Bahama Mama Banana Rum Cake

Sometimes I'm not sure why I do this little blog.  I seriously doubt that it's the highlight of anyone's day and frankly it can be a lot of work.  But then I think of the 'rents and how disappointed they'd both be if I quit.  I mean it truly gives them something to do besides play pickle ball all morning and search for someone to have post-golf cocktails with all afternoon!  But, that's retirement in The Villages.

When they're not doing that, my dad gets hungry, surfs my site and yells, "Hey Charlie, you've gotta see what Dilla has on here today.  You should make it for me."  So that's kept him out of trouble for about 15 minutes and in turn gives my mom a couple of tasks.  First call me to say "thanks a lot for THAT, daughter" and then trudge into the kitchen to pour a glass of wine (or maybe it's me that does that) and make whatever it was that got Pops all exited.  Win-win.  

So, sorry in advance, Nan.  (Pssst....Pop.  You'll want her to make this one!)  To be honest, I was initially drawn to this by the name....Bahama Mama Banana Rum Cake.  How fun does that sound?  Oh, and the booze!!  I'm not much of a liquor drinker (I said liquor.  NOT wine) but I love it in food and what goes together better than rum and bananas?  This is the perfect marriage (just like the 'rents') of Rum Cake and Banana Bread and the Dark Rum Glaze provides great moisture and sends this over the top.  I had a little bit of the glaze left over, so when I served this to hubs, I threw on a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled the extra warm sauce over the top.  Un.  Be.  Lieve.  A.  Ble.  I had to make an extra batch of the glaze so he could eat the rest of the cake this way!

Here's the recipe:

Bahama Mama Banana Rum Cake

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor

For the Dark Rum Glaze:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar (I used dark, because that's what I had)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark rum

For the Cake:
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted (I left out the pecans in the baking process, because I knew I'd be serving this to people that can't have or don't like nuts.  I, instead, sprinkled them on top when I served it.)
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons dark rum
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream

To make the glaze:  Combine the butter, water and sugars in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.  Immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the rum.  Set aside and keep warm.

To make the cake:  Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 deg. F.  Spray a 10-cup tube pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Sprinkle the pecans in the bottom of the pan.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together the butter and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one a a time, mixing well after each addition.  Beat in the mashed bananas, vanilla, and rum.  Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt over the batter and fold in using a rubber spatula, just until no streaks of flour remain.  Fold in the sour cream.  Spoon the batter over the nuts in the pan and spread to the edge of the pan using the back of the rubber spatula.

Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out with no more than a few moist crumbs clinging to it, 60 to 80 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes.  Use a wooden skewer to poke holes all over the cake and pour 1/4 cup of the warm glaze over the cake.  Let the cake cool for 5 minutes more.  Place a serving platter over the pan and invert to release the cake onto the platter.  Spoon the remaining glaze over the cake, a little at a time, and let stand until the glaze is completely absorbed into the cake.  If the glaze starts to pool at the base of the cake, us a small metal spatula to spread it up and around the sides of the cake.  As the glaze hardens, this will encase the cake in a rummy, sugary shell.

Let the cake cool completely before cutting into wedges and serving.  This cake will last 2 to 3 days if covered well.