I often bake the cake and add the rum sauce two or three days ahead. Then decorate and add the whipped cream just before serving. -- Una Pratt
Ingredients
Cake:
4 eggs (separated)
1 ½ cups of white sugar
½ cup of boiling water
1 teaspoon of Vanilla
1 ½ cups of sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
sauce (see recipe #1 or #2 below)
apricot halves, fresh or canned
apricot jelly
maraschino cherries
2 cups sweetened whip cream
Sauce #1:
¾ cup of water
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cup rum (white or dark, I use dark)
Sauce #2:
¼ pound butter
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
½ cup gold rum
Method
Grease a 9" tube pan generously. (I use a Bundt pan). Preheat oven to 325°. Beat egg yolks. Add ¾ cup of sugar while continuing to beat. Add boiling water. Add the remaining ¾ cup of sugar. Add the vanilla, beating well.
In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Fold them into the batter with a wooden spoon. Pour the batter into the tube pan, and bake for 1 hour at 325°.
Cool for 5 minutes. Carefully unmould onto a cooling rack. While still warm, drizzle sauce (see recipe) all over the cake, and let stand a few hours, or overnight in fridge.
When ready to serve, decorate with apricot halves, spread on some fruit jelly and top with a cherry. Spoon on or pipe whipped cream around cake.
makes 8-10 servings.
Sauce #1:
Measure water and sugar into a saucepan with a cover. Boil 5 minutes, covered. Cool to lukewarm. Add rum. Pour over cake as directed.
Sometimes I alternate the sauce for this glaze. I think I used this on the cake you sampled!
Sauce #2:
Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in sugar, water and rum. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Prick top of cake - spoon and brush glaze evenly overtop and sides of the cake. Allow to absorb the glaze. Repeat glaze until glaze is used up.
No wine should be served as you enjoy Baba au Rum Cake, because it would compete with the rum. "You don't mix wine with spirits!" But, as you sit back after a meal, I suggest sherry or port: Samos from Greece, Marsala from Sicily, or Tokay from Hungary. Enjoy!!