Do you remember when I mentioned, after being on our recent trip to the Pacific Northwest, eating a fantastic piece of cake when we visited The Willows Inn, on Lummi Island. Tender slices of this cake (I thought it was a pound cake) were sitting next to the urns of coffee in the lobby, and as we checked out, our last morning there, having not had any breakfast yet, I took a slice. And thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
After we got back home, I emailed my friend Jerianne about our trip – and about the cake (because she loves to bake too) she just took the bull by the horns – she has a lot more gutsiness than I do – and picked up the phone, called the Inn and asked for the recipe. And they SENT IT to her! Oh my gosh. This was a couple of months ago now, and at the time I had just made a pound cake (in my feeble attempt to make some kind of a tender one from an online recipe) I thought I’d wait awhile before making this.
WELL! First thing is the chef called this a rum cake. Remember, I thought it was a pound cake. But having made it, I really think it has the texture of a chiffon cake, but those are made with oil, not butter. Since my head just tries to understand the chemistry, I dug out several of my baking cookbooks, and found the answers (mostly) in the Sur la Table cookbook, The Art & Soul of Baking
Good, we have that settled now! (Maybe I should have been a chemist?) In the process of getting ready to make this I did rearrange the writing of the recipe, and clarified some of the instructions a bit, and added in my suggestions here and there too. The recipe was sent with ingredient weights rather than volume, and I’ve left it that way (and added in suggestions on approximate volume). I do think this is one of those kinds of recipes that will help if you use your scale. As elaborate as this is – well maybe elaborate isn’t the right word – it’s time consuming for sure – you don’t want to mess up on the weights and measures!
The batter has 3 parts – (1) the dry part (cake flour, and sifted at that!); (2) the egg yolk part; and (3) the meringue (egg white) part. Once all of those parts are prepared, it’s combined into a billowy, frothy batter and baked.
The recipe, in one area mentioned loaf pans. In another sentence it mentioned a tube pan, so I’m surmising that you could use either. I included instructions for both, although I only made it in a tube pan. Based on my recollection of the slice I ate at the Inn, I think theirs was made in loaf pans. The recipe indicated 45 minutes in the oven. Well, when I checked at 45 minutes in, the batter was still very jiggly and wet. My heart sank – I thought I’d most likely messed it up somehow, and even went back to the recipe to make sure I’d not forgotten something. No, it looked okay. I set the timer for another 15 minutes. I tested it with an instant read thermometer, my Thermapen, and it was only about 180°F. Another 10 minutes and it got to about 195°F. Each time, of course, the oven loses heat, so I have no idea exactly how many minutes it would take in one straight bake – but certainly a lot more than 45 minutes. Perhaps in loaf pans? I don’t know. Eventually it reached 200°F and I removed it from the oven.
What I learned was that the cake is very fragile – and in making a tender kind of cake – it would be very easy to break or crack it. I was fortunate that mine stayed together. Unintentionally, I did leave a bit of the cake on the tube-pan bottom, but not enough to make any difference. The cake must be left to cool to room temp, then you remove it from the pan(s). The recipe was specific – the cake needs to sit for a day (overnight) before slicing. The cake, right out of the pan, is very VERY moist and with the meringue batter as part of it, the outside edges were a bit sticky, so if you tried to slice it at that point, I think it would tear or rip. That must be why it needs to rest overnight – by enclosing it in foil the outside edges all softened.
I used a knife and an offset spatula to make sure the cake was separated from the pan. The physical act of removing it from the pan – well that was a bit of a juggling act – I used my outstretched and splayed fingers and my forearm to gently tip the cake out, then righted it very quickly and let it sit. Meanwhile I had a huge piece of foil ready, and some additional rum. Some is spread on the bottom of the foil (otherwise it would stick, I suppose), then you place the cake on top, then brush the top and edges with more rum (maybe about 2-3 T.). It’s all sealed up in the foil and left to sit.
Next day I just couldn’t wait until our dinner to see if the cake tasted like I remember. We were having guests and this was dessert. What if it was a completely bust? I might have to fix some other kind of dessert on short notice. I needn’t have worried – the cake was absolutely just as I remembered. (Later note: I made this a couple of weeks ago and put part of it in the freezer. I was trying to find something else, pulled out a little package of these, defrosted it. Oh my. So delicious!) This leads directly into my ranking system . . .
