Recipe: Vanilla Rum Cake

Photo by: Sarah Rausch

Back when I first started this blog I did a post about powdered sugar and how obsessed I was with it; that post also included a picture of a bunt cake. A friend recently asked for the recipe from me and now that I have found it again here is a delicious recipe to try this fall.
This recipe uses actual rum not rum extract and the flavor combination is delicious. Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication: Holiday Baking 2012

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter (room temperature)
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 egg yolk (room temperature)
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup light rum
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
powdered sugar

Generously grease and lightly flour a 10-in fluted tube pan. In a medium bowl combine milk and rum. Stir in vanilla bean seeds into milk mixture. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer to medium high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugars and  beat for about 10 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs and egg yolk; beat for 1 minute. Add flour and milk mixture, alternately, on low speed until combined. Pour batter into pan evenly and bake at 325 for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Recipe: Lemon Pound Cake

This is a yummy pound cake with a hint of lemon.

2/3 cup butter (no sub)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2/3 cup milk
2 1/4 cup sifted cake flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs
Powdered sugar

Have ingredients at room temperature. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light (5 minutes). Mix in milk, lemon zest, and juice. Sift the dry ingredients together and mix in. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each. Pour into a greased 9x5x3 pan, bake for 80 minutes at 300 or until the cake tests done. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Recipe: White Chocolate Mousse

This has been a hit every time I've made it. I don't recommend this if you're looking for something easy to make. It will, however, impress your guests if you take the time to make it and make it right.

CHOCOLATE CUPS:

Dark chocolate

Melt the chocolate until smooth and no clumps remain. Using a spoon spread a coating of chocolate on the inside of silicone cupcake liners. Making sure that it is completely coated and the base is about 1/4 inch thick. Allow to cool in the refrigerator then remove from mold.

 

Photo Credit: Sarah Rausch

MOUSSE:

1 1/4 cup heavy cream
8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped (or chips)
4 large eggs, separated
3 Tbsp confectioners sugar
Fresh berries for garnish

In a double boiler heat water to a simmer and add the 1/4 cup cream and the chocolate. Melt the chocolate and stir occasionally. Remove it from heat to melt and let cool slightly before use in the next step.
In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks until pale yellow and thickened. Gradually whisk in the melted chocolate mixture. Place into a larger bowl of ice water. Let stand and stir ofter until tepid. This is important so as not to melt the whipped cream in the next step.
Beat the remaining 1 cup of whipping cream in a chilled bowl with an electric mixer on high until stiff peaks form. Stir in 1/4 the whipped cream in the the chocolate mixture then fold in the remaining whipped cream.

With a clean bowl and beaters whip the eggs whites until soft peaks form. Add the confectioners' sugar and whip just until the peaks are stiff and shiny. Stir in 1/4 of the beaten egg whites then fold in the remaining to the chocolate mixture.

Allow mixture to set in the refrigerator for a few hours before piping or simply spoon into bowls, glasses, or chocolate cups. Chill at least 3 hours but up to 24. Place into serving dish and garnish with fresh berries.

 

Notes:

Making the chocolate cups the first time wasn't as easy as I thought it would have been. I recommend using a double boiler method so that the chocolate doesn't start to firm as you're working. The difficult part was keeping  the edged from breaking when removing the molds. It can involve re-melting the chocolate  which isn't hard to do with dark chocolate happily.