Bacardi Rum Cake

With two glaze options.

In 1862, Spanish wine merchant Facundo Bacardi opened a distillery in Cuba that made white rum; after discovering bats living in the distillery, it became the logo for the resulting product. But the interesting thing about Bacardi was really from nearly 100 years later.

In the 1950s, the Bacardi distillery grew so wary of the power of Cuba’s military dictator Fulgencio Batista that the company supported the Cuban revolutionaries–while at the same time hedging bets that the revolution wouldn’t succeed and moving more of its production to facilities in Mexico and Puerto Rico. As the revolution started to take on a Communist philosophy, the company changed course and opposed the revolution.

And I think we know how that worked out, more or less. When Castro nationalized the distillery, it started to produce Havana Club rum using a Bacardi recipe; today, that rum is distributed worldwide. Except, of course, in the United States.

Here’s the folded recipe, and the full unfolded scan:

From the box of L.R. from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Bacardi Rum Cake

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 pkg. yellow cake-pudding mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/3 cup Wesson oil
1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum (80) proof.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and flour 10″ tube or 12 cup Bundt pan.

Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan.
Mix all cake ingredients together.
Pour batter over nuts.
Bake 1 hour. Cool.
Invert on serving plate.
Prick top.
Spoon and brush glaze evenly over top and sides.
Allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.

Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water.

Bring to boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat.
Add:
2 tsp. rum extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Glaze II:
1/4 lb. butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark rum

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Stir in rum.

Bacardi Rum Cake

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