Rum Cake – traditional rum cake from scratch – no mixes. Light & fluffy topped with chopped pecans and soaked in a reduced sugared rum glaze. So good you will want to eat the whole thing.
Boozy rum cake – Oh YES!!!
Let me tell you about this cake and how delightful it is. It is adapted from Carole Walter’s, absolutely BEST yellow cake. I guess when you label a cake the absolute best cake you are bound to get a lot of people poking at the recipe. What I have to say is that it is sooo good – definitely a keeper.
Though it is quite good I made a few adjustments for you to make; it tastes even better.
Your girl can’t help herself. Guaranteed to please! I reduced the sugar to 1 ¾ cups and upped the flavor with rum and nutmeg. Yes, I love nutmeg, you may leave it out, if desired.
Okay let’s keep going, what makes this cake worthy? The texture – buttery, and fluffy – one that would have made my home economics teacher leap with joy.
Now, if only I had this recipe when I was taking my finals in school, just maybe, I would have gotten an A in her class. Sadly though, I had a B.
Can rum cake make you drunk?
Rum reminds a lot of people of the holidays and the holidays is just around the corner! Woohoo!!! And that means baking season is in full swing including the boozy baked goods.
And now you ask, can rum cake or boozy treats in general, make you drunk? Well, most people (including me), believe that when you infuse alcohol into your recipe, it’ll be cooked off since it is baked. But it is possible to get drunk from excessive consumption of alcohol-infused baked goods.
You can get tipsy or completely intoxicated if it contains more than 5 percent of alcohol by volume, like the Tortuga rum cake, and also depending on your consumption and alcohol tolerance. Moreover, you’ll totally feel the rum kick, especially if you add the booze AFTER it has finished baking.
Rum Cake Glaze
If for some reason you really do not want to be bothered with rum, you can ice it or use simple syrup (you can find the recipe HERE) to make it moist. Without rum, it is not a moist cake- just tender. To tell you the truth, I love it with or without the sauce.
But if you’re willing to play around with it, you can try it with vanilla or chocolate glaze OR both (why not? 😉 ) using the glaze recipe from my Chocolate Rum Marble Cake.
There you have it! I hope you’re already looking forward for the holiday season with this decadent and insanely delicious rum cake with rum glaze. If you want more “rummy” flavor, go ahead! I won’t tell anyone. 😉
Enjoy!
Tips and Notes
- Adding rum to your batter adds a more deep brown color and flavor.
- If you don’t want to infuse it with a rum glaze, you can use my simple syrup recipe HERE. Or top it with vanilla or chocolate glaze OR both using the glaze recipe from my Chocolate Rum Marble Cake.
- Be sure to let the cake cool for about 5-10 minutes before removing from the pan. And proceeding with the next steps.
- You can use a large bundt pan or use two 8-inch pan. If using two baking pans, reduce the baking time by 10-15 minutes.
Watch How to Make It
Rum Cake With Rum Butter Sauce baked from scratch without pudding mix and paired with rum butter sauce for that additional goodness.
- 10 ounce unsalted butter
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 4 Large eggs
- 1/3 cup powdered milk
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 -3 Tablespoons dark rum
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cup pecans
- RUM GLAZE
- 4 ounce butter
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 3-4 Tablespoons dark rum
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C/325°F.
- Cream together the butter and sugar at high speed in a stand mixture until it’s fluffy and starting to look white, about 5- 7 minutes.
- Stir in the eggs, a one at a time, beating the mixture well between each one and adding a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the batter from curdling.
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Add in the flour , powder milk and baking powder into the batter, alternating with the milk –until fully absorbed by the mixture.
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Then add , nutmeg, rum and vanilla extract
- Stir well until everything is fully combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
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Greased a 10 inch bottomed tube pan, then add chopped pecans
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Pour batter into a bundt plan , on top of the pecans.
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Bake at 325 until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- In a small saucepan combine butter, sugar, rum and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes stirring constantly to prevent any burns. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
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Poke little holes into the cake with a toothpick or skewer . Spoon the syrup over the cake and let it soak in. Let the cake cool to room temperature before serving
You can use a large bundt pan or use two 8 inch pan like I did. if you use a one baking pan you should extend the
How to Make Rum Cake
Pre-heat the oven to 160°C/325°F. Cream together the butter and sugar at high speed in a stand mixture until it’s fluffy and starting to look white, about 5- 7 minutes. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture well between each one and adding a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the batter from curdling.
