Rum Cake (aka...Jack Sparrow Cake)

So for my husband's birthday, I wanted a cake that was something different. (We're a little worn out on traditional birthday cake and frosting by the time his day rolls around.) And as shocking as it is, I'm actually a little tired of pumpkin this year. So this was a great change! Can't wait for the kids to go to bed tonight so we can sneak another piece...

2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar

4 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1/2 c. butter, cut into pieces

1/2 c. sunflower oil (or some other light oil)

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1 package instant vanilla pudding (*see substutition below)

1/2 c. milk

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. milk

4 eggs

1/2 c. rum

Rum syrup:

1/2 c. butter

1/4 c. water

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. rum

Combine flour, 1 1/2 c. sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix in 1/2 c. butter with a pastry blender (or fork) till the mixture is coarse crumbly. Grease bundt pan with oil. Place chopped walnuts in bottom of bundt pan. Preheat oven to 180 C. Combine flour mixture with instant pudding powder or substitute. Add oil, milk, eggs, rum, and vanilla. Use wand blender or electric mixer and mix until completely smooth. Pour batter carefully into bundt pan on top of walnuts. Bake for 55 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the bundt pan. While cooling, combine butter, water and sugar in saucepan and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer until sugar is completely dissolved. Syrup should thicken a bit. Remove from heat and add rum. Pour all of syrup over cake while it's still cooling in the pan. Allow to cool completly before removing from pan.

This cake is extremely moist and isn't easy to move once removed from pan so make sure to put it on the plate you want to serve on when you remove it from the pan.

*Substitution: Instead of instant pudding, I used instant "crema pasticcera" (il Molino brand). It comes 2 packets to the box, and I used one packet. Worked well.