I’m 26 this year. There. I’ve said it. 4 more years to the big 3-0. Sometimes, I think that alone ought to account for a sliver of sensibility in moi.

Nah.

That will never happen. I’m still pretty daft and my life’s full of contradiction. I love giving myself advise I never follow, count my blessings while whining and I’ll always end up buying stuff in pink when I’ve confessed my undying affection towards white. That’s me, and according to daddy, that’s being a woman.

And this recipe? Another rendition of my inconsistencies in beliefs.

Alcohol and me. We’ve got a love-hate relationship going on.

I don’t drink, nor am I allowed to. And I because I don’t, I enjoy preaching about the vices of alcohol and the evil things they do to people’s brain and liver. Though, on the other hand, I’m completely helpless when it comes to using that dash of alcohol in baked goods. You can’t say no to the whiff of mild sugary sweetness paired with a good dose of vanilla.

Rum & Vanilla Bundt Cake

Ingredients

1. 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3. 1/2 tsp salt
4. 1 cup + 2 tbsp brown sugar
5. 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
6. 3 large eggs
7. 1/3 cup full cream milk
8. 1 1/2 tsp imitation rum flavor
9. 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Put-together

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Brush bundt cake pan with melted butter and flour. Invert pan and tap off excess flour.
2. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In another bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs until incorporated.
4. Whisk in vanilla, milk and rum flavor.
5. Add in dry mixture from before slowly, in small additions. Resulting batter will be thick and silky.
6. Fold in butter.
7. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake for approx. 40 min or until cake passes the toothpick test.

Recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan via Annie’s Eats.

I love the sweetness that comes out slowly as you chew, and the subtle aftertaste of rum that lingers after each bite.

This cake makes me want to purchase some real vanilla beans.

And I still don’t like alcohol. Believe it.