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:
- Preheat oven to 350 degree F (165 degree C). Butter and line an 8″ round/square tin.
- Drain the soaked raisins/dried fruits. We will keep the rum used for soaking and the drained raisins/dried fruits separate.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Keep it aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
- Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Mix in the orange zest (essence/extract) along with the pure vanilla extract. Mix well.
- 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.
- Only for chocolate variant: In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder and boiling water together until smooth with no lumps.
- Only for chocolate variant: Allow to cool slightly then add to the cake mixture until evenly blended.
- Fold in half of the raisins/dried fruits in the batter. Mix well.
- 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.
- Bake it for about 60 minutes until a knife or a skewer inserted through the center of the cake comes out clean.
- 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.
Flavors & Aromas 