This week, as part of Foodalogue's Culinary Tour 2010, we travel to Nicaragua and I chose to make a traditional dessert, Pio Quinto. Pio Quinto is a rum cake topped with a vanilla custard (natilla) and dusted with cinnamon. This cake may have been named after Pope Pius V and there is also a Pio Quinto River in Nicaragua but the exact origin for the name of this dessert is not known.
I created a delicious and light version of Pio Quinto by adapting my rum cake recipe that I've been using for a long time. I normally make a rum cake in a bundt pan, but for this version, I made six mini-cakes. I used a butter substitute in the rum glaze and egg whites in the cake.
Instead of traditional Natilla that uses milk and egg yolks, I prepared a custard using light coconut milk. Like Natilla, it is thickened with cornstarch. The resulting custard is airy and light and deliciously creamy. It is just incredible paired with the rum cakes! Rum-soaked dried plums are also a nice addition and make the cakes look very pretty.
Ingredients:
vanilla custard
1 can light coconut milk
1.5 tablespoons vanilla
1/4 cup Agave syrup
2 tablespoons brown rice flour
1 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water
rum-soaked dried plums
1 cup dried plums
2/3 cup rum
cake
1 (18.4 ounce) package yellow cake mix
4 egg whites (or use egg substitute)
1/2 cup rum
2/3 cup water
½ cup vegetable oil
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
rum glaze
1 stick butter (or butter substitute such as Smart Balance)
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup rum
to serve
Cinnamon
Directions:
rum-soaked dried plums
Place dried plums in a bowl and pour rum over them. Let the dried plums soak at least overnight or for 24 hours.
custard
Place coconut milk, Vanilla, and Agave in a small saucepan. Bring to boil. Add the dissolved cornstarch and brown rice flour. Whisk quickly until the mixture starts to thicken. Take off the heat and whisk until the mixture is thick and smooth. Pour into a container and refrigerate until chilled.
cake
Pre-heat oven to 325 °F. Place the cake mix, 2/3 cup rum, 4 eggs, 1/3 cup water, ½ cup vegetable oil, and vanilla pudding. Blend well until smooth. Pour batter into lightly greased ramekins, dividing equally and filling about 1/2 of each ramekin.
Bake the cakes for about 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes.
rum glaze
Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons of water and ½ cup of sugar. Boil the mixture for a few minutes, constantly stirring. Remove the mixture from the heat and mix in 1/3 cup of rum.
Using a toothpick make many tiny holes on the tops of the cakes. Drizzle the cakes evenly with 1/4 of the rum glaze. Then invert the cakes onto a platter. Make more holes all over and drizzle the rest of the rum glaze over the cakes. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
to serve
Top the rum cakes with vanilla custard, dust lightly with cinnamon, and top with a rum-soaked dried plum.
I liked the custard so much that I made an extra portion to make some lovely parfaits with leftover rum-soaked dried plums.
Don't forget to check out the rest of the Nicaraguan dishes at Foodalogue on the upcoming Wednesday's roundup!
