It has been a while but we've been baking again!

We have not been able to get over how tasty our last bake was (the Ginger & Rum Cake) and we've found ourself making this fairly regularly over the past few weeks!

However, we decided it was time to move on a try a fresh bake. We didn't stray too far though and opted for a Spiced Rum & Cinnamon Swirl Loaf using the 45 Spiced Rum from The Jacobites Spirits Co. 

The combination of the spiced rum with the cinnamon and sugar is delightful and makes for an extremely flavoursome loaf. It's the perfect accompaniment for a cup of tea or coffee.

What's more, most of the ingredients (except maybe sour cream) are staples in the cupboard so you can bake this without worrying about a trip to the shops! We decided to use The 45 Spiced Rum as the unique blend of spices and citrus add a really interesting flavour while bringing out the cinnamon. 

The 45 Spiced Rum and Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

Ingredients

• 125g unsalted butter
• 200g sugar (granulated or caster)
• 3 large eggs
• 225g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 150ml soured cream
• 50ml The 45 Scottish Spiced Rum
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 75g light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon (we added a little extra as we love cinnamon!)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 170°C or fan 150°C.
2. Grease a 9 inch loaf tin with butter then line with baking paper.
3. Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream together until smooth.
4. Add the eggs one at a time and use a tablespoon of the flour with each egg. Mix between adding each egg and the flour. 
5. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla extract and the rum before sifting in the remainder of the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Fold all the ingredients together.
6. In a separate bowl mix together the cinnamon and brown sugar. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon sugar mixture. 
7. Take 250g of the cake mixture and add this to the rest of the cinnamon sugar. Mix well to create a dark cake batter. 
8. Spread a layer of the light cake mixture in the base of the loaf tin (use about a third of this mixture). In the next layer add alternate spoonfuls of the light and dark cake mixtures to create a chequerboard effect. Add the remainder of the light batter on the top.
9. Use the handle of a spoon of a skewer to gently swirl the mixtures together.
10. Top the mixture with the remainder of the cinnamon sugar, spreading evenly across the top.
11. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes then turn out and cool on a wire rack.

We recommend eating while still warm but it will keep fresh for a few days in an airtight container. 

This is a pretty easy bake (like a lot of loaves), oozes flavour and makes the house smell great!