Rum cake is a must-have recipe around the winter holidays. While the Caribbean version is a kind of Christmas fruit cake (trust us, it's much better than what you're thinking), this particular rum cake recipe is a different style. There's no dried fruit involved, just moist, buttery goodness and a lot of rum flavor in bundt cake form. Sometimes the best rum cake is a simple rum cake recipe.
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To make this rum cake recipe, you'll need all-purpose flour, baking power, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, vanilla extract, dark rum, unsalted butter, granulated sugar and large eggs. For the rum glaze, you will more dark rum, powdered sugar, and a little bit of milk. Any brand of rum will do (Captain Morgan or Bacardi is fine, just make sure it's the dark rum).
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and grease a bundt pan or spray the bottom of the pan with cooking spray. Into a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set the mixture aside, and in another bowl or measuring cup, stir together the buttermilk, vanilla extract and rum. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar on high until fluffy, for about three minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed, until each egg is incorporated.
Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures to the mixing bowl, alternating between the two, starting with the dry ingredients. Pour the cake batter into the bundt pan and tap the cake pan against the counter to remove air bubbles. Bake the rum cake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour total time, or until a toothpick comes out clean. While the cake is baking, whisk together the powdered sugar, rum and milk until smooth. If the glaze is too runny, add more sugar. If it's too stiff, add more rum or milk.
Let the cake pan cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes , then invert the pan carefully and let the cake slide out. Let the rum cake cool completely to room temperature before glazing. Drizzle the rum glaze over the top of the cake and let it rest so that the glaze hardens before slicing. If you like, you can also sprinkle some chopped pecans over the top of the cake before the glaze dries.
Rum Cake with Glaze
Ingredients
Rum Cake
- 3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup dark rum
- 16 tbs butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
Glaze
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 4 tbs dark rum
- 1-2 tbs whole milk
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325 F and grease the bundt pan.
- Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Combine buttermilk, vanilla extract, and rum. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar on high until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium, until each is incorporated.
- Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures, alternating between the two. Begin and end with the flour mixture.
- Pour cake mixture into pan and tap the pan against the counter to remove air bubbles.
- Bake until it passes the toothpick test, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before unmolding the cakes. Let cool completely before glazing.
Glaze
- Whisk together powdered sugar, rum, and milk until smooth. The proportions can sometimes be affected by the humidity in the air, so if it's too runny, add more sugar. If it's too stiff, add more rum or milk. Drizzle over cake and let it rest to harden before slicing.
