Holiday Preparations

     My younger granddaughter saw one of my holiday sweaters and asked me to make her one.  I made matching Christmas sweatshirts for both granddaughters.  I fused a holiday bear from fabric and embellished them a little. 

 

   

     I also did my holiday baking.  About 40 years ago a family friend gave me her rum cake recipe.  For Christmas I have been making Rum Cakes every year since as gifts. 

 



   I gave the recipe to a friend and she varied the recipe making chocolate rum cakes.  This year for half I tried her variation.  My older son said he likes the original better.  Here is the recipe if you want to try it.

Rum Cake - From the kitchen of Elizabeth V Kelbaugh

Cake ingredients:

1 cup chopped pecans

1 pkg. Duncan Hines Butter Recipe mix

1 pkg. vanilla instant pudding

4 eggs

½ cup cold water

½ cup Wesson oil

½ cup dark rum (80 proof)

Glaze:

¼ lb. unsalted butter

¼ cup water

1 cup granulated sugar

¼ cup dark rum

Preheat oven to 325⁰ F.  Grease and flour 12 cup Bundt pan.  Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan (optional mix ½ nuts in cake batter.)  Mix all ingredients together.  Pour batter over nuts.  Bake 1 hour.  Before cake come from oven, boil glaze 3 min.

Mix glaze ingredients.  Let boil 3 min. and have hot when spooned evenly over cake.  Use spoon to ease edge of cake from pan when pouring on ½ sauce.  Remove from pan immediately.  Spoon remaining sauce over top and sides.  Let stand 3 to 4 days before serving.

* I like to use 6 cup decorative Bundt pans as well as 1 cup Bundt minis as gifts. I bake the 6 cup pans about 45 min. and about 40 for the 1 cup.