Butterscotch Swirl Cake

I'm honestly not sure where to start with my review of today's recipe. I saw it in Taste of Home magazine several years ago, but, for whatever reason, I postponed giving the recipe a try. While I was curious and absolutely love the flavor of butterscotch, I was put off by the ingredient list and the time required to make the cake. I could tell from the photo that its frostingless nature would make it perfect for toting to meetings or alfresco meals, but I wasn't sufficiently swayed to begin cracking eggs or taking whisk to hand. I've had an awful of of people traipsing through the house this summer, and that amount of company means an awful lot of baking. To avoid repetition, I decided to try some new things, like this cake. After all, how bad can anything made with this much butter and sugar be? As it turns out, I can recommend the cake it, but only conditionally. My palate kept picking up the exaggerated flavors of artificial butterscotch and rum and I wasn't thrilled. The rest of my tasters, however, loved the cake and it was gone within the day. Since mine was the only dissenting vote, I'm going to share the recipe with you today, despite my personal reservations. Here's the recipe for those of you I haven't scared away.

Butterscotch Swirl Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients:

Cake

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

6 eggs

3 teaspoons rum extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

1 package (3.4 ounces) instant butterscotch pudding mix

3/4 cup butterscotch ice cream topping

Glaze

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons 2% milk

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted tube pan.

2) In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add 5 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in extracts. Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well after each addition.

3) Transfer 2 cups of batter to another large bowl; beat in pudding mix, butterscotch topping and remaining egg until well blended. Pour half of plain batter into prepared pan. Top with half of the butterscotch batter; cut through with a knife to swirl. Repeat layers and swirl.

4) Bake for 65-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

5) For glaze, in a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat; add confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy. Drizzle over cake; sprinkle with pecans. Yield: 12 servings.