But Why is All the Rum Gone?!

Because I put it in the cupcakes.

While Mike made his oh so mouth watering sandwich, which I envy, I made cupcakes, rum cupcakes to be exact. They had a rum glaze and vanilla butter cream to top them. Mmmmmmm.

When I hear the word rum I think of two things. Mary Poppins and Pirates of the Caribbean. Mary Poppins because of the medicine they take after the rain she says "Mmm, rrrum punch" and of course Cpt. Jack Sparrow's famous "But why is all the rum gone?!" line.

I found this recipe on a fellow bloggers site. Thank you Sunny Side Up for the recipe. YUMMMMM! That's really all I can say. I don't personally care for rum, but my co-worker, for whom I made these for, loves rum flavor and loved the rum frosted cupcakes I made one day.

So, I made them, used Bacardi dark rum for my cupcakes. Sunny Side used Captain Morgan. I just didn't find a small enough bottle of the Captain to use it, I don't care for rum you see and therefore why buy a big bottle if I won't drink it? Right? Vodka, different story. Of course while picking up the rum I found this:

Pinnacle: Gummy Flavored Vodka

I have wanted to try this since Mike and I had made drunken gummy bears for the memorial weekend party. This would be amazing with drunken gummy worms. Smells like gummy bears and tastes like them too but with that warm vodka kick. YUM! I believe we are going to do this this weekend....speaking of which we need gummy worms and a bigger bottle of gummy vodka. :)

I also got a kick out of this while at the liquor store. This wine name made me laugh.

Sassy bitch Chardonnay

Can't say I would drink it as I dislike wine as well. Mike and I tend to stick to certain liquors. Currently we like Cherry Vodka and Red Bull (UV or Three Olives).

But I digress.

So here is the recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cupcake Base:
1 box yellow cake mix, get one without pudding mix in it.
1 (4 serving) pkg of instant vanilla pudding (jell-o pudding and pie filling)
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil/canola oil
1/2 cup dark rum (I used Bacardi)

In large mixing bowl, dump in the cake mix and instant pudding. Add the 4 eggs, milk, oil and the rum. Mix. Batter should be smooth but not too runny. Pour mix into prepared cupcake pan with paper liners. Bake for 27 minutes.

Ready for the oven

Cupcake Batter

Cupcakes fresh out of the oven, no glaze

Cupcake frosted and glazed cupcakes in back

Rum Glaze:
1/4 cup butter (I used blue bonnet margarine)
2 Tbsp water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark rum (Bacardi again)

Melt butter in small saucepan. Add water and sugar. Bring to a boil. Stir Constantly. Remove from heat and pour in the rum. This is important to remove from heat, you DO NOT want to create a fire. Also make sure to pour your rum into a measuring cup or prep bowl before pouring into saucepan. NEVER pour from bottle into the pan or over the heat.

Now the fun part. Bake up your cupcakes. Once baked dip the tops of your cupcakes in the rum glaze. Set aside and allow to cool and set. Once that is done you can frost your cooled cupcakes with a vanilla butter cream. (so easy to make).

Vanilla Butter Cream (it's not an exact science it's all abut consistency.
Approx 1 lb - 2 lbs powdered sugar
1 stick butter, soft
splash or so of milk
1 tsp vanilla

Place soft butter in mixer, fluff up your butter then add your powdered sugar slowly, unless you like the powdered sugar dusting look to your kitchen. After your butter and sugar mix get thick add your vanilla. Then add milk until you have reached the desired consistency. Not too thick but not running off the spoon. Make sure it sticks to the spoon or spatula.

The recipe also calls for rum drizzle on the cupcakes after being frosted. So I garnished with some walnuts, as most rum cake recipes call for them anyway and then drizzled away with the rum glaze, it makes quite a bit. I have some left over in my kitchen and not sure what to do with it. Maybe dip the cupcakes in it haha! Could get drunk of that because there is no way it boiled long enough to cook off all the alcohol.

I had to take a taste after they had come out of the oven and I had glazed them. So that cupcake with the bite in it, doesn't have garnish because I was eager and the cupcake was still warm, hence the looser looking frosting.

Final product looks pretty damn good and tastes pretty great too. Hoping the birthday girl likes them. Saving one for Mike too, he has to try these.

My taste tested cupcake.
YUMMMMMM...man I'm good.

Beautiful finished product.
Who says you need a piping bag when you have a fancy butter knife?