Congratulations to Sena of Woodstock, Georgia! If you follow Highbrowdownhome on FB or Instagram @extravagantwife, you might recall that I had a Mother’s Day recipe contest going, asking viewers of the show to submit their favorite recipe they associate with mom. Sena submitted this scrumptious cake recipe, and it’s so luscious, PLUS it has a shortcut, what’s not to love I ask? It was a clear winner. Also, a lot of you associate mom with dessert.  I didn’t get one savory recipe submission. How funny! I remember my mom’s chicken and dumplings growing up. What’s your favorite? Leave them in the comments!

You will need: 

• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely ground
• 2 TBS sugar
• 1 yellow box cake mix, plus ingredients listed
• 1/2 stick butter, plus more for greasing bundt pan
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3-4 TBS rum (your preference, I just used basic brown rum)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a bundt pan with butter. Coat the pan with sugar, and then add walnuts, evenly distributing them, and pressing them to the top and sides as best you can. Set aside

Next, make the box cake according to the package instructions and gently pour over the top of the walnuts and sugar. Bake according to the package directions.

In the meantime, make the rum mixture! Melt the butter and sugar together and stir to combine. Add the rum and drink what’s left! Just kidding. Don’t do that. Add 3-4 TBS of rum and stir to combine. Allow it to cool slightly.

Remove the cake from the oven. Allow it to cool a little bit. The warmer the cake is, the more it’s going to absorb the buttery-rum mixture. Poke holes in the top with a long skewer and slooooooly drizzle the rum mixture around the sides and over the top. Reserve a little to pour over the top of the cake when you take it out of the pan. Let the cake cool completely.

When cooled, remove to a pedestal or platter. Glaze with the remaining rum mixture and enjoy with coffee, tea, champagne, or extra rum! Happy Mother’s Day, I hope and pray you get to be with the ones you love! Here is a handy-dandy printable! Sena’s Rum Cake