A Rum-&-Butter Cake I had baked at an inn:
6 oz. softened butter
1½ cups granulated white sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
4½ tsps baking powder
4 fl. oz. dark rum (I used Bacardi)
8 fl. oz. half-&-half cream
1 cup Thompson raisins
4 oz. coarsely chopped pecans, lightly toasted
¾-1 oz. pecans halves
Heat oven to 350°. Grease and line a heavy-gauge, flat-bottomed 10-in. tube pan.
Cream butter & sugar on low speed until light & fluffy. Add eggs, individually, beating well after each addition.
Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder; add to creamed mixture, alternating with the rum & cream, mixing only until the batter is smooth. Fold in the raisins and chopped pecans.
Arrange whole pecans on bottom of tube pan. Spread batter evenly in pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into thickest part of cake come out clean.
Turn cake out onto a wire grid.
Rum-&-Butter Mixture
2 oz. butter
2 fl. oz. water
1 cup granulated sugar
2 fl. oz. dark rum
Combine in small saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved (about 120°). Perforate the hot cake with tines of carving fork and drizzle syrup over it, until it is all absorbed. Allow the cake to cool & mellow before serving with thickened cream.