Made from scratch without the crutch of cake mix, this homemade rum cake is perfectly moist, extra buttery, and flavored with rum. Top with boozy butter rum glaze and serve warm or cold. Rum cake doesn’t require a special occasion, but it’s perfect for the holidays!
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 Iโve 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 theyโre 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. Itโs 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 itโs 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. Itโs 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 unforgettableโprobably 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 ingredientsโ this is due to the ranging temperatures and textures of the ingredients. Itโs 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.
Print
Homemade Butter Rum Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made from scratch without the crutch of cake mix, this homemade rum cake is perfectly moist, extra buttery, and flavored with rum. Top with boozy butter rum glaze and serve warm or cold. Review recipe notes prior to beginning.
Ingredients
- 1 cupย (130g) finelyย chopped pecans
- 3 cups (375g)ย all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 2ย and 1/2 teaspoonsย baking powder
- 1ย and 1/2 teaspoonsย salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g)ย unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cupย (100g)ย granulated sugar
- zest fromย 1/2ย orange (about 1ย Tbsp)
- 5ย largeย eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cupย (120g) full fatย sour cream, at room temperature*
- 2 teaspoonsย pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cupย (120ml)ย rum or spiced rum*
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk, at room temperature
Butter Rum Icing
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) rum or spiced rum*
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- small pinch of salt (a bit less than 1/8 teaspoon)
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC) and grease aย 10-inch Bundt pan. Spoon pecans evenly into the Bundt pan.
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment beat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and orange zest together until creamed, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. The mixture will look curdled; thatโs okโit will come together when you add the dry ingredients.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and begin mixing on low speed. As the mixer runs, slowly pour in the rum and milk. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat until the batter is completely combined. Batter is thick.
- Pour/spoon the cake batter evenly over the pecans.
- Bake for 55-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with just a couple lightly moist crumbs. This is a large, heavy cake so donโt be alarmed if it takes a little longer in your oven. Mine always takes about 55 minutes.
- Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 45 minutes to 2 hours inside the pan. Then, invert the slightly cooled Bundt cake onto a wire rack or serving dish. (You can glaze and serve it while warm, or wait for it to cool completely.)
- Make the glaze: Melt the butter with the rum in a small saucepan over medium heat. If using the microwave, melt the butter in the microwave, then stir in the rum. Stir in the vanilla extract, salt, and confectioners’ sugar. Drizzle warm glaze over cake before slicing and serving. Glaze quickly thickens and sets as it cools. If desired, serve with maraschino cherries.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the entire cake ahead of time (before topping with icing). Cover cooled cake and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before icing and serving.ย Baked cake can be frozen up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature (if desired) before icing and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 10-inch Bundt Pan (I own and love this one and this one) | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack
- Sour Cream: You can use 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Just as moist and delicious!
- Rum:ย Use your favorite rum including light rum, dark rum, or spiced rum. See How Alcoholic is This Rum Cake above the recipe. If desired, swap the rum in the cake and glaze for milk.
- Pecans and/or Orange Zest: Both are optional, but add incredible flavor. I don’t recommend leaving out either. Replace the pecans with walnuts, if desired.
- Layer Cake: Use my vanilla cake recipeย and replace 1/2 cup of buttermilk with 1/2 cup of rum. (Use 1 cup buttermilk + 1/2 cup rum.) Sprinkle the bottom of each lined cake pan with 1/3 cup chopped pecans before adding the batter. Replace 2-3 Tablespoons of milk in the frosting with rum.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi. Making for Thanksgiving and wondering what type of salt is used – table, diamond crystal, other kosher salt or sea salt? Thanks in advance!
Hi Erika, We always use table salt unless otherwise noted.
Hi, I am planning on making this recipe and was wondering if I can add fruits inside the cake. If so, what kind? thank you.
Hi Cassadee, adding some chopped fruit shouldnโt be a problem. If the fruit isnโt dried and seems especially wet, you may want to lightly dry it with a towel to remove a bit of the excess moisture. Let us know if you give it a try.
