Rum-infused pound cakes hit the spot. All photography by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE .

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June 2010

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Cookies, Cakes & Pastries

Island Treasures Gourmet Rum Cake

Rum Cakes & Mini Rum Cakes In 7 Flavors

CAPSULE REPORT: In our opinion, there’s too much tepid red velvet cake for sale and not enough good rum cake. Island Treasures Gourmet makes flavorful, lightly-infused rum cakes in both full-size and mini versions. Available in seven flavors (including sampler packs), the colorful boxes are suitable for gift-giving. Anyone disappointed in the gift likes neither pound cake nor rum (and can re-gift the cake to us).

Overview

There’s a problem with letting Island Treasures Gourmet rum cakes into the house: You really miss them when they’re gone. Pound cakes made in seven flavors, they seem so versatile: Enjoy a plain slice with tea or coffee or glam it up with ice cream, whipped cream, fruit or all three for a great comfort-food dessert.

The cakes, which use quality ingredients, are moist and flavorful. The rum isn’t overdone—in fact, at times we added our own homemade rum syrup for a higher-proof dessert.

After the pound cakes come out of the oven, a rum syrup (glaze) is poured onto them. It seeps through the cake and provides the rum flavor. The rum is Whaler’s Original Rum, not distilled in the Caribbean, but developed centuries ago by natives of Maui, Hawaii. The rum is triple-distilled for smoothness, aged in oak casks and flavored with tropical vanilla.

Rum Cake Flavors

We liked all but one:

• Classic Flavors: Chocolate and Vanilla (Original) hit the spot.
• Fruit Flavors: Banana, Coconut and Lemon were delicious. Only
  Raspberry—which was perfectly fine—didn’t excite us enough to reorder.
• We didn’t taste the Cinnamon Pecan Streusel (which is available only in
  the large size), but we look forward to it in our next order.

The minis, at $5.00 each, are ideal for small gift-giving and stocking stuffers. But if you really like the recipients, give them the entire sampler. Or two.

*Prices and product availability are verified at publication but are subject to change. Shipping is additional. These items are offered by a third party and THE NIBBLE has no relationship with them.