Shoe Addict Thriving: Pineapple Upside-down Rum Cake

Shannon:

01/28/2011

I recently tested out this recipe from cdkitchen.com. (I have had pretty good luck with their recipes) It was for a Pineapple Upside Down Rum Cake. My co-worker has been asking for a cake like this since I first started the cake decorating classes back in August 2010. I have never made a rum cake or a pineapple upside down cake before and so I had no idea how to tell if this was a good recipe or not.

I purchased this adorable individual pineapple upside down cake pan from Amazon. Well, my co-workers birthday was yesterday so although the cake was not delivered to him on his actual birthday due to snow...I baked the recipe last night and made one pan of these. (I had left over batter, but was way too lazy to bake it up.)

I have a pineapple allergy so I made three with pineapple rings and made three like regular rum cakes. I used Myer dark rum and while it was pretty expensive I read up and found that this was a recommended dark rum for baking with. Remember when cooking with liquor - you are cooking out the alcohol and are being left with the taste/flavor. You don't want something that is cheap and tastes gross...it is good to put your money into what will soon be in put to the test on your taste buds.


Without delicious pineapple :(



It was not a hard batter to make it was difficult to put into the pans because it was a thicker batter and did not pour and settle like a typical boxed cake mix. The difficulty to this recipe was really that it had multiple components with the glaze, fruit, and batter. I baked it 5 minutes less than the recipe called for and when I did the toothpick test the cake was still gooey. I let it bake for the remaining 5 minutes and although the cake is still moist...it probably could have cooked for a couple minutes less.

I like my rum cake rummy so I also poked some holes into the bottom of the cakes and put a little of the left over glaze on the bottom as well. Overall, I really liked the recipe it had really nice flavor and texture. My co-worker had a great suggestion for me to add peach rings to the bottom of the pan as a substitute for the pineapple I am allergic to. I am definitely going to make it again and try that out!


The birthday boy's cake...two cherries instead of just one!

Strength in Weakness

Susan:

This begins a series of posts that will tell about the heroic and full of faith steps Shannon took in her life after diagnosis. She lived hard and strong. Having faith all along that she would be healed she also gave her life back to God many times in prayer to take or to heal. She was small in stature but strong in faith.

After finding out her diagnosis and prognosis, surgeries, and finding the only clinical trial in the area that offered hope, Shannon moved on to the next natural step of her life. On July 2, 2009, Shannon bought her first and last brand new black VW bug. She could not have been more excited. When she drove it by here to show me my internal reaction was, "Shannon you are dying, why would you buy a new car?" But Shannon had 2 1/2 years with that car and she enjoyed every minute of it.

The second thing Shannon did is this: on my birthday, July 9, 2009, she went to Franklin Square and picked up her shots and all the equipment she would need to administer both leg shots of IL2 and stomach shots of IL2. She and Ben came home and did the first of her leg shots. Shannon then ran to Sam's Club, buying me a birthday cake, Ben went to buy us all dinner, then Sean took me on the boat and there they were all waiting for us on the end of a pier with dinner and cake and Shannon in her glory showing strength in physical weakness.

This was just the beginning of things she did for others and that is what I will continue with for a while.

Favorite Scriptures

Susan:

In Shannon’s journal I found the following list of scriptures that she wrote down during her long stay at NIH. I think this is a fitting post for her birthday.

She listed this as "Favorite Scriptures":

Hope:

Psalm 119:116-
Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.

Jeremiah 17:7-8-
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace.

Hebrews 6: 18-19-
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast and which entereth into that within the veil.

Psalm 31: 24-
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

Psalm 42:5-
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of his countenance.

Psalm 71:14-
But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.

Romans 8:24-25-
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do with patience wait for it.

Afraid:

Psalm 27:1-
The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 56:3-
What time I am afraid? I will trust in thee.

Psalm 112:7-
He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.

Believe:

Matthew 9: 28-29-
And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him yea Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, according to your faith be it unto you.

Mark 9:23-
Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

2 Corinthians 4:13-
We have in the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.