Rum cake recipe and a bottle of rum for me!

Get ready tastebuds... here I come!

Aye, aye matie! A bottle of rum for me... hey, there is nothing like a good rum, especially during the summer. Now you are thinking... ahhh, a good cold rum runner or a Pina Colada. Maybe a daquiri would do and they all sound good but today we are going to get baked! You are really confused now, because how do you get baked if you are not drinking?! Well the oven is where we are going to get baked today with my famous "Rum cake".

This is a great treat to eat. The moist cake with the crunchy nut topping and the wildly infused rum and you have a summertime treat that will knock you off your feet.

Now there is a little cheatin' going on here, because this recipe uses a store bought cake mix and a instant pudding mix. There is nothing wrong with using some convenience items, especially nowadays where everyone is so busy. Get ready to mow down on this rum cake and soon your taste buds will be experiencing another "MJM Mouthgasm"!

MJM’s Famous Rum Cake recipe…

1 package – yellow cake mix (or vanilla cake, white cake or coconut cake mix)
1 small package instant French vanilla or vanilla pudding
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
4 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water
½ cup rum (your favorite brand)
½ cup chopped nuts (like macadamias, walnuts, pecans)

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter and flour (or non-stick spray) your cake pans i.e. bundt pan, loaf pans or Jumbo muffin tins. Sprinkle the nuts on the bottom of the pans

In a separate mixing bowl, mix the first seven ingredients and mix at a medium speed for about 2 minutes. Pour into your cake pans. The bundt pan will take about 1 hour; the loaf pans about 40 minutes; and the muffin tins about 35 minutes or so.

While the cakes are baking make your glaze…
The Glaze…

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
¼ cup wate

¼ cup plus Rum

Bring to a boil the first 3 ingredients. Then add the rum (take off the stove first, then add the rum) place back on burner and simmer a couple of minutes. As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, pour the glaze over the cake and let sit until cool. Serve with some butter rum ice cream or cinnamon ice cream or just by itself.

Yummie! Now this is definitely something that you want to share. So you might as well bake a bunch of these cakes, because you will probably eat a whole one yourself and then you need some to pass around! Yo ho ho ho a bottle of rum for me! Hey!

Recently I received a letter from a friend whose friends daughter at a young age (in her teens) was dying of cancer. You would have never known this talking to her, she was so upbeat, so happy, so encouraged to have another day of life. She taught all of us a lesson of how grateful we all should be with our gift of life. It is the most precious, generous gift we could be given... so appreciate it and stop whining! No matter what is going on in your life, God has a purpose... a reason for us to be here. Go out and start living your life to the fullest. Here is a poem that she wrote and we will close with that poem.

Thank you my friends for sharing this part of your day with me. Wishing you all the absolute very best that life can offer... and here is to you, let's have a SLOW DANCE together...

... SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched
kids on a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down. Don't dance so fast.
Time is short. The music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?

When you ask... How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You'd better slow down Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last.

Ever told your child, We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die ...
Cause you never had time to call and say... 'Hi'