bring the island vaca to you

Keeping with the tropical inspiration of the last post, I am going to grace you with a cake that I have been wanting to make for a while now. {Gasp} it is not slathered in frosting, as you might expect from me. It does not involve various tiers and cutesy decorating, also something you may expect to come from me. This is not chocolate (believe it or not, I am not a huge chocolate fan, I just know several people that are) nor is it marshmallow filled. It is another lovely answer to the ripe banana quandary (or blessing). It's the very adult and flavorful Bahama Mama Banana Rum Cake from my personal bible of Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey. Listen, I'm sorry if you're sick of hearing about it but I am dying to tackle many if not most of the recipes in this cookbook and it's layout is just too damn cute for me to pass it up. Of course, you'll probably need a coronary bypass after trying much of what is in there but I'll try to sprinkle some anecdotes about lettuce and stuff, too.

Anyway, this is great if you are hoping to serve many (or few for an extended period). It definitely suits the "adult" palate of those who may not love to smother themselves with frosting (I can't believe you people exist but I will take one for the team) and prefer the ease of having their cake and drinking their drink, too.

Bahama Mama Banana Rum Cake

from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey
Yield: 24 servings
I am telling you, the book says 10 servings. That's just mad. It would be almost 1,000 calories per serving! Go ahead and eat that much but I warned you about the impending cardiac surgery.

INGREDIENTS
cake
1 1/2 C chopped pecans, toasted other nuts like walnuts would be delish, too
1 1/2 C (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 C granulated sugar
1 C firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temp
1 C mashed, very ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
2 t pure vanilla extract
3 T dark rum (or a t of rum extract)
3 C bleached all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
3/4 C sour cream I use low fat or fat free without an issue

dark rum glaze
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 C water
1/2 C firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C quality dark rum

DIRECTIONS
cake
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F Spray a 10-cup tube or bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray, then flour, tapping out the excess flour. The pan needs to be well-greased, or the cake will stick to it.  Sprinkle the nuts in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy.
2. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Beat in the mashed bananas, vanilla, and rum (or rum extract).
4. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt over the batter and fold in using a rubber spatula, just until no streaks of flour remain. Fold in the sour cream.
5. Spoon the batter over the nuts in the pan and spread to the edge of the pan using the back of a rubber spatula.
6. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out with no more than a few moist crumbs clinging to it, 60 to 80 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes.

dark rum glaze and cake assembly
1. While the cake is baking combine the butter, water, and sugars in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Immediately reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum. Set aside and keep warm.
4. Use a wooden skewer to poke holes all over the cake and pour 1/4 C of the warm glaze over the cake. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes more.
5. Place a serving platter over the pan and invert to release the cake onto the platter. Spoon the remaining glaze over the cake, a little at a time, and let stand until the glaze is completely absorbed into the cake. If the glaze starts to pool at the base of the cake, use a small metal spatula to spread it up and around the sides of the cake. It will look like you have too much glaze, but don’t worry, within a few hours the cake will absorb all of it.
6. Let the cake cool completely before cutting into wedges and serving. This cake will last 2 to 3 days if covered well.

Nutrition: 340cal, 16g fat, 217mg sod, 44g carb, 30g sugar, 0g fiber, 3g protein