Triple rum black pepper bundt cake (#BundtBakers)

New year, new Bundt Bakers post. And what else is new? The host! That’s right—this month’s host is yours truly, swooping down to bestow you all with the (totally rad, IMHO) theme of “strange but good—weird flavor combinations that actually work” before soaring back up into the clouds of Hostingdom.

And I have to say, I am super impressed with all the flavors people have come up with. The theme was pretty broad, but everyone rose to the occasion (just like a nicely-leavened cake, eh?) and put together some pretty frickin weird cakes that also sound pretty frickin delicious. Please please please check out the links at the bottom of this post!

I’ll wait.

...okay. You good? Got a couple (dozen) tabs open? All right. Let’s talk about this cake.

Aw yiss, it's that hypnotic spiral-y bundt pan again.

This cake is taken straight from Baked Elements—the booze chapter, naturally. As an ode to rum and such strong alcoholic beverages, I’d say it works. You’ve got a substantial amount of rum in the cake itself, some rum in the syrup (which you use to soak your cake and turn it into a rich, dense, syrupy hunk of deliciousness), and even more rum in the buttery delicious glaze. I think Jack Sparrow would approve.

Uh...because I used it all to make this cake? source

Okay, so what’s the catch? What makes this thing so strange-but-good? OH YEAH there’s like 2 teaspoons of black pepper in this thing. Which is not a lot, but also...a lot, flavor-wise. You can definitely taste it.

See where I’m going with this? It’s strange...but good.

Think of it like putting cayenne in your chocolate. I’ve done that before. Or thyme in your lemon buttercream. Or rosemary in your pumpkin cake. These typically savory herbs add a lovely bit of spice to sweet desserts, a bit of interest to a typically straightforward baked good. In this bundt, the pepper turns this very straightforward rum cake into something unexpected and even more craveable.

I'm coining that. CRAVEABLE.

Of course, it doesn’t help that this cake is jam-packed with tasty shit like brown sugar and buttery substances. But rum is good too.

As Jack Sparrow well knows. source

_________

Triple rum black pepper bundt cake

Adapted from Baked Elements by Matt Lewis

Ingredients

Rum cake

408 grams • all-purpose flour • 3 cups

4 grams • baking powder • 1 teaspoon

4 grams • baking soda • 1 teaspoon

4 grams • freshly ground black pepper • 2 teaspoons

2 grams • salt • ¼ teaspoon

25 grams • ground flaxseed • 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon

150 grams • warm water • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons

112 grams • vegan butter, room temperature • 4 ounces

112 grams • coconut oil, room temperature • 4 ounces

200 grams • granulated sugar • 1 cup

230 grams • dark brown sugar • 1 cup

244 grams • nondairy milk • 1 cup

8 grams • apple cider vinegar • 1 ½ teaspoons

184 grams • dark rum • ¾ cup

12 grams • vanilla extract • 1 tablespoon

Rum syrup

112 grams • vegan butter, room temperature • 4 ounces

68 grams • granulated sugar • 1/3 cup

45 grams • water • 3 tablespoons

62 grams • dark rum • ¼ cup

Buttered rum drizzle

120 grams • powdered sugar • 1 cup

56 grams • vegan butter, melted • 2 ounces

45 grams • dark rum • 3 tablespoons

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10- or 12-cup bundt pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, black pepper, and salt. Also combine flaxseed and water in a small bowl and let stand until thickened.

Place vegan butter and coconut oil in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat until smooth. Add granulated sugar and dark brown sugar; cream until light fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add flaxseed mixture and beat to combine.

Combine milk, vinegar, rum, and vanilla in a measuring cup. Add flour mixture to stand mixer in three parts, alternating with milk mixture. Beat for 10 to 15 second with each addition, until incorporated. Do not over-mix.

Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour, rotating halfway through baking time, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make rum syrup, add vegan butter, sugar, and water to a medium saucepan. Turn heat to medium-high and stir until the sugar dissolves and the butter is melted. Stop stirring, increase heat to high, and allow mixture to gently boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl, stir vigorously to release excess heat, and stir in the rum. 

Stick the cooled bundt cake back in the bundt pan and use a toothpick or skewer to poke holes in the bottom several times. Use a spon to slowly drizzle rum syrup over cake; you may not want to use all, but you certainly can. Let sit for at least 3 hours, then invert onto a serving platter and remove pan.

To make buttered rum drizzle, add powdered sugar to a small bowl and add vegan butter; whisk until combined. Add rum and keep whisking until glossy and almost pourable. Drizzle glaze along the crown of the cake. Let set for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

______________

That glaze though.

Bonus trivia about this cake! You see that handsome bottle in the background? That’s some fresh straight-up Barbadian rum! My parents recently went on an excursion all the way down to the island and brought back a few souvenirs, not least among them a bottle of Mount Gay Rum, a 300-year-old rum brand that you may have heard of. I hadn’t. Naturally, because I’m not exactly a rum expert. But I was pretty excited to use some authentic Barbados-made rum in this cake—which I did, shockingly, as my parents deemed this a worthy use of the stuff.

Me? I couldn't tell the difference.

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

Banana Bacon Bundt Cake by Liv For Cake
Beet and Beer Red Velvet Bundt Cake by I Sugar Coat It
Beet and Blood Orange Bundt Cake by Brooklyn Homemaker
Black Pepper and Red Wine Bundt Cake by Passion Kneaded
Caramelized Pineapple Blue Cheese Corncake Bundt by Food Lust People Love
Chocolate Banana Bacon Bundt Cake by The Freshman Cook
Chocolate Lemon Bundt Cake by I Bake He Shoots
Chocolate Liquorice Bundt Cake by Baking in Pyjamas
Chocolate Potato Bundt Cake with Strawberry Glaze by Magnolia Days
Chocolate Tomato Soup Bundt Cake by SpiceRoots
Coconut and Rose Syrup Bundt Cake by I Camp In My Kitchen
Coconut, Cardamom, and Orange Cake by Baking Yummies
Dark Chocolate Beet Cake by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
Dark Chocolate Stout Bundt by Living the Gourmet
Junk Food Bundt Cake by Faith, Hope, Love, and Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
Lemon Rosemary Bundt by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Lovely Fields Bundt Cake by Los Chatos Chefs
Mini Mayonnaise and Chocolate Bundt Cakes by I Love Bundt Cakes
Olive Oil Rosemary Bundt Cake by Tartacadabra
Orange Bourbon Rosemary Bundt Cake by The Spiced Life
Peanut Butter Sour Cream Bundt Cake by Basic N Delicious
Six Flavor Bundt by Making Miracles
Sweet Potato and Marshmallow Bundt by Jane's Adventures in Dinner