What’s GOOD: there is absolutely nothing about this cake that isn’t good (fabulous is more like it), IMHO. It has texture (oh so very tender) and moisture (it almost drips with it) and sugar and mellowness. Everything about this cake makes it a winner. I served it with whipped cream and some fresh plums that I’d simmered in port wine. If you want to get the full impact of the cake, serve it plain, or maybe with just a little bit of whipped cream. A definite five-star winner in my book.
What’s NOT: the only thing I can say is that it does take a bit of time to make – there are numerous steps and you’ll dirty up a lot of dishes in the process. But it’s worth the effort and the elbow grease (you can ask my DH about that – he did have to wash everything). If you’ve never made a sponge cake before, it might seem a bit intimidating. Just make sure you have the butter and eggs at room temp and follow the directions. Don’t over mix anything.
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Rum Cake (aka Egg-Separated Rum Sponge Cake with Butter)
Recipe By: The Willows Inn, Lummi Island, Washington
Serving Size: 24
300 grams cake flour — (approx 2 3/4 cups)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
EGG YOLK MIXTURE:
300 grams unsalted butter — (about 1 1/3 cups = 2 cubes + 5 1/2 T) room temperature
285 grams superfine sugar — (for the yolk mixture) (about 1 3/8 cups)
9 large egg yolks — at room temperature
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons rum
EGG WHITE MIXTURE (MERINGUE):
6 large egg whites — at room temperature
285 grams superfine sugar — (for egg whites) (about 1 3/8 cups)
Extra rum for brushing the cake (about 2-3 T.)
Notes: the recipe indicated using either 2 loaf pans or 1 tube pan. If using loaf pans, check the baking time – might be less time – or perhaps the 45 minutes. The rum is barely distinguishable in this cake – i.e. there is no flashy rum flavor.
1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and flour tube pan. If using two loaf pans, butter and flour and (I suggest you) add a parchment sling. Sift dry ingredients; set aside.
2. EGG YOLK MIXTURE: With a mixer, cream butter and sugar together using the paddle blade. Add sugar, a little at a time. (If you don’t have a mixer with paddle attachment, whisk by hand the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.)
3. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition.
4. Add milk, rum and lemon juice into the egg yolk mixture.
5. EGG WHITE/MERINGUE MIXTURE: Whip egg whites until foamy using an electric mixer. Add sugar a little at a time, while continuing to whip at medium speed until the mixture is stiff and satiny. Don’t over mix.
6. Add 1/3 of the meringue into egg yolk mixture, alternately with flour, starting with the meringue and ending with the meringue – add in this order: meringue – flour – meringue – flour – meringue. Mixture will seem stiff during the flour addition, but will soften and smooth out when you add the next amount of meringue. At the end, just mix until you can’t see any streaks of meringue or egg yolk mixture.
7. Pour into the prepared tube pan and bake for approximately 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (When I baked it in a tube pan it took 1 hour 15 minutes.) Or, use an instant thermometer and bake until it reaches 200°F. Set cake in its pan(s) on a rack to cool completely. The cake is VERY fragile at this point. Only after it has rested overnight does it settle down and will allow slicing. The cake is very moist and wet – and because of the meringue in it, it has a sticky consistency on the edges, so if you try to slice it, the cake will tear. That’s why you must let it cool and rest.
8. Run a knife around the inside edge of the pan (and for the tube pan use an offset spatula to separate the cake from the center tube flat bottom). Gently turn the pan over onto your oustretched hand and forearm and set right side up on the rack. Prepare a large piece of aluminum foil large enough to seat up the cake. Using a pastry brush, brush the surface of the sheet with rum. Place the cake on top of the sheet, on top of the rum. Brush the cake with additional rum. Wrap the cake with the foil sheet. Serve next day. Use a serrated knife to cut slices and do it very gently.
Per Serving: 259 Calories; 12g Fat (42.7% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 34g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 107mg Cholesterol; 24mg Sodium.
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