This easy Tropical Rum Cake recipe is well suited to Shavuot because it utilizes a store-bought pound cake. Since almost all ready-made pound cakes are made with dairy products, specifically with sweet butter and milk, this means that these cakes cannot be served with meat meals. Yet on Shavuot, we serve dairy dishes, as this is the holiday of "milk and honey." A treat of this kind is one of the ways in which we remember the sweetness of receiving the Commandments, the event that Shavuot celebrates.

Rum Cake is the most luscious variation of this Fruit Cake. Rum, of course, is the liquor of the Caribbean. Those who are hesitant to add an alcoholic component to a recipe instead can use a non-alcoholic rum extract, available in the baking department of any well-stocked supermarket. Even those cooks who decide to eschew the rum flavoring altogether still can make this recipe, yet then it becomes more important to include some additional fruits such as the optional bananas and perhaps some kiwi. Make it pretty as well as delicious.

After the optional rum and the pound cake, it simply is a matter of thinking tropical when organizing the ingredients. Choose a tropical fruit jam or preserve, preferably pineapple, because pineapple is authentic to the region which inspired this cake. The jam will provide a barrier between the dampness of the rum syrup and the texture of the cake. There still should be jam added even if the rum is not to be used, maybe more than one flavor of jam. For the rum-free adaptation, however, the center block of cake need not be removed and toasted; conventional layer-type slices will suffice nicely.

The "Marshmallow Fluff" product carries a hechscher, and it is parve as well. Both the Fluff and the shredded coconut are a pure white color which makes for a visually appealing result. Garnish with banana slices, if desired, since bananas also are a tropical fruit, rather than using peaches or apples, for example. Actually, when the rum is generous, the fruit garnish almost is overkill, since the recipe already is so good.

Cooks who are able to buy parve pound cakes or who bake their own can keep this recipe completely parve and serve it year-round, rather than just for Shavuous. Obviously, if a parve cake is the foundation of the recipe, the only remaining dairy ingredient would be that optional whipped cream, and this can be omitted. It must be cautioned that the sturdiness of a pound cake is a requirement for soaking up the rum syrup. Still, if the rum is deleted, then sponge cake may be substituted as an alternative cake base.

There is no question that the rum makes for a far more interesting cake. Those cooks who do use the rum can make the syrup in batches. It keeps for months in the refrigerator and, as mentioned, it is excellent both on cake and for marinating fruit salad.

This Tropical Rum Cake is gooey, sticky and sweet, unusual and intriguing. It appeals to children of all ages, including adults. As far as recipes go, they don't get easier than this one! Nobody ever will suspect that this creation was not "from scratch."