Erin Mann is baking a new cake every week for a year from the "All Cakes Considered" cookbook and shares her adventures here on AnnArbor.com. Read past columns here.

The story of my Butter Rum Cake begins with the Heritage Bundt pan. I learned of this pan when I was researching the history of the bundt pan for last week's article. At first sight, I was convinced the swirling design of this pan could mold even the most humble cake into an architectural thing of beauty.

The sticker shock of this $34 pan was enough to keep me hemming and hawing about purchasing it for days. I'd finally mentally wrestled with the idea enough to allow myself to buy it based on the justification that I'd worked a few hours of overtime the week before and could use my extra hard-earned dough to treat myself to something nice.

I went to the Williams-Sonoma store in Briarwood Mall and walked around ogling all the nifty kitchen gadgets like I had so many times before. I was nervous and excited that this may be the time I actually buy something! I made my way over to the bakeware section of the store only to stand there distracted by all the other fun baking items that stocked the shelves -- darling dessert plates with drawings of cupcakes on them; a cakelet pan that makes six miniature tiered cakes; and cake pans shaped like oversized donuts to name a few.

I shifted my focus back to my original quest: to make this gorgeous Heritage bundt pan mine for the baking. I gently pulled it from the top shelf and proudly walked to the register where a delightful cashier greeted me and offered me a sample of risotto. Not being a huge fan of this Italian rice dish I was about to kindly pass when she chimed in with, "It has zucchini and mint. It's really good." I surrendered. "Sure, why not?"

Another employee plunked a small paper plate of risotto in my hands as the cashier rang up the pan and raved about the quality of "these 'gold' pans." Amid my juggling act of timidly tasting risotto and shuffling through my purse to find my wallet to dish out the big bucks for this pan she prattled on about some baking spray I just had to have. She claimed my cakes would always release cleanly and easily from the pan. I succumbed to her powers of persuasion and when she asked if I'd like to try this miraculous baking spray I again sheepishly answered, "Sure, why not?"

I noticed the price sticker as she rang it up; another $9 added to the bill. With that price tag, this baking spray had better be able to make breakfast and fold laundry, too.

Inspired by her aunt's memorable Butter Rum Cake, which was made with a yellow cake mix, "All Cakes Considered" author Melissa Gray created the "from scratch" version of her aunt's original recipe.

I mixed and baked the cake. After taking it out of the oven, I allowed it to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, I got to work on the glaze made of butter, sugar, water and rum. I added a few extra tablespoons of rum to the glaze after an initial tasting as I found it too buttery and sweet.

While still in the pan, I used a chopstick to poke holes through the cake. I drizzled 3/4 of the prepared glaze over the cake. The cake soaked up the glaze rather quickly. I reserved the rest of the glaze to be used once the cake was unmolded.

I put faith in the miraculous baking spray and attempted to unmold the cake. With a few gentle shakes and wiggles the cake slid cleanly from the pan onto the cake rack. What a sight! The stunning cake resembled the building designs of architect Frank Gehry.

It looks lovely, but how does it taste? Made with cake flour, instead of all-purpose, the cake has a delicate crumb that complements the buttery taste. Each slice had a slightly sweet crust that was crispy, browned and buttery. I'm not sure if this was a result of the pan, the baking spray or the amount of butter in the recipe -- or any combination of these -- but it was heavenly.

I ate a slice with some whipped cream and raspberries. But the cake doesn't need toppings because the butter and rum flavors stand out on their own.

Erin Mann is a lover of all things cake and ruining diets one cake at a time. Email her at SheGotTheBeat@gmail.com to share your baking wisdom or follow her on Twitter.