Easy Recipe for Rum Cake
One of the very first trips I took with my then-fiancé was to Grand Cayman, where we stumbled into a gift shop that was sampling Caribbean rum cake. It tasted so amazing because it was moist and literally juicy because it was so loaded with rum. I had enough samples to likely equal a piece of cake, felt a little guilty, and bought a cake to take home before leaving the island. I flew home with my cake, cut into it, only to be sorely disappointed because it was dry, not juicy, and there was hardly any rum flavor. That led me to believe they were literally pouring and dousing the cake samples at the shop with straight rum. It worked though because it got me to buy a cake. I’ve always wanted to recreate that perfectly juicy rum cake I ate long ago. Fast forward nearly 20 years (boy, time flies) and in advance of the holidays this year I (finally) made a rum cake. It’s everything you want in a rum cake! Supremely moist yet surprising light, buttery, and loaded with bold rum flavor but in a balanced sense so that it doesn’t feel like you’re eating rum. Not that some people would complain about that, but I digress.
Rum Cake Ingredients
I opted to make this rum cake recipe with cake mix — don’t worry, the end result tastes 100% homemade yet the cake mix saves you time and energy! I’ve gone into more detail further down this post on which type of cake mix and rum I recommend when making this rum bundt cake recipe. To make this rum-soaked cake recipe, you’ll need:
Yellow cake mix Instant vanilla pudding mix (or French vanilla) Eggs Water Oil Dark rum Vanilla extract (or coconut extract) Unsalted butter Granulated sugar Kosher salt
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Rum Cake
The cake is so ridiculously easy to make! If you’ve never made a cake recipe with rum in it, you’re in for a treat.
Recipe Video Tutorial
More Easy Christmas Cake Recipes:
ALL OF MY CHRISTMAS RECIPES! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! The Best Chocolate Peppermint Cake — Easy, one-bowl, no mixer cake! Decadently chocolaty, perfectly pepperminty! Your new favorite cake!! Easy Pound Cake with Powdered Sugar Glaze — Finally a homemade pound cake that isn’t dry!! This EASY, buttery, velvety pound cake will be the star of your next party or celebration! Chocolate Gingerbread Cake — An EASY, no mixer cake that’s perfect for the holidays!! Chocolate and ginger are amazing together! Christmas Red Velvet Poke Cake — The EASIEST and most impressive red velvet Christmas cake! Ready in ONE HOUR and uses shortcut ingredients to make your job as easy and hassle-free as possible! Classic Pistachio Cake — This pistachio cake is a retro cake recipe that takes just 10 minutes to prep! It’s made with instant pudding mix to make it super flavorful and light! Spiced Toffee Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting — Looking for recipes using spice cake mix? Make this spiced toffee cake! It’s an EASY, soft, and fluffy spice cake with toffee bits inside and on top!! The frosting is AMAZING and takes this cake over the top!! Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake — An elegant yet EASY Bundt cake recipe that only looks like you spent hours on it! This moist and tender cake is flavored with fragrant orange zest, studded with fresh cranberries, and topped with a sweet orange glaze and sugared cranberries! Originally posted November 3, 2017 and reposted December 25, 2020 with updated text.
