I have catered and taught cooking for almost 50 years!  Wow, I must be old!  But recently I started searching for this old recipe and thought I had lost it!  Fortunately I found it in a cookbook I wrote for my daughters in 1990. Over the years I have added  addendums, and additions, and separate little books that I give for Christmas to neighbors and friends (I wonder if anyone ever reads them?). The Little Salad Book was one I did when I got 5 different recipes for Caesar salad dressings.  I did what I always do:  Research!  I love to find out the origin of stuff.

This recipe somehow escaped my Blog favorites.  It is what I called “The Cake that would Have Made Me Famous”.  An old friend gave me the original recipe, I tweaked it, and seriously felt I had found the Mother Lode of all time Cakes.  I’m not a great baker, I admit.   I came up with this cake which I thought would make me famous. It is SO moist and such rich rum flavor.   Oh, the nights I stressed about fame….🤪🤪🤪  Not really.  Life has always been pretty great for me the way it is…..But here’s the recipe.  Then I’ll tell you about my cooking class:  “How to decorate a cake with no talent”….Seriously!

PINEAPPLE RUM NUT CAKE

1 20-oz can crushed pineapple                                  2 1/4 cups flour

3 cups sugar                                                                  3 sticks melted butter

1 cup nuts                                                                      6 beaten eggs

1 tsp. soda                                                                      1 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. Rum flavoring*

Mix all.  Don’t bother to drain the pineapple.  Bake in a large sheet cake pan about 35 minutes at 325.  Or, if you are doing layers, adjust the timing.  If you are doing layers, here is nice filling.

1 box instant vanilla pudding mix

1 1/2 cups 1/2 and 1/2 or cream

1 Tbs. Rum flavoring*

Mix and use for filling between layers.  Kathy always layered some strawberries or raspberries.  This time I used cherries and cooked them down in a simple syrup and added the little bottle of rum.   It makes a beautiful presentation when you cut the cake!

*If you like you can buy one of those little rum sample liquors (I used Malibu coconut rum for this cake.)  It goes great!

I like to make this cake for special occasions.  I made it today for a special event coming up this weekend.    It has an incredible rum flavor, and the Cool Whip is the perfect topping for such a rich cake.