Makes one, tall, 10-inch tube cake
For cake:
4 cups cake flourFor butter-rum syrup:
1 cup sugarNote: Be sure to bake this for a full 1 1/2 hours at 325. The cake forms a crust as you bake so touching the top won't indicate doneness: Poke a toothpick in the center to test for doneness.
Ray Kennedy's Rum Cake: A Slice of Austin, Texas History
November 20, 2011--When reader T.J. Campbell wrote in search of the recipe for a famous rum cake that used to be the signature at Cuneo's Bakery in Austin, Texas, we didn't have much hope of finding it. Cuneo's closed 50 years ago, and attempts to find the former owners didn't yield positive results. But, a string of phone calls to food-history buffs in Austin, led to Addie Broyles, a food writer at the Austin American-Statesman newspaper, who unearthed a link to an article in the paper mentioning Ray Kennedy, former production manager at Cuneo's.Chats with Kennedy's son James and daughter Rita yielded more information about Ray, Cuneo's and the famous rum cake. Turns out Ray, who learned the baking trade from the Fleischman School of Baking in the 1930's created and perfected the rum cake recipe and brought it with him to Cuneo's where he baked for 11 years before leaving to open his own bakery in Cisco, Texas. \x93But,\x94 recalls Rita, \x93Mr. Cuneo asked him to please come back, so he did.\x94
Decades later (1977), Ray shared a bulk-version of his recipe with Austin readers. Among other ingredients, the recipe called for 6 pounds of sugar, 2 pounds of water and more than three pounds of shortening. Introductory copy with the recipe included Ray's memory that, \x93They used to line up outside the bakery to buy those rum cakes, they were so good.\x94 Ray's secret to the buttery-sweet flavor? Submerging the whole cake in a butter-rum syrup while the cake is still warm. \x93Give 'em a bath in it!\x94 said Ray. Here then, is the scaled-down-for-the-home-cook recipe. --Monica Kass RogersRecipeClassification | Dessert |