The Best Rum Cake Recipe Ever - Life of Stacy (2024)

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This truly is the Best Rum Cake Recipe Ever!

It’s perfect for entertaining, incredibly easy to make, can be made up to 2 days ahead of time, and like a fine wine, it tastes better with age. The trifecta of entertaining.

It doesn’t matter what holiday or birthday it is, this cake always appears at our celebrations.

The Best Rum Cake Recipe Ever - Life of Stacy (1)

This Post is All About the Best Rum Cake Recipe Ever

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Special Tools:

bundt pan – Nordic Ware is my favorite brand of bundt pans. But any 10-cup capacity bundt pan will work.

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • Pam
  • Flour for dusting pan
  • 1 Cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
  • 1 box plain yellow cake mix
  • 1 small package of vanilla instant pudding mix
  • 1/2 cup rum
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 large eggs

Glaze:

  • 1/2 stick of butter
  • 2 Tbs water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup dark rum
The Best Rum Cake Recipe Ever - Life of Stacy (2)

Instructions:

Cake

  • Preheat oven to 325° and place the oven rack in the center of the oven
  • Lightly spray the bundt pan with Pam
  • Dust bundt pan with flour and shake out excess
  • Sprinkle pecans or walnuts in the bottom of the pan and set aside
  • In a large bowl, add cake mix, pudding mix, rum, oil, water, and eggs.
  • Blend on low speed for 1 minute
  • Scrape down the sides
  • Blend on medium for 2 minutes – scraping the sides if needed
  • Pour batter into the prepared pan
  • Bake for about one hour – until the cake is golden brown and springs back lightly when pressed.
  • Cool on a wired rack for 20 minutes
  • Use a long knife to loosen the cake around the edges
  • Invert the cake onto a cake platter
  • Using a long skewer or toothpick, poke holes in the top of the cake

Glaze

  • Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat
  • Add water and sugar
  • Stirring, increase heat to medium, and bring to a boil
  • Reduce heat slightly and let glaze simmer until thickened – 4 to 5 minutes – stirring constantly
  • Remove the pan from heat and stir in rum
  • Spoon the glaze over the warm cake allowing it to seep into the holes and drizzle down the sides and into the center
  • Cool completely before cutting

Tips for Making the Best Rum Cake Recipe Ever

  • You can use white rum if you don’t have any dark rum on hand. It will still be delicious.
  • Make sure to drizzle plenty of the sauce on the pecans. It makes the most delicious praline topping
The Best Rum Cake Recipe Ever - Life of Stacy (3)

This recipe is from The Cake Mix Doctor. I highly recommend this book. I’ve had it for years and everything I have made has been great.

What Kind of Rum is Best for a Rum Cake?

Dark rum is the best rum for a rum cake. It has a more complex flavor than white rum. You can still use white rum if that is all you have. Your cake just won’t have the same depth of flavor. Though it will still be delicious.

Can Rum Cake Get You Drunk?

Typically, no. When the rum is baked in the cake or simmered in the glaze, the alcohol is burned off.

If you are concerned about this, you can just omit the rum from the glaze.

History of the Rum Cake:

Although there is no clear consensus as to the exact origins of the rum cake, it is believed to have been first introduced in the Caribbean by the British colonists. It is now traditionally enjoyed all through Europe and America at Christmas as well as the winter months.

How do you make a box cake taste like a bakery cake?

I have made many deliciously doctored box cakes and the common ingredient is the addition of pudding to the box cake mix. The pudding adds an incredible texture to the cake that you just can’t get from a box cake – it really elevates it to more of a bakery-style cake.

This Post was All About the Best Rum Cake Recipe Ever

The Best Rum Cake Recipe Ever

This is the most incredible cake you will ever eat. Not only is it delicious but it is also super easy to make. With a little help from a boxed cake mix, you will have a moist and delicious cake that will delight everyone.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Calories 235 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Cake

  • Pam
  • 1 tbs flour for dusting more if you need it
  • 1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
  • 1 box plain yellow cake mix
  • 1 pkg vanilla instant pudding 3.4 oz
  • ½ cup rum
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup water
  • 4 large eggs

Glaze

  • ½ stick butter
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup dark rum
  • 2 Tbs Water

Instructions

Cake

  • Preheat oven to 325° and place the oven rack in the center of the oven

  • In a large bowl, add cake mix, pudding mix, rum, oil, water, and eggs.

