Rum Cake
Traditional rum cake from scratch－no mixes－just pure homemade goodness. Light, tender, topped with chopped pecans, and drizzled with an addictive rum glaze. So good, you’ll want to eat the whole thing.
Boozy rum cake – Oh YES!!!
Let me tell you about this cake and how delightful it is. I adapted it from Carole Walter’s absolutely BEST yellow cake. I guess when you label a cake the absolute best, you’re bound to get a lot of people poking at the recipe. However, I have to say that it is sooo good – definitely a keeper.
Okay, let’s keep going. What makes this cake worthy of your time? The texture is 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 got a B.
Why Rum Makes a Yellow Cake Even Better
You know me, your girl can’t help herself. I had to make a few adjustments for an easier and even better cake. Guaranteed to please! I reduced the sugar to 1¾ cups and upped the flavor with rum and nutmeg. Yes, I love nutmeg, but you can leave it out if you want.
Besides adding moisture, rum also adds depth of flavor and a light caramel taste. Did you know that alcohol also breaks down gluten for a more tender crumb? It also carries the flavors from fats and water-soluble ingredients for better distribution.
And don’t worry about the alcohol content, because it evaporates during baking and cooking. So that means it’s still kid-friendly.
How to Make Rum Cake
- Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and starting to look white, 5-7 minutes. (Photo 1)
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the batter from curdling. (Photo 2)
- Add the flour, powdered milk, and baking powder into the batter, alternating with the milk until fully combined. (Photo 3)
- Stir in the rum, vanilla extract, and nutmeg, and mix until everything is fully combined. (Photo 4)
- Line the bottom of the greased bundt pan with chopped pecans. Pour the batter over the pecans. (Photos 5-7)
- Bake at 325℉ (160°C) for 55-60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before flipping it out onto a cake plate. (Photo 8)
- Rum sauce. In a small saucepan, bring the butter, sugar, rum, and water over medium heat to a boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Stir constantly to keep it from burning, then remove from the heat and cool slightly. (Photos 9-10)
- 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 slicing and serving.
Tips and Notes
- Dark rum adds a deeper color and flavor. But you can use the light if that’s what you have; even spiced rum provides delicious results.
- If you prefer skipping the rum glaze, a simple syrup, vanilla glaze, chocolate glaze, or both works fine. You can also completely leave the glaze off.
- Let the cake cool for 5-10 minutes before removing it from the pan so it firms up and holds together better.
- If you want a more spiked rummy flavor, go ahead and add more rum to the glaze after taking it off the heat! I won’t tell.
- If your cake ends up drier than you want, soak it with more rum glaze.
Make Ahead and Storage
Rum cake tastes even better after it has had time to soak in the rum sauce. It should last fine for 3-4 days at room temperature, a week in the fridge, or 5-6 months in the freezer.
If you freeze individual slices, you have an emergency sweet tooth fix or a treat for surprise guests. Thaw it quickly in the microwave and enjoy.
More Decadent Holiday Cakes to Enjoy
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”yhMs8hHB” upload-date=”2019-05-07T07:00:44.000Z” name=”Rum Cake” description=”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 would want to eat the whole thing.”]
This blog post was originally published in October 2018 and has been updated with additional tips and gorgeous new photos.
Rum Cake
Ingredients
The Cake
- 10 ounces (285g) unsalted butter
- 1¾ cups (350g) sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (35g) powdered milk
- 1 tablespoon (12g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- ½ cup (118ml) milk
- 1-3 tablespoons (15-45ml) dark rum
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon (2g) nutmeg
- 1½ cups (170g) chopped pecans
Rum Glaze
- 4 ounces (113g) butter
- ½ cup (100g) sugar
- ¼ cup (60ml) water
- 3-4 tablespoons (45-60ml) dark rum
Instructions
The Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325℉ (160°C). Grease a 10-inch tube or bundt pan and set it aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar at high speed in a stand mixer until fluffy and starting to look white, 5-7 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each one and adding a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the batter from curdling.
- Add the flour, powdered milk, and baking powder into the batter, alternating with the milk until fully absorbed by the mixture.
- Then add the rum, vanilla, and nutmeg. Stir well until everything is fully combined, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl as you go.
- Add the chopped pecans to the bottom of the greased cake pan. Then pour in the batter on top of the pecans.
- Bake at 325℉ (160°C) until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then flip it out onto a cake plate.
- Pour batter into a bundt plan , on top of the pecans.
- Bake at 325 until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Remove from the oven. Optionally, pour half of the rum glaze over the cake before removing it from the pan, then drizzle the rest over the finished cake.
Rum Glaze
- In a small saucepan, heat the butter, sugar, water, and rum over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
- Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly.
- Poke little holes in the cake with a toothpick or skewer. Drizzle the syrup over the cake and let it soak in. Let it cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.
Tips & Notes:
- You can use one large bundt pan or two 8-inch cake pans. If using two cake pans, it will bake faster, so start checking for doneness around 25-30 minutes.
- For cupcakes, like a muffin pan with cupcake papers, fill the wells ¾ full with batter, and reduce the cooking time to 15-22 minutes, depending on your oven. Start checking for doneness at around 15 minutes.
- You can replace the milk and powdered milk with the same amount of evaporated milk. If using condensed milk (like Eagle Brand), reduce the sugar by ⅓ cup, or it might end up too sweet.
- A cake that doesn’t rise could have various reasons. First, check the baking powder’s expiry date. Second, the oven temperature was off. And third, overmixing deflated the batter.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a guesstimate and can vary greatly based on the ingredients used.
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.