The car dealer’s rum cake
The car dealer’s rum cake is not a nostalgic Christmas story. Most families inherit treasured holiday recipes passed down from generation to generation. We have none of that in our family. I am the first-generation treasured recipe generator. It’s a heavy burden but I bear it.
So King Daddy used to own a Subaru he bought at Jim Reed Automotive. And near Christmas in 2008 a holiday greeting e-mail arrived from Jim Reed with a recipe for rum cake attached. This is how many of the Mayhew treasured family recipes arrive – in e-mails. Or from the back of boxes. Or the inside of a cream cheese container. We’re traditionalists.
The rum cake recipe had the hallmarks of all good Southern desserts – boxed cake mix, instant pudding, a ton of butter and a lot of booze.
I have made this rum cake at Christmas ever since. The printout is now stained and crumpled. And in a true nod to the “reason for the season” script at the bottom says, “Nothing says the holidays better than a moist, rich Rum Cake!” Well, sort of. At least for us.
- 1 teaspoon melted butter
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- 1 package yellow cake mix
- 1 3.5-ounce package instant French vanilla pudding
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup rum
- 4 eggs
- Glaze
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup white sugar
- ⅛ cup water
- ⅛ cup rum
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat the bundt pan with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar and finely chopped pecans so they coat the pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and instant pudding. Add ½ cup water, ½ cup oil, ½ cup rum and four eggs. Mix until smooth and well blended. Spread evenly in the bundt pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Melt ¼ cup butter, ½ cup sugar, ⅛ cup water and ⅛ cup rum in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. Poke holes in the bottom of a cake (I use a wooden spoon handle). Pour glaze over hot cake. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan.
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