The saying goes: April Showers Bring May Flowers…well, May is going to be blooming because it is definitely showering around here.  When the weather is like this, I think there is only one drink that feels appropriate:  A Dark and Stormy.

The Dark and Stormy is a simple cocktail made up of only three ingredients, but it packs a big punch!  The drink consists of lime juice, ginger beer, and dark rum.  You float each layer on top of the next, ending with the rum to create a stormy atmosphere in a glass.  The lime is tart, the ginger beer is spicy and the rum serves up sweet molasses notes for the perfect spring cocktail. 

Dark and Stormy: 

• ¾ oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
• 4 oz. Fever Tree Ginger Beer
• 2 oz. Gosling’s Black Seal Rum

In a highball glass (that’s the long skinny one) add the lime juice, add ice, then begin to layer ginger beer and finally, the rum.  Garnish with a lime twist or wedge.  Cheers!

In my constant quest to combine the two things I love the most: booze and baked goods, the Dark and Stormy seemed like the perfect marriage.  Ginger has a natural place in the dessert world, and rum has the right balance of sweetness to glaze a cake perfectly.  I went back to my favorite bundt cake for this month’s Boozy Baking installment.  I made a ginger and lime bundt cake with a rum glaze.  I candied lime on the top for a delicious and bright bit of decoration.  Here’s the recipe below!

Ingredients for cake:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for pan)
• 2 tablespoons grated lime zest
• ⅓ cup minced candied ginger (it’s really important that the ginger is minced very well, otherwise it will sink to the bottom of the cake)
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup greek yogurt (fat is your friend, in this case)

Ingredients for the glaze:

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• ⅓ cup Gosling’s Black Seal Rum
• ⅓ cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Cake Preparations:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour bundt pan
• In an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until white and fluffy
• Whisk together flour, lime zest, ginger, salt and baking soda
• To creamed butter mixture, add eggs one at a time, beat well after each addition
• Alternately add flour mixture in 3, and greek yogurt in 2.  Beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
• Spoon mixture into prepared pan, create a level surface
• Bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Wait at least 15 minutes before turning out cake onto cooling rack.  Once cake has cooled completely, pour over glaze.  

Glaze Preparations:

• Melt butter in small sauce pan
• Add rum, lime juice and sugar
• Stirring constantly bring glaze to a simmer to thicken slightly

Candied lime is optional, and sort of a pain in the ass to do, but it definitely makes for a pretty topping.  Here’s instructions on how to do it, because nobody does it better than Martha.  Cheers and Ciao!