COOK TO FOLLOW

About me: I’m 39 and live in King George, Virginia, with my son, Devin, and a soon-toarrive little one by the end of the year. I manage a family glass shop. Why I love cooking: The most gratifying part is hearing someone say, “This tastes great! How did you make it?” Favorite Christmas tradition: My greatuncle passed down to me his spritz cookie press. My niece and great-niece use it to make cookies together at Christmastime. We love making them with some of my late grandma’s cookie cutters and some new ones we’ve added to the bunch. We somehow end up with a lot of trout-shaped cookies, great memories, and lots of laughs, too! My most popular recipes: People love my Golden Rum Cake (at right). I didn’t create the recipe, but I tweak it to make it mine. My Spicy Thai Basil Chicken (armagazine.com/spicythai-basil-chicken) gets a lot of raves, too. Few people know: I used to be an undercover liquor customer in Virginia. I would arrive and ask for alcohol and wait to see if they asked to see my ID. Dealing with lactose intolerance: My 12-year-old son, Devin, was diagnosed with lactose intolerance. At first, changing over to lactose-free meals was really hard. I learned that even some French fries contain milk powder. That’s when I realized I needed to cook from scratch. It really helped that as Devin got older, Continued on next page

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I didn’t create this recipe, but if I ever bring a different recipe to gatherings of friends and family,

they all ask why I didn’t bring THE

rum cake,” Maura says. “I tweak it this way: Before turning out the cake, I poke holes in it with the back of a wooden spoon and pour in the glaze. I let the

cake soak in all

that glaze for several hours before turning it out.”

G O L D E N R U M C A K E

HANDS-ON 20 MIN TOTAL 1 HR, 30 MIN SERVES 12 SUBMITTED BY JACKIE SMITH

★★★★★ 1,403 REVIEWS

1 cup chopped walnuts 1 (15.25-oz.) pkg. yellow cake mix 1 (3.4-oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix 4 eggs 1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup dark rum 1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp. water 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/3 cup butter 2/3 cup sugar Powdered sugar, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted tube pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly in bottom of pan. [If you’re using an intricately patterned pan, as we did, fold the nuts into the batter instead for a clean release.] 2 . Stir together cake mix and pudding mix in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat in eggs, 1/2 cup rum, 1/2 cup water, and the oil until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. 3 . Bake until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. 4 . Meanwhile, for glaze, put butter, remaining 3 Tbsp. water, and the sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil, stirring constantly, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1/3 cup rum. 5 . Turn out cake onto a serving plate. Brush some glaze over top and sides of cake. Allow cake to absorb glaze, then repeat until all glaze is used. Dust cake with powdered sugar. (Cake keeps up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature or up to 3 months frozen.) armagazine.com/golden-rum-cake

PER SLICE: 477 CAL; 26G FAT (6G SAT); 5G PRO; 48G CARB (1G FIBER, 19G SUGARS); 414MG SODIUM