Butterscotch Rum Cake

For some reason, lately, I have been craving butterscotch. I love those little butterscotch chips from the baking aisle, but I never buy them because I'll eat a whole bag before I ever bake anything with them. When I do pick some up, though, my favorite treat to make with them is butterscotch rum cake.

I developed this recipe myself just to have something new to use butterscotch chips in (besides blondies and other bar type desserts). There are lots of butterscotch cake recipes online, but they all seem to have a pre-made cake mix as their base. Homie don't play that. I prefer to start from scratch (with the exception of pastry dough...but you already knew that).

I played and tweaked, experimented and changed things around until I had a recipe I loved, and now I hope you love it too! It's easy, and relatively fast. You could certainly make this in the early afternoon for an evening dinner party or get together with time left over to get ready. Plus, they are incredible with the optional addition of a little chocolate! I make this recipe as a bundt cake, but you could make a layer cake, if you don't have a bundt pan. 

All you need to make these treats is unsalted butter, salt, baking powder, eggs, milk, cake flour, sugar, and rum. Pay no attention to that sour cream in the middle of the photo...in fact, pretend that it's brown sugar! ;)

The magic ingredient for today's recipe are these butterscotch chips. If you choose to make mini cakes, you should buy at least two bags, but if you make a single, large cake, then you can get by with one.

To get started, melt one cup of butterscotch chips in a small, microwave safe bowl. Set it aside and allow it to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and set it aside. In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Scrape the bowl again, and stir in the melted chips. Sprinkle half of the flour on top of the mixture and mix until just combined. Add the milk and stir well. Sprinkle the rest of the flour mixture on top and mix until just combined. Finally, add the rum and mix until everything is well combined. Scrape the bowl and give the batter a final stir to ensure everything is combined.

Spray your cake pan with nonstick baking spray that has flour in it. For mini bundt cakes, fill each one with two tablespoons of batter, or two scoops using a small spring-loaded scoop. For a full sized cake, pour all of the batter into a large bundt pan. Bake mini cakes at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For a full sized cake, bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted int he center comes out clean.

Allow your cake(s) to cool completely on a wire cooling rack. Thanks to the baking spray, your cake should come right out of the pan! This was the first time I had ever used the baking spray and I was so thrilled with the results! I have always preferred to grease and flour my pans myself, and I didn't believe that the spray would work as well. I feel like it's more thorough to do it myself, but this time I absolutely was not in the mood to grease and flour each and every one of those little bundt molds. Fortunately, I didn't have to...and I never will!

These look a little forlorn, don't they? Not to worry! I have a couple of extremely easy, extremely yummy glazes to drizzle on top of them!!

The first is simply more butterscotch chips and a little milk heated together in the microwave. The second is exactly the same, but with semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of butterscotch. I like to make both and mix things up: a few butterscotch, a few chocolate, a few with both! Simply drizzle the glaze(s) on top as desired.

You could also sprinkle whole, or chopped, chips on these for a little extra garnish, if you wanted. Or even some chopped pecans or walnuts, but I like them with just the glazes.

I needed to taste test the flavors to make sure everything was as it should be. No, really! I did!


 I like all three flavors, but I have to admit that the two with butterscotch are the best. The plain chocolate glaze is very good, but not quite as awesome as the ones with the butterscotch glaze.

These are one of the easiest decadent desserts I know of. They're pretty and delicious, but still fast and easy. Me likey! And I think you will too! Enjoy!

Butterscotch Rum Bundt Cake with Butterscotch and Chocolate Glazes

Makes 24 mini cakes (or 1 full sized Bundt cake)

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:

2 1/2 cups plain cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 cup butterscotch chips, melted and cooled

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup rum


1 to 2 bags butterscotch chips

FOR THE BUTTERSCOTCH GLAZE:

2/3 cup butterscotch chips, melted

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

To make the cake(s): Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan(s) with nonstick baking spray containing flour.

In a small, microwave safe bowl, melt one cup of butterscotch chips. Set it aside and allow it to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and set it aside.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Scrape the bowl again, and stir in the melted chips. Sprinkle half of the flour on top of the mixture and mix until just combined. Add the milk and stir well. Sprinkle the rest of the flour mixture on top and mix until just combined. Finally, add the rum and mix until everything is well combined. Scrape the bowl and give the batter a final stir to ensure everything is combined.

