I normally despise raisins. They are not sweet enough to be enjoyable, not soft enough to be tender, and yet not hard enough to be crunchy. They are a filling ingredient that I usually resolutely prefer He can not they fall behind, with one exception, and that is when they are drowned in rum. Something about the warm, rich flavors of a spiced rum combined with the tannic fruitiness of the otherwise humble raisins creates the pinnacle of comfort in flavor form. But I have some constraints regarding the rum-raisin combination. Constraint #1—the raisins must be cooked in the rum so that they absorb it and become soft, juicy little rum bombs. And constraint no. 2: You need to add some brown sugar and spices to sweeten it a bit and add a caramel note to the mixture. This boozy marriage of rum and raisins makes up the filling for this pumpkin donut, and the overall flavor is practically autumnal concentrated in pie form.
And if you didn’t already know from the above, I’m firmly on the side of alcohol in desserts. There’s just a magical depth of extra flavor they impart to baked goods (especially those with a warm flavor like rum or bourbon) that nothing else can match. And if you’re thinking “ummmm it is probably alcohol” – that’s just not the case once something is cooked. Because alcohol evaporates at a much lower temperature than water, the vast majority of the alcohol itself evaporates from the cake while it’s in the hot oven. And this wonderful chemical reaction leaves you with all the wonderful flavor of liquors like rum, but without the burn. Knowing this, I put a generous amount of both rum in the pumpkin donut dough AND in the rum raisin filling. So overall it’s a really good donut.
As far as taking the cake out of the pan, I live like that these suggestions from King Arthur Flour. Theirs, along with mine go to cooking spray I use it exclusively with my bundt pans, it always ensures my cakes come out unscathed. I also have an old but goodie Maple Pumpkin Bourbon Bread Pudding recipe here from the old archives, if you’re totally on the pumpkin train. I wish you luck with your donut endeavors, my friend, and have a wonderful start to November!
Pumpkin donut filled with raisins and rum
Rum raisin filling
-
3/4
cup
raisins
chopped -
1/2
cup
spiced rum -
1/3
cup
packaged brown sugar -
3/4
teaspoon
cinnamon -
1/4
teaspoon
salt
Pumpkin donut
-
2 1/3
cups
Flour -
2
teaspoons
baking powder -
1
teaspoon
cinnamon -
3/4
teaspoon
salt -
3/4
teaspoon
sodium bicarbonate -
1/2
teaspoon
nutmeg -
1 1/4
cups
canned pumpkin puree -
3/4
cup
milk butter
room temperature -
1/2
cup
sour cream
room temperature -
1 1/2
teaspoons
vanilla extract -
1/4
cup
golden rum -
1/2
cup
unsalted butter
at room temperature -
1 1/4
cups
granulated sugar -
4
egg
room temperature
Buttermilk frosting
-
1
cup
powdered sugar -
2-3
spoons
milk butter -
1
teaspoon
vanilla extract
Rum raisin filling
-
Heat the raisins and rum in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the raisins have absorbed most of the liquid and are softened, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, mix in the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt and set aside.
Pumpkin donut
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg. Set aside. In another small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, buttermilk sour cream, and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.
-
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to incorporate the egg before adding the next. Reduce the speed to low and alternate adding the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three separate increments until they are all well combined. Add the rum and stir to incorporate.
-
Pour 1/3 of the batter into a 10-cup baking pan sprayed with cooking oil. Drag a spoon into the center of the ring to create a well in the center of the batter surrounding the donut. Sprinkle half of the rum raisin filling into the pit, then cover with 1/3 of the batter and repeat the process with the remaining half of the rum raisin filling. Cover with the remaining 1/3 of the dough. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out relatively clean, about 60 minutes.
Buttermilk frosting
-
Whisk the ingredients together in a medium bowl until well combined with no lumps. Drizzle the now cooled donut and serve.
