Chocolate Huckleberry Rum Cocktail Cake

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I cannot go to Idaho without making a cocktail cake. It is seriously a requirement anytime my Mom and I are in the same state at the same time. Three years ago I drove to Idaho for my Mom’s birthday, with a Strawberry Margarita and a Guinness Kiss Cocktail Cake on my front seat. I also gave her a copy of the recipe so she could make one whenever she wanted to, and she has been guarding the recipe with her life ever since…..

She has been hounded for years for the recipe, but she just tells everyone that it is top secret. Why you ask? Because I have been working on a Cocktail Cakes Cookbook for a few years now, and figured it was best to keep them a secret. 😉 Why is it taking so long? I’ll explain that later…

First, I need to explain this recipe…are you sitting down? This cake is made with a cake mix…Gasp…the horror! No, not really, but there are some purists out there that are clicking the X up in the corner right now. Please don’t run away, I can explain…..

Some of you may know that I have been baking Cocktail Cakes and selling them in Cedar Rapids for almost 10 years now. Several years ago I changed my diet and eliminated all processed food {okay almost all processed foods} and decided to do an experiment. I baked 2 identical flavored cakes, one from scratch and one with a mix, and sent them to work with my husband. His co-workers have been my willing guinea pigs since the beginning!! I asked them for honest feedback…Cake A or Cake B. Which one do you prefer?

They filled out the form and some even sent emails with their reasons for preferring one over the other. The outcome? The cake baked with the mix won every time! “It tastes like the cakes that I grew up with.” The mouth feel is very different in the cake mix cake…even when I use cake flour in my scratch cakes. The customer is always right, so I continued making them with cake mixes.

This is the way that I made my very first one, and it was perfect, so I have continued with this method ever since, LOL. Place all of the Cake ingredients in a large bowl…..

Now this part is key…stir the ingredients together without turning on the mixer! This will prevent the ingredients from flying all over your kitchen. 😉

Turn on the mixer and beat until thoroughly combined. Spray a 12 cup Bundt pan with a generous amount of baking spray…not low-fat spray…not regular cooking spray…baking spray!! Then pour the batter into the pan…..

Tap the pan up and down on the counter or floor to release the air bubbles. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 47 to 50 minutes, until the cake starts to pull away from the sides and a toothpick comes out almost clean when stuck into the center of the cake…..

Do you see how the cake is slightly pulling away? That is what you are looking for. This is a very moist cake, so the toothpick will have some cake on it. That is perfectly normal. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes while you make the glaze. Place all of the Glaze ingredients into a small bowl and whisk to combine…..

I used huckleberry pancake syrup, so there are chunks of huckleberry in my glaze. 😉 The cake will continue to pull away from the sides and shrink as it cools…..

Flip the cake out onto a wire cooking rack and place on a large plate. Drizzle the glaze over the cake using a large spoon…..

Move the rack with the cake to a second plate…..

The glaze collects on the plate under the cake, so scoop up the glaze with your spoon and continue drizzling the glaze over the cake. You will need to move the plate back and forth a few times until you run out of glaze. Allow the cake to cool completely, 12 to 24 hours before serving. Hot rum will burn your throat, and it doesn’t taste very good! This cake needs time to mellow out before serving…..

Why is the cookbook taking so long? Well for starters, this blog takes a huge amount of time! Getting a house ready to sell also takes a lot of time. Dealing with an uncooperative ex is emotionally draining, and therefore makes everything seem harder and take longer. I am also going through each recipe and recreating it from scratch and taking new photos, and that takes time.

I am also still trying to figure out the best way to create and sell the cookbook. I have always wanted a hardcover cookbook with color photos, which is incredibly expensive to produce. I switched to creating an e-book, and then found out that consumers prefer actual books over e-books. That has always been my preference, and apparently I am not alone. So back to the drawing board!! My goal is still to have it ready to go by the end of the year, then I just have to figure out how to get it produced.

You may have noticed that I made a big deal about using baking spray! I made this cake while I was in Idaho, and the first one stuck in the pan and is only good for trifle. That has never happened to me before…EVER!! So I looked at the bottle of PAM and it was a 97% fat free version. That does not work when baking. I went to the store and bought PAM for baking and all new ingredients, and the second cake turned out perfectly. 🙂

After all of these years, I am still learning. 😉 Here is the entire Cooking with Astrology “Libra” meal for 2014…..

Lemon Drop Martinis

Huckleberry Glazed Salmon

Goat Cheese Whipped Potatoes

and this super delicious Chocolate Huckleberry Rum Cocktail Cake.

Check out last year’s Libra meal here.

Enjoy!!