a star tip and kind of wavered it around to make it look foamy, like the head of Guinness.

The cake looks really cute- like a disk of yummy, yummy Guinness. The cupcakes that we inhaled...er tested just taste like a really rich chocolate. The Guinness adds and extra "umph" that you usually don't get from milk or cream. The frosting is rather sweet- I really like that I used Caramel Bailey's because it adds an extra creaminess that you don't usually get from regular Bailey's.

We're having corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and fingerling potatoes for dinner. Dave made Irish Soda Bread. There's Guinness, Smithicks, and an Irish Cream Ale in the fridge. The Irish Rovers are on the stereo. Friends will be on their way over shortly. It's going to be a good evening!