Hello! Is there a recommended baking modification if using mini Bundt tins instead of the full size tin? Thank you!!
Bekah
Hi Bekah! You can use this recipe as written for mini Bunts. Weโre unsure of the baking timeโ it depends how big the mini Bundts are. You can use a toothpick to check for doneness.
As additional info, my bundts molds are each 1.5in deep and 3in wide.
Sally,
I want to bake this rum cake for those who have nut allergies. Is it still going to be wonderful without the pecan? Or could I replace those with something else?
Thank you!
Julia
Hi Julia! It will be still be tasty without the nuts ๐
Can I use coconut rum instead?
Hi Victoria, we much preferred this cake with dark or spiced rum, but you could use coconut rum if you wish. The flavor will of course be a bit different.
Hi Sally! I am making a wedding cake this summer and the groom wants a rum cake(!). Can I use this recipe in a layer cake? Is it too heavy to stack and do you have recommendations for making layers instead of a bundt cake (any change in ingredients, bake time, etc)
Hi Colleen! See the recipe notes for how to make this as a layer cake.
Loved it! Used a bunt pan with different run and added a little extra. Made holes in cake after cooling before adding rum frosting for it to be able to get down into middle of cake. Added cherries to the top.
Just made bundt cake, trimmed a bit of cake off. Delicious. Havenโt even glazed it yet. I forgot to buy an orange so substituted 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract. Can you bake this in 2 loaf pans or in a 9 x 12 cake pan? Thanks
Hi Joleen, this recipe will work well in 2 9ร5-inch loaf pans. Weโre unsure of the exact bake time, but keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
My cake turned out way too dense. Flavor was good but didnโt like the texture. I donโt know what I did wrong as I followed recipe.
Hi Debbie, this Bundt cake is on the heavier side, but be sure not to over mix, which can often be the culprit of overly dry and dense cakes.
I followed the recipe precisely, including the 1 1/2 tsp salt, and it was inedible. If I make it again Iโll skip the salt altogether.
Hi Disappointed, this cake batter yields a lot for a very big cake. I wouldn’t skip the salt completely, but feel free to reduce to 1 teaspoon. Thanks for the feedback!
Next question!! Iโm going to make this into a layer cake following the instructions youโve provided here. For a layer cake, do we skip the rum syrup altogether? Or do we add the syrup and also frost replacing some of the milk with rum?
Thank you for all your help!!
(Iโm going to use freeze-dried mango in the frosting and mango rum for the mango flavor Iโm looking for)
Hi Reshma, you can simply use the frosting instead of the icing. Enjoy!
Can I dollop some reduced mango puree into this and swirl it in?
Hi Reshma, we haven’t tested it, but we fear that will be too much added liquid to the batter and it may not bake up properly. You can certainly try it, but keep in mind that you may need to tweak the dry ingredients to compensate for the added liquid.
can you add vanilla instant pudding to this recipe and what adjustments do i make
Hi Patty, We haven’t tested it that way so we can’t say for sure how to adjust the ingredients. For the best results we recommend following the written recipe.
I love a boozy bake so can’t wait to try this one! – wondering if it can work with Amaretto instead of rum? Lower alcohol content so liquid more likely to evaporate but potentially more going on in terms of flavour notes. Would love to hear if this has been tried!
Hi Jemima, That sounds delicious. We havenโt tested anything so canโt offer much guidance, but would love to hear how the cake goes with those changes!
The cake was moist and flavorful. I loved the pecan addition, and the orange zest. However, this cake, which I made special for my mom’s birthday, was almost ruined by the overpowering glaze. After everyone took their first piece, and their eyes almost bugged out of their sockets, I scraped off the offending glaze and replaced it with a more toned-down version. Then it was just about perfect. Probably 2 teaspoons of the rum would have been sufficient. 2 tablespoons in the glaze was just too much. I would definitely make it again now that I know to adjust the glaze.
