Buttered Rum Pound Cake

• 1  cup  butter, softened
• 2 1/2  cups  sugar
• 6  large eggs, separated
• 3  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1  (8-ounce) container sour cream
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1  teaspoon  lemon extract
• 1/2  cup  sugar

Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty mixer until creamy. Add 2 1/2 cups sugar, beating 4 to 5 minutes or until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.
Combine flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in flavorings.
Beat egg whites until foamy; gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.
Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan.
Bake at 325° for 1 1/2 hours or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan, and place on a serving plate. While warm, prick cake surface at 1-inch intervals with a wooden pick; pour warm Buttered Rum Glaze over cake. Let stand 4 hours or overnight before serving. Serve with Bananas Foster Sauce and vanilla ice cream.
Lemon Pound Cake: Add 2 tablespoons grated lemon rind to batter. Proceed with cake recipe as directed. Omit Buttered Rum Glaze; do not serve with sauce.

Buttered Rum Glaze

• 6  tablespoons  butter
• 3  tablespoons  light rum
• 3/4  cup  sugar
• 3  tablespoons  water
• 1/2  cup  chopped pecans, toasted

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in pecans.

Bananas Foster Sauce
    
        1/2  cup  firmly packed brown sugar
        1/4  cup  butter or margarine, melted
        1/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
        1/3  cup  banana liqueur
        4  bananas, peeled and sliced
        1/3  cup  light rum

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• Combine first 4 ingredients in a large skillet; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Add bananas, and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat.
• Heat rum in a small saucepan over medium heat (do not boil). Quickly pour rum over banana mixture, and immediately ignite with a long match just above the liquid mixture to light the fumes (not the liquid itself). Let flames die down; serve immediately with Buttered Rum Pound Cake.

From Southern Living