Midnight Cake ~ Good and Evil

             

                        

Midnight chocolate chip rum cake.

 

 

 

If you know me at all you know that chocolate is not my favorite.  But as I finally began to sort through, organize, and redo my recipe files which are over fifty years old (some from relatives are even older), I ran into this wonderful cake.  I can find nothing wrong with this recipe and I nearly panicked trying to find it once I was in the cake section of one of my recipe drawers.  As you can see, it has been made many times for many people and even I love it. Naturally it looks even better coming out of my new Nordic cake pan.  Love it too.  It might be the rum that keeps drawing me back to this cake because the sauce poured on top of the hot cake can be poured on many different kinds of cake, all with scrumptious results.

 

Of all the recipes I have given you, this is in the top five.

1 box of chocolate cake mix

1 box instant chocolate pudding mix (4 1/2 oz.)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup rum and 1/2 cup cold brewed coffee

4 large eggs

1/2 cup salad oil (or butter for richness)

1 cup chocolate chips (divided)

1 cup of nuts (divided)

 

Thoroughly combine cake mix, pudding, vanilla, sour cream, eggs, rum and oil. Add half of the chocolate. chips and half of the nuts. Beat five minutes.  Fold in the rest of the nuts and chips. Turn the batter into a well greased and floured bundt or tube pan. Bake at 350 (In my convection oven it takes about 40 minutes.) The recipe calls for an hour--so judge your oven and bake accordingly. Now this is where we differ: recipe says cool in pan 30 minutes and then invert on serving plate.  Puncture with fork tongs on top of the cake and drizzle the glaze evenly over the top. (You can do this, I have.) But now I do not punch holes, I keep it in the pan and while everything is still hot I pour the following rum glaze over the top, taking a sharp knife and moving the cake's sides to let the glaze run freely down into the cake.  While it is still warm, not hot, invert on a pretty cake plate. Most of the glaze will have been absorbed.

 

Glaze (use on many different cakes)

1/4 lb. butter

1/4 c. water

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup rum

 

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Stir in rum (off the heat). Done! and Yum!

 

As you can see, we are also rushing spring.  Andy bought these flowers today for our new window boxes made for us by Cincinnati Joe F.  Andy also bought two Belle of Georgia peach trees to expand our orchard.  We are ready to plant!  Andy is taking two organic gardening classes at The Ohio State this semester, so plants are on the minds of the guys here at Many Branches.