Chocolate Rummy Cake

*dedicted to my dairy-resistant friends*

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It's always a double-edged sword. I'm asked to bring the desserts to every potluck I go to because my friends know how much I love to bake. But often, I'm part of vegan potlucks...and what can you do without using creamy butter, rich eggs and silky full-fat milk? Lots, I tellya! Tonight I made some rum-raisin cupcakes and a chocolate rum cake, sans dairy...and the cake was the winner, by far. Here's how I did it...big thanks to Isa Chandra Moskowitz and her two fabulous vegan cookbooks: Vegan With a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World...she inspired the recipe. For you dairy-lovers out there, you can make this a dairy-licious cake by subbing in real milk for the soy milk...but really, it's fabulous just the way it's written...nothing creepy-Vegan about this dessert. It's fast, easy, and a real winner...so just bake it, already! And don't forget...one swig of rum for the cake, one for the baker... :) Mmm!

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For the Cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspooon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup plain soy milk

1/4 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut rum

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For the Glaze:

1/4 cup dark rum

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons margarine

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Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare your cake pan (if you're using a 9" springform, grease it...if you're using a little bundt pan like me, grease and flour it.) Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and cocoa powder. Add the soy milk, oil, vanilla and rum, and mix into a thick batter. Pour this batter into your pan and bake fir about 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. After removing the cake from the oven, let it cool in the pan for about ten minutes, then either release (springform) the cake, or invert it onto a clean plate (bundt route). Take a toothpick and prick little holes into the cake, making sure to insert the toothpick all the way to the bottom of the cake. These holes will let the glaze seep into the cake, saturating it with rummy goodness.

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For the glaze: in a small saucepan, simmer the rum and sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat and let the mixture cook another two minutes, until it's lighty and syrupy. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and margarine. Let cool before pouring onto cake.

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Set the cake on a cooling rack, and pour the somewhat cooled glaze over the cake. Place the cake into the refrigerator and let the sweetness of the glaze soak in for at least one hour before serving.

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To serve, bring the cake to room temperature and enjoy a slice with a nice glass of white wine! It's delicious!