All-New Cake Mix Doctor - Anne Byrn [117]
4 large eggs
For the glaze
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1. Make the cake: Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the 1 cup of rum in a small bowl and stir in the raisins. Let the raisins steep for 15 minutes.
Recipe Reminders
MADE FOR
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PREP NOTES
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SPECIAL TOUCHES
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2. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust it with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pan aside.
3. Place the cake mix, milk, oil, flour, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Drain the rum the raisins steeped in into the bowl and set aside the raisins. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients just come together, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the batter is smooth and thick, 1½ minutes longer. Using the rubber spatula, fold in the raisins. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula, and place the pan in the oven.
4. Bake the cake until the top springs back when lightly pressed with a finger, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer the Bundt pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Make the glaze: Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until it melts. Stir in the 2 tablespoons of rum and the corn syrup. Combine the confectioners’ sugar and the cocoa powder and whisk this into the warm butter mixture until the sugar dissolves. Set the glaze aside briefly.
6. Run a long, sharp knife around the edges of the cake, shake the pan gently, and invert the cake onto a serving plate. Using a wooden skewer, poke 12 to 16 holes in the top of the cake. Spoon the warm glaze over the cake, allowing the cake to absorb the glaze before adding more. Slice and serve the cake warm or let it rest for 25 to 30 minutes, then slice and serve.
Keep It Fresh! Store this cake, in a cake saver, at room temperature for up to five days. Freeze the cake, in a cake saver or wrapped in aluminum foil, for up to six months. Let the cake thaw overnight on the counter before serving.
Sheet Cakes
I remember the summer when we were moving from one house to another and most of our belongings were stored in boxes in the garage. Thinking I was organized and clever and would be so ready come moving day, I had cleaned out the kitchen cabinets ahead of the move. But a birthday rolled around, and then a potluck supper, and then a block party. I couldn’t find my 13 by 9–inch metal baking pan to at least make a pan of brownies. So I went out and bought another.
Life may be partly preparing for the days ahead but it’s also celebrating the present. And the 13 by 9–inch pan is all about the day-to-day. It’s the pan you most likely stash in the bottom drawer and use at least once a week. It might be warped and worn. It might be cared for, complete with a snap-on plastic lid. It might be one of many because maybe you, like me, can’t live without it.
Tailgate parties, Thanksgiving dinners, holiday brunch, New Year’s morning, spring picnics, graduation cookouts, church potluck suppers, and birthday cakes at school—these are all occasions when I have pulled out the 13 by 9–inch pan and made what I call a sheet cake. Now technically in restaurant speak a sheet cake is a cake baked in the more shallow sheet pan,