Adding our Spiced Rum to the batter, soaking syrup, and glaze gives this almond pound cake a kick that will keep you warm and bright this holiday season (or any season for that matter).
Yields one, 9 cup capacity bundt pan or one large loaf.
Cake:
- 351g butter, soft (plus more for preparing the pan)
- 421g granulated sugar
- 112g All-purpose flour (plus more for dusting the pan)
- 351g Almond flour/meal
- 421g egg, room temperature
- 56g Spiced Rum
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Spiced Rum Soaking Syrup:
- 45g simple syrup
- 65g Spiced Rum
Spiced Rum Glaze:
- 135g Powdered sugar
- 30g Spiced Rum
- 15g Milk
Preheat oven to 350°F
Butter a 9 inch round cake pan (optional: line buttered pan with a 9 inch round parchment paper)
Making the Spiced Rum Soaking Syrup:
First, you will need to make simple syrup:
Simple syrup is just equal parts water and sugar. I like to make a bigger batch than I need, use what I need for the recipe and save the rest for cocktails or sweetening tea and coffee.
100g sugar
100g water
Heat water and sugar in a small sauce pan until it comes to a boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Measure what you need, store the rest in the fridge.
To make the rum syrup:
Stir together the simple syrup and spiced rum.
Making the glaze:
Whisk together powdered sugar, rum and milk.
Making the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 F
With handheld beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar, extract, and zest together until light and fluffy.
While butter is creaming, whisk together the flour, almond flour, nutmeg and salt until no clumps remain.
Slowly incorporate eggs, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
Take care to not over mix the eggs – it’s ok if this mixture does not seem totally smooth after adding all the eggs.
Add all of the dry ingredients and on low speed mix in until just combined, making sure to scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl.
Slowly add in the rum until fully combined, and give the bowl one last scrape down to ensure the mix is homogenous.
To prepare the pan:
-Grease the pan with a light coating of soft butter.
-Add a few tablespoons of flour and move around the pan to evenly coat.
-Tap out any excess flour
Alternatively, for a loaf pan, you can line the pan with a parchment paper sling. Cut a strip of parchment that is the width of the pan and long enough to extend up both sides by about an inch or two. Grease the sides and bottom of pan to keep the paper in place. When the cake is cooled, you can lift it out of the pan by the sling.
Bake cake at 350 F
For bundt: ~50-65 minutes
For loaf: ~70-80 minutes
Bake until internal temperature reaches 190 F on an instant-read thermometer or cake tester comes out clean. If the cake begins to reach a deep caramel brown color but still needs more time in the oven, tent the top with foil to prevent over-browning.
Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack.
When the cake is barely warm, poke with a fork, skewer, or cake tester and brush with the Spiced rum syrup all over.
Let the cake cool completely.
Once cool, mix up the glaze and brush, pour or drizzle over the cake.
Tips:
-While the cake is in the oven, make the soaking syrup (including simple syrup) and measure out the ingredients for the glaze so it’s all ready to go by the time the cake cools.
-Don’t rush the baking process or be fooled by the coloring- this is a dense cake that needs the appropriate amount of time in the oven. Better to slightly overbake than under.
-Wrapped in plastic or stored in a zip-top bag, this cake will keep up to four days at room temperature.
-If you don’t have a bunt pan or large loaf pan, don’t stress. This recipe can easily be baked in a square pan, muffin tins, or a combo of a small loaf pan and muffins- just make sure the batter doesn’t exceed ½ inch from the top of the pan. FYI: this cake will bake much faster in muffin or square pans.
-This recipe is only listed in weight measurement to ensure accuracy. If you don’t own a digital kitchen scale, you can find one online or at most kitchen supply stores for around $20. Totally worth the investment.
