Antilles Treasures

This recipe was given to me by a dear friend and has been recommended by several other friends that had already tried it. The recipe is easy, I am by no means much of a cook or baker and I was able pull this one off for a bunch of friends and it got glowing reviews.  

Sorry there arent any pictures this time…the cake gets devoured before I even think to shoot a picture…

Ingredients;

4 eggs
3/4 cup Vegetable Oil
3/4 cup Apricot nectar (canned)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick butter
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup dark rum (We used MT Gay Eclipse) Being a rum drinker, I certainly would recommend a dark rum over white but am sure it is tasty either way

Directions;

Cake;
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs lightly and combine with oil, apricot nectar
and cake mix.
Beat at medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes until smooth. Pour into large greased
and floured bunt or deep cake pan. Bake at 350 F for 50 min.

Glaze;
Melt butter and confectioner’s sugar in a pan over low heat and stir in rum. As soon as cake is done, place pan on cooling rack
Poke holes in the top of the cake with toothpick or skewer
Pour rum mixture over the top of the cake, allowing it to soak in well.
Cool for 1 hour before removing from pan.

Enjoy!!!

We were looking for a refreshing twist to a Mojito.

Discovered a recipe on line and tweaked it a bit go meet our needs.

This one is all about the simple syrup that one makes for this drink.

It takes some planning and time but the drink is a refreshing reward.

Mojito

Needed to make the drink:
1 cup lime juice use eight limes
4 tablespoons finely grated lime zest use 6 limes
1 cup fresh mint leaves, stems removed and chopped fine
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
Club Soda
Dark rum of choice (we used MT Gay)
Strainer or cheese cloth

Sauce pan
Jar for storage of the prepared syrup

Making the Syrup:
Juice the limes and remove seeds but leave the pulp.
Grate lime zest, being careful not to include white pith. You’ll need about 6
limes to make 4 tablespoons of zest.
Remove stems from mint measuring a cup, wash well and chop fine.

Combine lime juice, zest, mint leaves, sugar and water in a pan over
medium-low heat.

Bring to a simmer, remove from burner and let the syrup steep for two to three hours.
Strain syrup into a storage container, pressing mint leaves into strainer to extract all of the oils. 

Cover syrup and store in fridge until ready to use.
The simple syrup will be enough for 6 drinks.

Mixing the drink:

Using a 12 oz glass, add 3 oz of syrup and 2 oz of rum then drop in several ice cubes.  Top off with soda water, we used Perrier but any club soda works.

Stir gently add a lime slice garnish for some charm and enjoy!