Add in the flour, powder milk and baking powder into the batter, alternating with the milk –until fully absorbed by the mixture.
Then add , nutmeg, and vanilla extract. Stir well until everything is fully combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
Greased a 10 -inch bottomed tube pan, then add chopped pecans.
Pour batter into a bundt plan, on top of the pecans. Bake at 325 F until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Remove from the oven.
In a small saucepan combine butter, sugar, rum and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes stirring constantly to prevent any burns. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Poke little holes into the cake with a toothpick or skewer . Spoon the syrup over the cake and let it soak in. Let the cake cool to room temperature before serving.
Hi Imma, what dark rum brand do you use?
Hi Katrina. Usually, I would use whatever dark rum I have at hand. As long as it is not light rum since dark rum has a more intense flavor.
Thanks for sharing the recipe. Clicking “reply” was the only way I could find to comment in here. I made this and mine came out fine but had a dense spongy like texture. I’m not sure if that was from all the eggs or something else but I did not care for the texture. I was hoping for more of a cake like texture (though maybe the sponginess was what better helped it to absorb the added rum at the end…?). It tasted fine other then that. I made mine in muffin pans to cut the time down. I tried a dash or two of nutmeg and some with cinnamon in some of the muffins to see if it would be something I would like. I personally did not like the nutmeg (though it did remind me of egg nog). But I did like the cinnamon. The ones without any spices didn’t have much flavor by itself just sort of sweet and spongy. But obviously 😉 adding the rum on top made them taste even better.
Hi Moriah,
So sorry to hear this .This cake is moist on it’s own- without the rum syrup. Really don’t know what went wrong , without actually being there.
Could I use powdered buttermilk in place of powdered milk? Powdered milk is surprisingly hard to find here and I don’t have time to order.
Yes you can. The powdered buttermilk works just fine.
Not NEARLY enough rum in this cake or the sauce! Dry and boring! I followed the recipe exactly. Epic Fail.
Failure…..followed the recipe and my cake never rose.
Sorry to hear about that. Make sure you double check your baking powder. This recipe works , have made it several times with good results.
Add more rum. It won’t be as dry. My experience is that a cake that is a little dry will soak up more sauce. The “dryer” up front, the “saucier” afterward. I haven’t had problems with this bread.
Your Blog is absolutely wonderful! So colorful & detailed a true step by step and the photo guidance & much appreciated and so pretty! Thank you for investing so much time into testing the recipes and for your hard work with your site!
I have watched some of your videos and I find this very amusing. I would love to purchase one or more of your produce and hence would love to how to go about it. I live and work in Lekki.
I would like to know if you can use the eagle brand substitute for the powdered milk as well as the regular milk? Are the amounts of the eagle brand the same?
Hello,
Yes it works just fine . Same amount for both powdered and regular milk
Can you use rum extract?
It depends. Do you want to completely eliminate the rum butter syrup?
Your recipe sounds great and will try but when do you add rum to cake??????? Not mentioned in directions at all!!!!!!!!
Hi. Thanks for pointing it out. Updated the recipe. The video shows you add rum to the batter before the vanilla extract. It’s also optional (if you don’t wnt your cake to be too “rummy”) since the glaze already has rum in it, too.
Recipe and pics of cake look absouletly devine. Can I substitute the powdered milk with eagle brand milk or evaporated milk? If so, which would be the best?
Thank you. Yes, eagle brand milk works fine.
Hello couple of question on your run cake. 1. Do u used cake flour?
2. Can u used pet or eagle brand milk?
Hi Frances ,
In this recipe I used all purpose flour. Yes, you can use pet or eagle brand milk. Happy baking !!!
Hello. Can this recipe be converted for cup cakes?
Just a question here: can this be made in a half sheet, if I adjust the recipe to about 3 times?
Hi Rebekah. I can’t exactly give an answer to that since I haven’t tried it. But as per my experience, you can use two baking pans with this recipe and just reduce the baking time by 10-15 minutes. I don’t know if this helps, but I hope it does somehow. Let me know how it works for you.
I am planning on making this recipe for easter. What kind od powdered milk did you use?
Thank you in advance.
Hi Fran, Any powdered milk would work. I used whole milk, nonfat works as well.
Happy Easter!!
Can I bake the cake a day before the party then put the rum sauce the next day??
Hi Kathy. Yes, you sure can. Just place the cake in an airtight container and store in a room temperature or in the fridge.
Irma is the flour for the rum cake paladin or self rising flour for the rum cake.!