For mini bundt cakes, fill the prepared pan with two tablespoons of batter per cake. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For a full sized cake, pour all of the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted int he center comes out clean.

Transfer cake(s) to a wire cooling rack and cool completely before adding glaze.

To make the butterscotch glaze: Combine the chips and 1 tablespoon of milk in a small bowl and microwave for about 45 seconds. Stir until all of the chips are completely melted. Add more milk for a thinner glaze. Drizzle over the cakes immediately.

To make the chocolate glaze: Combine the chips and 1 tablespoon of milk in a small bowl and microwave for about 45 seconds. Stir until all of the chips are completely melted. Add more milk for a thinner glaze (I usually use all of the milk for the chocolate glaze. Drizzle over the cakes immediately.

Be aware that the glaze recipes will only cover about 1/3 of the mini cakes each, but it's very simple to make more. Since I like to mix and match, I make small batches, one at a time, then make more as needed.

For Momma Terri: PB & J All the Way

My mom is the strongest woman I know. Early on in her life, she devoted herself to caring for my father and providing for her family when things were exceptionally tough. My sisters and I have been incredibly fortunate to have been raised by someone with so much strength. She taught us how to be the happy women we are today. There is never an adequate way to thank her for the sacrifices she made, so today, in my small way, I'll do the best I can. Today's post is dedicated to you, Momma! I love you and I appreciate the life I live because of you!

With Mother's Day this Sunday, I wanted to make something that reminded me of being a little girl, hanging out with my mom after school. There were lots of different things to choose from, but I kept coming back to peanut butter and jelly. It's such a classic and most of us have had a loving mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, or friend that made one for us at some point. That's why I am revisiting the classic PB & J sandwich and making it into something a little more sinful: a cookie. What's more, I get to honor my sweet, strong momma in another way because I'm using her peanut butter cookie recipe as the base for this dessert.

The star ingredients today are an egg, baking soda, salt, vanilla, sugar, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, unsalted butter, and peanut butter.

And jelly, of course. Obviously, you can use any flavor of jelly or jam here, but I chose to stick with classic grape.

In a small bowl, combine the baking soda, salt, and one cup of the flour; set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars together in a medium bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined, then stir in the vanilla and peanut butter. Add the flour/baking soda mixture and mix until combined. Add half of the remaining flour to the mixture, and mix well. At this point, touch the dough to see if it's still sticky. If it is, add more flour, a little at a time, until it's still moist, but no longer tacky.

Roll tablespoonfuls into balls and place on cookies sheets lined with parchment or Silpat sheets. Dip each cookie ball in sugar. You can dip just the tops in, or you can roll the whole ball in the sugar.

Using your thumb, a knuckle, or the back of a small measuring spoon, make an indentation in each cookie.

Fill each indentation with a small amount of jelly.

Once all of the cookies are filled, bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. When the cookies first come out of the oven, you can add a little more jelly, if desired. I like them as is, but the extra jelly cookies went over well with my boys. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheets for a minute or so, then transfer to wire cooling racks. Allow to cool completely before serving.

These are really wonderful! I don't usually like fruit on or in my cookies, but these are so good, I can hardly stand it! The grape jelly is subtle and makes the centers very soft, while the edges are firm. They're delicious! Make some for your momma, or make some for your babies, but definitely make them!! Enjoy!

P.B. & J. Thumbprints

Makes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 - 2 cups all-purpose flour


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat sheets.


In a small bowl, combine the baking soda, salt, and one cup of the flour; set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars together in a medium bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined, then stir in the vanilla and peanut butter. Add the flour/baking soda mixture and mix until combined. Add half of the remaining flour to the mixture, and mix well. At this point, touch the dough to see if it's still sticky. If it is add more flour, a little at a time, until it's still moist, but no longer tacky.

Roll tablespoonfuls into balls and place on cookies sheets. Dip each cookie ball in sugar. You can dip just the tops in, or you can roll the whole ball in the sugar.

Using your thumb, a knuckle, or the back of a small measuring spoon, make an indentation in each cookie.

Once all of the cookies are filled, bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheets for a minute or so, then transfer to wire cooling racks. Cool completely before serving.