Happy Hour at Tea time – Rum ‘n Raisin Cake

The inspiration for this flavor came from one of my favorite chocolate flavors, Rum ‘n Raisin. This is *the* only flavored chocolate that I can eat without getting bored 😀 So, I decided to bake a cake with this flavor thinking I would love it in a cake as well and I was not disappointed at all. In fact, I loved it so much, that I tried a different version of this cake and now both are my favorites 🙂 One is a plain Rum ‘n Raisin flavored sponge and the other is a Chocolate flavored variant of the same. Both variants follow the same basic recipe expect for an additional step for the chocolate flavored one.

Just a heads up, for best results, soak the raisins/dried fruits in the rum overnight or more. By doing this, you are infusing the flavor of rum into the raisins/dried fruits which will then hold that flavor better through the baking process.

Ingredients:

• Chopped Raisins – 1 cup (for a twist, you can add a cup of mixed dried fruits instead of just raisins)
• Dark Rum – ¾ cup (you can change the quantity as per your taste)
• Unsalted Butter – 225 grams
• Self-raising flour – 280 grams (you can also use plain flour)
• Caster Sugar – 200 grams
• Large Eggs, at room temperature – 4
• Baking Powder – 1 teaspoon
• Salt – ½ teaspoon
• Pure Vanilla Extract – 1 ½ teaspoons
• Grated Orange Zest – 1 tablespoon (you can also use orange essence/extract)
• Milk – ¼ cup
• Cocoa Powder (only for the chocolate variant) – ¾ cup (it always helps to use 100% natural Cocoa Powder)
• Boiling Water (only for the chocolate variant) – 2 or 3 tablespoons

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F (165 degree C). Butter and line an 8″ round/square tin.
2. Drain the soaked raisins/dried fruits. We will keep the rum used for soaking and the drained raisins/dried fruits separate.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Keep it aside.
4. Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
5. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Mix in the orange zest (essence/extract) along with the pure vanilla extract. Mix well.
7. Fold in flour, milk and rum (from which the raisins/dried fruits were drained out earlier) in the whisked butter sugar mixture one by one until well combined. Please follow steps 8 & 9, additionally, for the chocolate variant else skip directly to step 10.
8. Only for chocolate variant: In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder and boiling water together until smooth with no lumps.
9. Only for chocolate variant: Allow to cool slightly then add to the cake mixture until evenly blended.
10. Fold in half of the raisins/dried fruits in the batter. Mix well.
11. Pour half of the batter in the lined tin. Add a layer of the remaining raisins/dried fruits and top it up with the rest of the batter.
12. Bake it for about 60 minutes until a knife or a skewer inserted through the center of the cake comes out clean.
13. Remove from the oven and let in cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack and allow it to cool completely before cutting it.

Have it with a cuppa tea or coffee to add a dash of happiness to a dull day 🙂

Your feedback is always welcome 🙂

P.S. You can turn this cake non-alcholic by replacing the Rum with Apple Juice.