Mini Rum Cake

Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a mini bundt pan with cooking spray and flour the pan and set aside.
2. In mixer combine the cake mix, dry pudding, eggs, rum, oil, water and vanilla. Mix on high until smooth.
3. Put the batter into the mini bundt pan, adding 2-3 Tablespoons of batter to each well. The cake rises a fair bit, so don't overfill the pans.
4. Bake for about 8 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Put the cake pan on a wire rack to cool while you make the rum sauce. Keep the cakes in the pan.

Rum Sauce

1. The rum sauce is flammable and you need to give it your complete attention and stir constantly while you make it.
2. Put the butter in a medium size sauce pan and melt it over low heat.
3. Add the water and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
4. Once it reaches boiling stir it while it boils for 4 minutes. It will become white.
5. Take the pan off the heat and carefully stir in the rum. The sauce will foam up and bubble, so be careful to keep stirring so it doesn't bubble over the pan.
6. Put the pan back on the burner and cook for 1 minute, still stirring.
7. Take the pan off the stove and let it cool slightly.

Soaking the Cake in Rum Sauce

1. Take the cake pan, with the cakes still in it, and poke holes all over the surface. These holes will allow the rum sauce to soak into the cake.
2. Carefully pour 1/3 of a cup of rum sauce into a glass measuring cup.
3. Gently drizzle the rum sauce from the measuring cup onto the cakes in the pan. Use 1/3 of a cup of the rum sauce.
4. Put the cakes aside to rest for half an hour.
5. Invert the cake pan onto a serving plate to remove the cakes from the pan. Gently loosen the cakes around the edges if necessary to remove them. Stab the cakes all over on the top and side with a fork to make more holes.
6. Put another 1/3 of a cup of rum sauce into the glass measuring cup. Slowly drizzle it over the cakes, allowing it to soak in.

Make More Cakes

1. If you only have one mini bundt cake pan you will need to make the cakes in batches. Wash the pan, dry it and prepare it with cooking and flour again.
2. Once the next batch of cakes are baked poke them with holes and drizzle them with sauce just like the first batch. If the rum sauce has crystallized during the wait heat it on low heat on the stove for a few minutes.
3. Repeat this until you are out of batter and rum sauce.

Serve the Rum Cake

1. The rum cakes need to rest at least 2 hours before serving and the flavor will continue to improve for 2-3 days after making.
2. When you are ready to serve dust the cakes with powdered sugar and top with maraschino cherries.