let them eat cake.

as a burgeoning foodie/wannabe chef (yes, it's true, sometimes i pretend i'm a host on the food network and "instruct" my viewers [read: oscar] how to prepare whatever i'm making), i love the "in the kitchen with" column on design*sponge. with the exception of one meat dish, i haven't yet seen a food post that i've looked at and thought, "nah." the food always looks appetizing.

but, sadly, yesterday was the first time i actually got around to trying one of the contributors' concoctions. oh, sure, i'd come close when grace posted delicious days' sunny saffron brioche recipe, but the level of detail (i thought) the recipe required was a little scary. so i settled for being content with just looking at the beautiful photographs -- until, that is, i discovered bonnee sharp's rum cake. (i knew i'd end up making this sometime this week!)
this cake requires ingredients that you probably already have in your house. its base is yellow cake mix (i used betty crocker's super moist version) and instant vanilla pudding. after beating in eggs, oil, rum and water, you pop it in a bundt pan and let it cook for about an hour. the glaze is just as simple: butter, more rum and sugar. after drizzling it over the cake, bonnee suggests letting the whole thing sit for at least two hours, so that the glaze really sinks in and congeals, making the cake deliciously moist. it's a foolproof recipe and, after making it last night, one that i would highly recommend when you need to whip up something special in a pinch.

you can see my version of the cake in the photos above; while i admit that i'm not the neatest baker (or, uh, the best photographer), the finished product more than made up for my messy kitchen and any little spills. i'm going to take a huge chunk to work tomorrow because allowing a whole cake -- especially one this good -- to sit in my kitchen is not a good idea. i think my coworkers will be happy, don't you?