Soup Addict's Orange and Rum Cakes

This is lifted wholesale from the wonderful Soup Addict Blog

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 20 minutes

Yield: 12 mini cakes

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs, separated
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
1 tablespoon dark rum

1/4 cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice (1 medium blood orange)*
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon dark rum

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray 12 mini brioche tins or 12 3″ cake rings with non-stick spray. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat the egg whites in a mixer until glossy and form stiff peaks.

3. In a large bowl whisk together sugar and egg yolks until they are thick and pale. Add butter, vanilla and rum and whisk together until smooth. Whisk in the flour mixture.

4. Using a rubber spatula fold in one-quarter of the egg whites. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites, until mixed (it’s okay to have a few streaks of egg whites). Spoon the batter into the prepared tins or rings three-fourths full.

6. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cakes are ready when lightly golden and a cake tester inserted in the center of one cake comes out clean.

7. While the cakes are baking, make the sauce. Bring the blood orange juice, sugar and rum to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then remove from heat.

8. When the cakes have cooled for 5 minutes, use a thin toothpick (or other clean, narrow stick) to poke 10 holes into each cake. Gently, slowly pour the rum sauce over the cakes. The cakes should be somewhat saturated, and the tops of the cakes should be pink (the pink will fade as the sauce dries). Let sit for a few minutes, then move to a clean surface (clean off the bottoms of the tins, if necessary). Let cool.

9. Gently remove the cakes from the tins or rings (if using rings, you can run a small knife around the edge to loosen cake). Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

*To simplify things, rather than worrying about an exact measure of 1/4 cup, just squeeze the orange juice into a container and then measure it. Use the same amount of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of rum.