Coconut Pound Cake with Rum Glaze

Living Alone Lesson 2: Hosting is fun work.

In college I always said "I am going to have parties all the time when I get my own place." I lived in the dorms all four years and was a RA so "partying" in my little abode was difficult to say the least. Although I still don't really have my own place (yet), I think I can still host. And for the next week or two I get to pretend the house is mine! :)

The awful 30-40 degree rain we had ALL last week made me want to stay in bed and drink tea al day, but yesterday and today's glorious weather made up for it! I have had spring fever for probably a month now and am definitely ready for the beach weekends and hot runs to start up again! To prepare others for the greatness, I decided to have a themed din din party. I think it is safe to say it was Hawaiian-themed. Pineapple dominated and, as we all learned, it pairs well with lots of things!

I originally wanted to host a bake-off, but I realized that most people eat normal foods and don't run off baked goods like I do. My main dish was Hawaiian Chicken served over rice (post to follow), but as the host, it is only proper to have a dessert option too just in case someone else doesn't bring one right...? Coconut and rum are both pretty tropical!

Coconut Pound Cake with Rum Glaze

1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temp

2 cups sugar

1/2 tablespoon coconut extract

4 eggs

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

1/4 cup Captain Morgan

1 cup sugar

Preheat over to 350. Cream the butter and sugar together until nice and smooth. Add in the coconut extract and beat together with the eggs until light and fluffy. Combine the flour and baking powder together. Slowly add in the flour mixture, one cup at a time, with the milk, a little bit at a time. Do not over mix the batter. Once everything is incorporated, pour into a well-greased bundt cake pan. Bake at 350 for about 60 minutes, checking with a toothpick to make sure it is cooked all the way through. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before flipping onto a plate.

the masterpiece!!
(I feel like there should be a flower or plant in the middle)

For the glaze, add the rum and sugar to a small sauce pan on low heat. Bring to a slow boil and stir. Let it boil for about one minute or until the sugar completely dissolves. Slowly pour the glaze onto the top of the cake letting it drip down the sides. When it cools it will crystallize and make a pretty pattern!

the inside was nice and moist!

My (baking) services are up for auction. Tonight I was offered a basement bedroom with a private bath. Even the non-loving coconut fans in the house thoroughly enjoyed the cake, which pretty much made my night!


I am kind of glad I didn't host parties in college. I couldn't deal with mopping up beer from the floor, picking up millions of solo cups all over the place, or finding other fun random messes in the morning. I still had a bit of work to do when everyone left and I didn't even throw a rager! I will say that the best thing about going to someone else's party is that you get to go home to a clean(er) house! :) No matter how well I vacuumed and cleaned the counters before people came, I did it all over again! 


Totally worth it! It was great to have people over and share yummy dishes! Can't wait for the next one!!