Thanks
Shirley
Hello shirley, It’s plain flour
I love your recipes. The Rum Cake is a winner.
Can I use different types of rum (spiced or cinnamon)?
You sure can.
Can you use fireball?
Hi, Dierdre. I haven’t tried fireball but I don’t see why it won’t work. Please do let me know how it turned out for you.
Can this recipe be converted for cup cakes?
Yes it can. Adjust cooking times to about 15-22 minutes.
Greeting from My kitchen to yours
For the butter sauce do you use whit or brown sugar??? I did use white but it does not look quite right.
Kind Regards and Merry Christmas
Sandi
Hi Sandi,
I used white sugar. The sauce should not be too thick.
Merry Christmas !!!
Do I need to use powdered milk? If not, how do I adjust the recipe?
Not using powdered milk will alter the taste slightly . Just leave it out completely.
The butter you use in your Rum cake is it Salted or Unsalted?
It’s unsalted
Amazing! So easy and so impressive. I want you to know how much I enjoy your Web site. I’ve tried many of your recipes, always perfect. Just made the crab stuffed mushrooms A+++. The Lomo saltado I’ve made over and over always a pleaser. Your recipes are so perfect, I now just jump to your recipes when I’m entertaining guest always confident that they will get great reviews. Thanks for making my life so easy
Love the cake, love the run sauce. Recipe is simple with detailed instruction. I’ve tried several of your dishes all turned out spectacular and this dessert did not disappoint.
Thank you so much, Tara, for the kind words. I’m glad you love this cake as much as I do. =)
Sound and looks delicious. Are you mixing all by hand after creaming the butter and sugar? Looking forward to making it.
Thanks Imma, for this wonderful cake recipe, I just want to find out if you put the cake back in the oven once you’ve poured the glaze. Thanks
No you don’t. It’s ready to be served.
I love hot butter rum sauce on cakes like this and mince meat pies. The problem is that the recipe makes too much sauce. I know in the future to cut the recipe but for now can the sauce be frozen?
Hi Tom! Sorry I can’t say for sure, never tried freezing it .
Hi, the recipe says bake in 325 but in the video it’s says 350. Which temperature should we use? Thank you 😉
. For best results , when using a dark baking pan reduce the heat about 25 degrees, because it browns quickly . If not bake at 350 Degrees F. Hope this helps
Hi Imma this looks amazing , can’t wait to try it.. I came across your blog 3 days ago and I love your recipes. I have tried 3 of your recipes and looking forward to trying many more…. Thank you
Glad it’s working out well for you. Thanks for taking the time to let me know !
You didn’t specify how long to extend the baking time if one used a large baking pan such as a tube pan. Thank you.
Extend it for about 10-15 minutes
So easy to whip up and people just love it.
This is the cake that I just roll out of bed bake,
It never goes wrong,really get a lot of credit from
using yr recipe
Thanks Miss Bites
Love all your recipe. Cooking your pineapple chicken for dinner on Sunday.. Any way, Is 10 ounce of butter 2 and a half stick of butter?
Yes it is . Thank you so much!!!!
Love your recipes…Do I have to use a Bundt pan…Thanks
Thanks! No, you don’t. You can use any cake pan you desire.
Love, I will be making my version soon for the holidays.
Jehan, can’t wait to see what you come up with. I know it is going to taste fabulous!
Consequently yummy! That looks amazing.
Cheryl, you are not alone . We all do!
Uh, I really should NOT have checked out your blog before breakfast. Stomach rumbling vibrating the table…. This looks so delicious! Leave it to me to crave boozy cake for breakfast.
This cake looks beautiful and delicious! Definitely something Jamaicans would love. Would LOVE a slice!!
They sure would – it tastes just like those cake you usually get from the Caribbean Islands.
this looks amazing! definitely craving a slice right now.. that rum glaze is seriously delicious.
It sure is! I am addicted to it- thank goodness it is all gone!
Hi Imma, I can’t wait to try this recipe, couple of questions pls, is it 1tbsp baking powder or 1tsp? Also do I need to double the ingredients to get the 2 same size cakes I see in ur pics above or do I use the recipe as is, thanks in advance.
Lolly, it is 1 Tablespoon baking powder. It all depends on your cake pan – this cake is large enough for 2 8-9 inch baking pan. For a single cake, use 10 inch bundt pan. I used 2 8 inch cake pan and did not double the recipe. Let me know how it works for you.
Do you have to use dark rum can you use light rum?
Light rum would work just as well.