  • Blend on low speed for 1 minute

  • Scrape down the sides

  • Blend on medium for 2 minutes – scraping the sides if needed

  • Lightly spray the bundt pan with Pam

  • Dust bundt pan with flour and shake out excess

  • Sprinkle pecans or walnuts in the bottom of the pan

  • Pour batter into the prepared pan

  • Bake for about one hour – until the cake is golden brown and springs back lightly when pressed.

  • Cool on a wired rack for 20 minutes

  • Use a long knife to loosen the cake around the edges

  • Invert the cake onto a cake platter

  • Using a long skewer or toothpick, poke holes in the top of the cake

Glaze

  • Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat

  • add water and sugar

  • Stirring, increase heat to medium, and bring to a boil

  • Reduce heat slightly and let glaze simmer until thickened – 4 to 5 minutes – stirring constantly

  • Remove the pan from heat and stir in rum

  • Spoon the glaze over the warm cake allowing it to seep into the holes and drizzle down the sides and into the center

  • Cool completely before cutting

Notes

  • You can use white rum if you don’t have any dark rum on hand. It will still be delicious.
  • Make sure to drizzle plenty of the sauce on the pecans. It makes the most delicious praline topping.

Nutrition

Serving: 1pieceCalories: 235kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 2gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 72mgSodium: 105mgPotassium: 26mgFiber: 0.05gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 208IUCalcium: 11mgIron: 0.3mg

Keyword cake, dessert, holiday dessert, Rum cake

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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The Best Rum Cake Recipe Ever - Life of Stacy (2024)

FAQs

What is the best rum for rum cakes? ›

Which rum is best for cake? You can use light or dark rum for this recipe. Dark rum tends to be more flavorful than milder light rum, and will add more complexity to the cake. My recommendation: use what you have.

What is the significance of the rum cake? ›

Nothing evokes more nostalgia for the Caribbean islands than rum cake. As important as it is delicious, this historic edible treat is a tribute to the freedom fighters, who we are indebted to, who fought their battles against the colonist oppressive sugar trade.

What is the best rum to use for baking? ›

Taste a few good rums and decide what you like. Sometimes a very rich rum brings more flavor while a light rum is more subtle. Goslings and puss*rs are rich rums that have more rum flavor, while Bacardi Gold is much lighter. Myers's and Cruzan Blackstrap are among the darkest and richest rums for baking.

Is white or dark rum better for baking? ›

Aged rum, he says, lends caramel notes to dishes, while white rums can give a pleasing alcohol bite, and spiced rum is a no-brainer for cakes.

Will rum cake get you drunk? ›

An average rum cake has around 1/2 cup rum to bake the cake and eating two to three pieces of dry rum cake is too less to get you drunk. However, if you soak the cake in rum after baking and serve it after refrigeration, then eating too much cake can get you a little intoxicated.

Does rum cake need to be refrigerated? ›

Your cake will stay fresh for seven days without refrigeration. I recommend keeping it in an airtight container to keep it moist. It will last even longer if you keep it in the fridge or freeze it. Just let it come to room temperature before eating for the best flavor.

What's another name for rum cake? ›

Traditionally, dried fruit is soaked in rum for months and then added to dough prepared with sugar which has been caramelized by boiling in water. The result, also known as "black cake", is similar to a fruitcake, with a lighter texture.

What is the best rum to mix with? ›

The best rums for co*cktails, according to bartenders:
  • Havana Club 86 proof Añejo Blanco.
  • Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black Rum.
  • Rhum J.M. Terroir Volcanique.
  • Probitas Rum.
  • El Dorado 12 Year.
  • Planteray White Rum.
  • Ten to One Caribbean Rum.
  • El Dorado Cask Aged 3 Year Rum.
Mar 26, 2024

What is a substitute for spiced rum in baking? ›

Non-alcoholic substitutes:Rum extract: Use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of rum extract for each tablespoon of rum called for in the recipe. Apple juice or white grape juice: Substitute an equal amount of apple juice or white grape juice for the rum.

Does rum cake have real rum? ›

A rum cake or black cake is a type of dessert cake which contains rum. In most of the Caribbean, rum cakes are a traditional holiday season dessert, descended from the holiday puddings (such as figgy pudding).

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