Baking with Alcohol

A reader has asked: I have a great cake recipe that has a few tablespoons of rum in it. I was wondering if the rum would bake out, as I want to serve the cake for a holiday dinner, and there will be kids present.

A: I don’t ever think it’s right to serve alcohol or anything that contains alcohol to minors. Why not substitute a couple of teaspoons of vanilla extract (yes, it does contain alcohol, but very little) for the rum?