Grandma’s Italian-style rum cake. In Italy, cake making is an art and the cakes taste as wonderful as they look.
This Italian Rum Cake is one of their specialties. Serve it for birthdays and for other festive celebrations, such as New Year’s.
Decorate the top with whipped cream rosettes and put lots of sliced almonds around the sides of the cake for an attractive presentation, or decorate as desired.
Topping the cake with fresh fruit, such as whole strawberries, makes a beautiful look for a centerpiece for your dinner table before serving dessert with coffee or tea.
ITALIAN SPONGE CAKE
Ingredients:
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups pastry flour, sifted
- 5 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon rind (optional)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour two 8 or 9-inch cake pans. Set aside.
Place egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until lemon colored. Add flour, a little at a time, blending it in well. Add vanilla and lemon rind (if using it).
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold into cake mixture.
Pour cake batter into prepared pans and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cakes from oven and turn out of pans onto wire racks to cool completely.
ITALIAN PASTRY CREAM
- Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
Place sugar, egg yolks, flour, lemon rind (if using), and vanilla in a saucepan and mix together well.
In a separate saucepan, scald milk. Very slowly pour milk over egg yolk mixture, in a thin stream, beating constantly with rotary beater.
Continue cooking on low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until mixture reaches the boiling point. Cook 4 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat, add butter and mix well. Pour into bowl and let cool, stir occasionally to prevent skin from forming over the top.
Chill (with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming) until very thick (about 3-4 hours).
CHOCOLATE PASTRY CREAM
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 ounces baking chocolate, grated
- 1 tablespoon butter
Place sugar, egg yolks flour, and vanilla in a saucepan and mix together well.
In a separate saucepan, scald milk.
Very slowly pour milk over egg yolk mixture, in a thin stream, beating constantly with rotary beater.
Continue cooking on low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until mixture reaches the boiling point.
Cook 4 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Add chocolate and while stirring, cook 1 minute longer. Remove pan from heat, add butter and mix well. Pour into bowl and let cool, stir occasionally to prevent skin from forming over the top.
Chill (with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming) until very thick (about 3-4 hours).
STABILIZED WHIPPED CREAM
Ingredients:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
In a large chilled bowl, with chilled beaters, beat cold cream until it just starts to thicken. Add corn syrup and vanilla from the side of the bowl, and beat until stiff peaks form.
ITALIAN RUM CAKE ASSEMBLY
Additional Ingredients:
- Rum
- Sliced blanched almonds
- Combine 1/3 cup of rum with 1/3 cup of water.
Slice sponge cakes in half (horizontally) to form two layers.
Using a long, thin bladed knife, cut/split each layer in half lengthwise making four thin layers.
Place bottom sponge layer on platter cut side up, sprinkle/brush with about 1/4 of the rum (be careful not to get the cake too wet, or layers will become soggy).
Allow sprinkled/brushed rum to soak into the cake for about 5 minutes.
Sprinkle/brush remaining sponge layers (on the cut side) evenly with remaining rum.
Spread a layer of vanilla pastry cream on the first sponge layer.
Top the vanilla cream layer with another layer of rum sprinkled sponge cake.
Spread a layer of stabilized whipped cream on the second sponge layer.
Top the whipped cream layer with another layer of rum sprinkled sponge cake.
Spread a layer of chocolate pastry cream on the third sponge layer.
Top the chocolate layer with the last layer of sponge cake.
Frost the top sponge cake layer and sides of cake with remaining stabilized whipped cream.
Cover sides of cake with sliced almonds, or decorate as desired.
Place cake in refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving.
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