*important to note: I think the recipe gave fair warning that the glaze was pretty boozy; I just didn’t know what that meant in comparison, because I’m not an alcohol consumer and only ever use it in minimal amounts in baking and cooking. So I’m not knocking the recipe writer; it was just too much for me and my family.
To make miniature bundts from this recipe is the cooking time all thatโs needed?
Hi Labenia, You can use this recipe as written for mini Bunts. Weโre unsure of the baking timeโ it depends how big the mini Bundts are. You can use a toothpick to check for doneness.
Sally I loooove all your recipes and they always turn out to be a hit at my parties!! This caked seemed a liiiittle too buttery for my taste, even the paper plates were wet after finishing my slice. Could I just lower a little bit on the butter? What do you think?
Though I haven’t tested it, you can certainly try reducing the butter and/or reducing the eggs down to 4. For the butter, try 1 and 1/4 cups instead of 1 and 1/2. Let me know if you try this!
This was a huge hit at my book club meeting last night. It was easy and delicious.
Hi Sally,
I love your baking recipes! Unfortunately, this was the first one that didnโt turn out right. For some reason the cake was very dry. Iโve never had this happen with your other recipes so I donโt know what went wrong.
Absolutely delicious! I realized when I went to make the glaze that I was short about a half cup of confectioner’s sugar. I just cut the other ingredients in half and it still turned out great with less glaze. The cake was still so yummy and dense after three days. I will be making this again!
Hi Sally.
I love all you recipes and have been very successful following your instruction to the T.
I made this cake cake for Christmas eve dinner and the cake looked and taste amazing. The cake however seemed very dense and found pockets of liquid(?) here and there as we sliced the cake. Could it be rum ? I baked it 55 mins and toothpick inserted turned out very clean. What do you think
caused itโฆ all my ingredients are room tempโฆ i creamed butter no more than 2 minsโฆ
Hi Koko, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. How odd! We’re not sure what those liquid pockets could be (perhaps butter that was not properly incorporated?), but if it was overly dense, the cake batter could simply have been over mixed. It’s a dense cake, but over mixing can make it too dense. We hope this helps, and thank you so much for giving this one a try!
Hi, Sally,
I am going to make this for my husband’s coworkers for their last day before Christmas break. The glaze cannot be boozy, so how can I make it so the alcohol cooks out?
Hi Nicola, you can swap the rum with the same amount of milk instead. You’ll still get plenty of flavor from the cake! Hope it’s a hit.
This looks delicious!! Can this recipe be converted to a loaf pan or two? And if so, what would the baking time be?
Hi Sue! This recipe will work well in 2 9×5-inch loaf pans. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
I am making this for a holiday dinner Friday. I love one user’s suggestion of presoaked raisins instead of nuts. I almost skipped over this because of the nuts. Could there be more suggestions for alternatives in all your recipes when a common allergy like nuts is in a recipe? It would be SUPER helpful and considerate. Ty!
Can the mixed fruits soaked in rum and brandy be added to this recipe? Making it a Rum Fruit Cake for Christmas?
Hi Stephanie, adding some chopped fruit shouldn’t be a problem. If the fruit isn’t dried and seems especially wet, you may want to lightly dry it with a towel to remove a bit of the excess moisture. Let us know if you give it a try.
Do you think I could make this in mini loaf pans for gifting?
Hi Martha, that shouldn’t be a problem! Bake time will vary depending on the size of your mini loaf pans. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Hi Sally – Thanks for this recipe. How do you think using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour would work out?
Hi Gail, we donโt recommend swapping in cake flour because itโs simply too light. All-purpose flour is strong enough to hold up all the liquid ingredients in this recipe.
I’ve made many pound cakes over years and this one is one of the best. Just the right amount of rum and cooked evenly all the way through. Beautiful presentation with the pecans and frosting drizzled on top. Very good and worth making again. I live at sea level and it needed 80 minutes to be fully done. It wasn’t overcooked or dry, in fact a very moist cake.