I’ve had many requests for rum cake and I’m so excited to finally share my version with you! This is my 100% homemade rum Bundt cake and it’s even better than it looks and sounds.
This Rum Cake Is:
Completely from scratch Very buttery and moist Lightly flavored with rum Heavily flavored with butter rum glaze Filled with brown sugar, orange, and buttery flavors Not as dense as pound cake, not as soft as white cake (in between!) Delicious warm + delicious cold Topped with butter rum glaze
Totally From Scratch
Instead of using cake mix and pudding mix, I took a look at some of my from-scratch Bundt cakes. Like vanilla cake and white cake, I have a standard Bundt cake recipe that I use for different flavors including chai cinnamon swirl Bundt cake and cranberry orange Bundt cake. Both are some of the best cakes I’ve ever made because they’re easy, insanely buttery, extra moist, and dense… without being too heavy. With a quality base recipe like this, the options are endless. Rum cake, let’s go!
Rum Cake Ingredients
Because they’re so large, Bundt cakes have a tendency to dry out. To avoid this, it’s important to use the careful ratio and ingredients listed below.
Flour: We use sturdy all-purpose flour as the base of this Bundt cake. It’s strong enough to hold up all the liquid ingredients. I don’t recommend swapping in cake flour because it’s simply too light. Baking Powder: 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder is more than we use for a typical cake, but it’s needed to help this hefty cake rise. Salt + Vanilla Extract: Both salt and vanilla extract add flavor. Butter: This is a very buttery cake, so expect a lot of butter! Orange Zest: Trust me on this. Orange, rum, and brown sugar are a trio you need in your baking. The orange zest adds a fleck of background flavor without competing with the rum. My husband, who isn’t usually super descriptive besides the simple “it’s good”, complimented the delicious orange flavor. Sugars: Paired with orange and rum, brown sugar is definitely welcome. We use brown sugar as the primary sweetener, with just a touch of granulated sugar. Rum: We’re replacing most of the liquid with rum. You need 1/2 cup of regular, dark, or spiced rum. I tested with several and they’re all fantastic. We really liked the cakes with dark or spiced rum best. It does not need to be a fancy rum! Eggs, Sour Cream, + Milk: 5 eggs, sour cream, and milk add moisture. It’s a lot of volume but remember, we want a mega moist cake with a buttery crumb. Pecans: Perhaps the best part of all, pecans line the bottom (which ends up being the top) of the Bundt cake pan. This added texture, paired with the butter, rum, brown sugar, orange, and butter rum glaze, is completely unforgettable—probably the best part of this cake.
Before you Bundt
Bundt Pan: Use a large Bundt pan that holds 10-12 cup capacity. I love this one and this one. Both are nonstick, but I always grease it with nonstick spray just to be safe. The Bundt cake releases so easily. Curdled Ingredients: The wet ingredients will look somewhat curdled before you add the dry ingredients– this is due to the ranging temperatures and textures of the ingredients. It’s normal. The butter may be warmer than the eggs, the sour cream may be colder than the butter, etc. It will all come together when the dry ingredients are added.
Butter Rum Glaze
Let’s finish this beauty off with a butter rum glaze that sets. (Meaning: it won’t stay drippy and wet.) Like the brown butter icing I use on my apple blondies, we’ll whip this up with some heat. Melt butter with a little rum in a small saucepan or microwave, then stir in vanilla extract, confectioners’ sugar, and a pinch of salt. The icing is thin at first, but thickens as it cools. In fact, you might notice two different consistencies of the glaze in these photos. (2 test cakes, same cake + glaze recipe.) I drizzled the glazes on the cakes, but the thicker glaze had cooled for 10 minutes. Thick or thin, warm or cool, this butter rum glaze is liquid gold. It would be incredible on my iced oatmeal cookies and peach Bundt cake, too.
Can You Taste the Alcohol?
The cake itself has 1/2 cup of rum in the batter. It has a light rum flavor and the alcohol bakes out. You’re also not consuming the entire cake (well, hopefully not!), so don’t expect to get tipsy off of 1 or 2 slices. The butter rum glaze, however, has a fairly strong rum flavor. It’s not cooked, so the alcohol is there. Again, you aren’t consuming the entire cake and 1-2 spoonfuls of glaze won’t get you tipsy. Use your best judgement serving to minors, pregnant women, or anyone abstaining from alcohol. Want to skip the alcohol altogether? Replace the rum in the cake and the glaze with milk.
