Having an almost-full bottle of créme de banana on my hands (after buying it to make banana pudding), I looked around for other recipes where I might be able to put it to use. I'm not particularly fond of setting things on fire, so bananas foster was out. I decided to try a recipe for Rum Cake from Southern Living that calls for both rum and banana liqueur.
This cake is straightforward; it's made with butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, dark rum, banana liqueur, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and whipping cream. You bake the batter in a bundt pan, and while the cake is warm and still in the pan, you apply a syrup of made from butter, sugar, rum, and banana liqueur that have been cooked and reduced. I think I cooked my syrup too long, because it crystallized and became grainy and opaque. I poured it on the cake anyway, even though it just hardened on the surface of the cake and didn't get absorbed.
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Even though the crystallized syrup wasn't very attractive, it also wasn't too noticeable, since it was on the bottom of the cake. The sliced cake is pretty, with bright flecks of lemon zest throughout. The cake is dense, moist, and delicious. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this cake, because I really dislike the flavor of rum (rum raisin is the only flavor of ice cream that I won't touch with a ten-foot pole). While you can taste the rum, the banana and lemon flavors are equally prominent. My favorite part of the cake was the bottom with the crystallized syrup, since it had the strongest banana flavor.
If you happen to have a bottle of banana liqueur sitting around, I highly recommend making this cake. If you don't have any banana liqueur on hand, this cake might make it worth your while to go out and get some!
Recipe: "Rum Cake," from Three Guys from Miami Cook Cuban, printed in Southern Living, November 2005.
This cake is straightforward; it's made with butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, dark rum, banana liqueur, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and whipping cream. You bake the batter in a bundt pan, and while the cake is warm and still in the pan, you apply a syrup of made from butter, sugar, rum, and banana liqueur that have been cooked and reduced. I think I cooked my syrup too long, because it crystallized and became grainy and opaque. I poured it on the cake anyway, even though it just hardened on the surface of the cake and didn't get absorbed.
.JPG)
If you happen to have a bottle of banana liqueur sitting around, I highly recommend making this cake. If you don't have any banana liqueur on hand, this cake might make it worth your while to go out and get some!
Recipe: "Rum Cake," from Three Guys from Miami Cook Cuban, printed in Southern Living, November 2005.
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