I am making a pina colada cake for my mom and I'm thinking of adding Malibu Rum (a coconut rum) to the cake. Am I right that when you bake it, the alcohol cooks off? It wont be alcoholic right? My mother is worried about recovering alcoholics eating the cake.

Also, in the buttercream I am adding coconut and pineapple. Any ideas for more pineapple flavor with less liquid than just pineapple juice? Can I simmer it down to evaporate some liquid and get a stronger flavor? I have tried it before and wasn't really able to taste the pineapple.

Thanks!

I believe most of the alcohol does cook off, but I have also heard that alcohol can dry out the cake, so I wouldn't put much in.

As for the pineapple taste, I would recommend adding some Lor-ann oil in pineapple flavour. I use that, rum flavouring and coconut flavouring to make my pina-colada frosting.

When I make my Pina Colada Cupcakes, I make a coconut cake, a pineapple filling made with crushed pineapple (and other things) and a coconut rum buttercream.

In the cake batter and the buttercream, I use a coconut extract and I substitute about 1 or 2 Tbsp of the liquid called for in the recipes with Coco Lopez brand coconut cream. You can find it at most grocery stores in the section with the mixers (margarita, daiquiri). If not available, you can go to the Mexican food section and get canned coconut cream.

For the rum in the buttercream, I have used actual rum, but recently I had a friend whose daughter has an alcohol allergy so I used Jamaican Rum Flavor (found by the extracts in the spice aisle) and they said it was great.

Well I wouldn't serve it an AA meeting, but just how many recovering alcoholics will be eating your cake?

I always brush a little Kahlua on my chocolate cake layers before filling and frosting. So far no one has checked into Betty Ford.

If it's got a substantial amount of rum in it, then you would be wise to inform your customer or friends.

There are rum flavorings and extracts. Most extracts have a high alcohol content, but the amount is so little I don't think it would send someone on a bender.

Thanks for the evening laugh Carmijok. I never thought of cake as a gateway drug (hold on before the rest of you jump all over me, let me declare that I fully and personally understand the plight of the recovering alcoholic as well as those on medication that makes them intolerant of any alcohol. it's just ok to have a laugh...this site is, after all cakes, the food of fun)

When a spirit is baked, cooked, or reduced, the alcohol in the spirit evaporates at a faster rate than its components. Remember tha FDA guidelines state that vanilla extract is 35% alcohol... 70 proof... the same as most vodkas.

So the spirit is present in the finished product, but the alcohol is drastically minimized. People get confused on the stats. Most stats measure the spirit remaining, not the alcohol in the remaining spirit.

Unless you use more than a few tablespoons, it will be insignificant and wil lhave the alcohol equivalent to an extract.

Consider my Bailey's cake. It has 1/2 c brushed on the baked cake. That is 4 oz/4 small shots. Divide the cake by 24 slices. Now we are at .16 oz/serving. The Baileys is 20% alcohol, not 35% like vanilla. Add the fact that it is eaten with food (the cake), and the effects of this large amount of alcohol is rather insignificant.

I used this as an example of a cake with a significant amount of alcohol to show how little each person gets. In an example where two to three tablespoons are used, and it is baked, virtually nothing is there per serving.

BUT, if the taste of the remaining spirit will be noticeable, even with minimal alcohol left, it would seem inappropriate if a loved one has an alcohol problem.

HeySugar, I bake with a multitude of alcohol. If used correctly, it opens up a world of flavor possibilities. But with the knowledge of true alcohol content, they can be served to all ages. I label mine as "a hint of" or "a generous amount of". On the ones that bite you back, such as my Absinthe and Guiness/Jameson/Bailey's, I fully explain the volume of alcohol. These are not meant for kids. The alcohol is still minimal, but the kids may think it is more because the taste is so bold.

By the way, I never bake alcohol in my recipes. I use only top shelf spirits and liqueurs and the end result is too weak to justify the price. I always brush it on and/or use it in frosting and/or filling.

Ochef actually looked into exactly this.This relates to only the alcohol in whatever you put in, be it spirits or extracts.

Their results:

After 30 minutes of baking, 35% of the alcohol remains.

After 1 hour of baking, 25% of the alcohol remains.

if it is brushed on after baking, assume all of the alcohol remains.

Interestingly, 75% of the alcohol remains after a flambe!

Here's the link

http: // www . ochef . com / 165 . htm

Take out the spaces.

Do you see how it says, "alcohol added", alcohol remaining". It's wording makes the result unclear if you don't look further. Had it read, "Spirit added", "alcohol remaining", that would be clear, but it would need to be for a specific product. If you are going to apply this to baking in this situation, you would first need to determine the amount of alcohol in the spirit, which is much lower than the whole amount, and apply that to the formula, as all alcoholic beverages are a different %/proof. This is scientific data, therefore only the original amount of alcohol, not the whole drink, is tested in order to get a definitive result. This is what I was trying to explain.

For example, 1 oz of vanilla extract is .35 oz of alcohol. One oz of Grey Goose is .4 oz alcohol. One half cup of Baileys is 4 oz at 20%, so .8 oz is the amount of alcohol to plug into the equation.

So if you baked the Bailey's for 25 minutes, only .36 oz remains (45%). The equivalent of a third of a shot. And that is divided by 12 to 15 servings for individual consumption. Divided by 12 is .18 oz per person. The reason why you still taste it is because 3.2 oz of the original 4 oz is not alcohol and remains for flavor.

I have put a whole bottle of wine in a beef burgundy dish. But calculate the original amount of alcohol, simmered many hours, is how you have to calculate, plus the temperature is a huge factor. Plus, the amount of servings if you want to know exact proportion per person.

The chart did not factor temp except for the reference to boiling. That is missing information needed to calculate correctly.

My BIL managed a grocery store for a large chain. For one of their city stores they had to keep a tight rein in the extract aisle as well as the hygiene aisle as many times the alcoholics living on the street would come into the store and drink the Vanilla extract and put the empty bottle back on the shelf. This disease is truly devastating.

Vanilla extract 35% alcohol (70 proof)
Almond extract at 36% alcohol
Lemon extract at 80%
Mint extract at 74%
Rum extract at 35% right up there with actual Rum which is at 40%.

All true about the alcohol. You need to know what percentage of the liquid added is alcohol. Grain alcohol is different than schnapps. But that is the only important part of the study.

The point of the article is that a significant amount of the alcohol you added is probably left in the dish. It may be a concern for some people, whether it is a little or a lot.

I was shocked to learn that 75% of the alcohol remained after a flambe. That is not what is presented by most cooks - professional or at home.

Ochef was citing a study by the USDA. Anyone can look at the original study results for specifics. Of course it depends on time and temperature.

To sum it up:

If you are cooking or baking with alcohol. there is probably more remaining in your dish or baked goods than you think.