My husband and I took a trip to Bermuda for our anniversary a few years ago. I had been there on a cruise once, but didn’t get to see too much of the island. I thought it would be a perfect vacation of lounging at the beach but with plenty of culture and sight-seeing to do as well.
A hurricane was passing near the island when we were there so most the days were cloudy and rainy. We ended up doing a lot more sight-seeing and a lot less beach lounging than planned, but we loved it. Bermuda may be a small island but there is so much to see!
One thing that I got to try while we were there is a local drink called a Dark & Stormy, which given the weather was very appropriate. It is local ginger beer mixed with Bermuda black seal rum. It has to be one of my favorite drinks of all time, so of course I had to try to make it into a cake.
My Dark & Stormy cake is made using Bermuda Black seal rum and fresh grated ginger, then topped with a rum buttercream. It actually took me a few iterations before I found the perfect balance of ginger. I first tried using ground ginger, then a combination of ground and crystallized, but it just wasn’t the flavor I wanted. Only once I used fresh grated ginger did I get the freshness I was looking for.
I’ve made this recipe as both a layer cake as well as a cupcake and either way it is delicious! I was so happy to find the Bermuda Black Seal rum, shown in the picture above, at my local liquor store. I also discovered I can get Barritt’s ginger beer at the Wegmans near our house, so I’ve been mixing up some Dark & Stormy’s at home. If you can find Barritt’s (or any other Bermuda ginger beer) I highly recommend trying it. It is much more refreshing then regular Ginger Ale you buy in the soda isle and it doesn’t actually contain any alcohol itself like the name beer suggests.
I am also happy to report we made it to Bermuda and back without getting lost in the triangle!
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