I had a box of gluten-free cake mix that desperately needed to be used. I bought it on sale to have just in case, but never got around to using it before its "Best By" date. I'm not one to waste food, especially cake, so I searched the kitchen for some inspiration.
Enter pecans. I had a bunch leftover from the holidays, and I recalled seeing a recipe recently for Pecan Pie Muffins on Framed Cooks. Uh, yum! You already know I love the Cake Mix Doctor's Pecan Pie Cake, so muffins should be great, too. Oh, and no corn syrup. Love that.
Except I couldn't use the gluten-free cake mix with the recipe for pecan pie muffins. So I got creative.
I combined the Pecan Pie Muffin recipe with my all-time favorite gluten-free cake recipe and came up with the perfect pecan pie cupcake. (Don't worry, the recipe is below.)
So I took them out of the oven and tried one right away to make sure the recipe worked. (It did.) As I smelled that warm pecan cake, it reminded me of another of my all-time favorite cakes—the Bacardi Rum Cake. Oh, baby. The first time I had this cake, it was truly life-changing. Getting tipsy from eating cake is my favorite way. That warm pecan aroma inspired me, right then and there, to whip up a rum glaze for these pecan pie cupcakes. It was absolutely the right decision.
The best part is that you take a fork and poke holes all over the cake or cupcakes, so when you pour the glaze on top, it seeps into those holes and saturates the cake. Oh help. So yummy.
Here's the gluten-free recipe. If you don't need your cupcakes to be gluten-free, then by all means, use the inspirational recipe. But feel free to add the rum glaze* on top. In the interest of sharing, I made a half-recipe of the rum glaze, and only glazed half the cupcakes. I wanted to make sure the kiddos could have some non-alcoholic cupcakes.
Pecan Pie Cupcakes (Printable version)
1 Gluten-Free Pantry Cake & Cookie Mix
1 3.4 oz Jell-O Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup apple juice (or orange juice, or thin applesauce. . . it doesn't matter too much. Just a neutral fruity liquid.)
1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla
3 cups chopped pecans (or less, to your preferences)
Optional rum glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum*
1 Gluten-Free Pantry Cake & Cookie Mix
1 3.4 oz Jell-O Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup apple juice (or orange juice, or thin applesauce. . . it doesn't matter too much. Just a neutral fruity liquid.)
1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla
3 cups chopped pecans (or less, to your preferences)
Optional rum glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum*
- Toss everything into a large mixing bowl except the pecans and rum.
- Mix well until thoroughly combined.
- Stir in chopped pecans.
- Pour into desired prepared pans.
(Grease pans or use paper liners.)
- Bake at 350° until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
(My regular size cupcakes took 20 minutes; cake pans would take longer.)
- Once done, allow to cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove to cool completely on a rack.
Optional rum glaze:
- Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
- Add water and sugar, stir to combine.
- Boil five minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat, add rum, and stir.
- Poke holes in cake (or cupcakes) with a fork.
- Drizzle glaze over cake.
(I drown mine. . . I LOVE the rum glaze!)
*Please note: The alcohol does NOT cook out. The rum glaze is for ages 21 and over. :)
Made 27 cupcakes, for me.
