Kelapo Booth @ Expo West 2013

This past weekend Kelapo Coconut exhibited at the Natural Products Expo West trade show for the 3rd consecutive year! We had so much fun in Anaheim, CA and we got to meet new faces and see so many familiar faces as well. Trade shows are also fun because we get to decide what kind of tasty treat we will get to serve to everyone who stops by. This year at the Winter Fancy Food Show we served our Peppermint Chocolate Melts, made by William Dean Chocolates, and at Expo West, we served our famous Rum Cake.

Rum cake was a huge hit a couple of years ago at the SOHO show in Orlando, FL. Everyone went CRAZY for it, so of course we wanted to bring the infamous rum cake back and serve it to the West coast! The recipe is pretty easy and the taste is out of this world! I really feel like using the coconut oil in this dish enhances the flavors of the cake, pudding, and the rum. All of the ingredients compliment each other nicely which creates a delicious, moist, and flavorful cake. Check out our recipe:

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

 4 eggs

 1/2 cup water (room temperature)

 1/2 cup Kelapo Coconut oil, melted

 1/2 cup dark rum (Myers is my favorite!)

 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) We didn’t use them in our recipe, but I bet they would be yummy!

Glaze:

¼ cup Kelapo coconut oil

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup water

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup dark rum

Directions:

Kelapo Coconut Rum Cake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare liners in mini cupcake pans. If using nuts, sprinkle chopped nuts evenly in the bottom of the liners.  In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in 1/2 cup water, melted coconut oil and 1/2 cup rum. Blend well. Mix in eggs and pour batter over chopped nuts in the pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 20–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cakes comes out clean.

While the cakes are baking, prepare glaze. In a saucepan, combine ¼ cup coconut oil, butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup rum.

While the cakes are still warm, brush glaze over top of the cakes. Allow cake to absorb glaze and repeat until all glaze is used.

To serve, remove cupcake liners and place on a decorative plate of your choice. Cut the rum cake into pieces, place in cupcake liners, and enjoy!

Did you get to sample our rum cakes? If so, let us know how much you enjoyed them!

-Lani