Rum cake from scratch – there’s no pudding or cake mix involved and it’s even more delicious than the cake mix version! Can be made with all-purpose flour or with whole wheat pastry flour for a 100% whole grain version.
The special thing about this rum cake, other than being the most awesome rum cake ever, is that you don’t need a bunch of processed junk to make it. Most rum cakes call for cake mix and pudding mix, neither of which I really want to use.
I remember when I moved to Germany, where we don’t have the same cake and pudding mixes, 6 years ago and spent hours looking for a rum cake recipe from scratch. No luck.
But Alejandra from Always Order Dessert has solved that problem with her rum cake from scratch! Now the whole world can enjoy rum cake. :)
The original recipe calls for 1 cup of homemade pudding mix. The recipe for the pudding mix yields 2 1/2 cups and since I didn’t want any pudding mix left over, I scaled down the pudding recipe to what was needed just for the rum cake and it worked perfectly!
I also wanted to try subbing coconut oil for the vegetable oil in the original but I chickened out and used olive oil. Since coconut oil is solid at room temperature (at least in cold winter kitchens), I was worried that it’d make the cake too firm.
If you taste the batter and can taste the olive oil, don’t panic! The olive taste bakes away, or perhaps it’s just all the rum in the syrup that totally covers it up.
The first time I made this rum cake, I made it for a birthday party that I wasn’t even going to, and it smelled so unbelievably amazing that I had to cut into it. And then I cut into it some more.
And then we just cut the cake into slices, made some whoopsie-I-ate-most-of-the-cake-brownies and Mr. Texanerin brought a few cake pieces to the party.
This cake is so ridiculously boozy. Some folks don’t like a strong alcohol taste in their goodies. Not me. I want my cake to be swimming in booze.
If you love boozy desserts, you also have to try my Irish cream brownies. There’s 3/4 cup of Baileys in there!
And this thing is SO moist. I suppose that’s not too surprising considering the amount of butter that goes into it. In addition to what’s in the cake, you also make a butter rum syrup, poke holes in the cake, and then you pour the syrup all over it.
If a whole bundt cake is too much for you, check out my Irish cream bundt cake. It’s basically this recipe, halved to fit a 6-cup bundt pan, and with Irish cream. Just use rum instead and you’ll have yourself a cute little bundt cake. :)
Totally from Scratch Rum Cake (with a 100% whole grain option)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 12-15 servings
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup (219 grams) all-purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup (55 grams) dry milk powder (whole milk or fat-free work)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (42 grams) cornstarch
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (112 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated or raw sugar
- 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons (160 milliliters) olive oil (canola oil or another vegetable oil would work, too, but I don't recommend coconut oil)
- 3/4 cup (177 milliliters) milk
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (177 milliliters) dark rum
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (112 grams) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) water
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated or raw sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) dark rum
Cake:
Rum Syrup:
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (162°C). Spray a 12-cup bundt pan very well with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, dry milk powder, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set this aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy. Add the dry flour mix to this. It will resemble fine crumbs.
- In the bowl that just had the flour mix, whisk together the oil, milk, eggs, rum, and vanilla extract. Add this to the crumb mixture and beat until well combined. The batter will be quite thin.
- Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 48-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- When there are about 15 minutes remaining on the timer, start the butter rum syrup. In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter, water, sugar and salt until the sugar has dissolved, stirring occasionally. Take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the rum (it'll bubble).
- Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack. Wash and dry the bundt pan and place the cake back into the pan. Poke holes into the cake (I used a meat thermometer to do this) and pour the syrup slowly over the cake. Let soak for 1-2 hours and then invert the cake back onto a serving platter. Cover and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
- For German bakers: German flour and American all-purpose are not interchangeable but I've had great luck using 50 grams Type 550 and 169 grams Type 405 in this cake. You could also try whole spelt but I think it'd taste a little whole grainy.
Adapted from Rum Cake from Scratch on Always Order Dessert
This post was originally posted in 2012. Here’s the original picture for kicks and giggles. :D
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274 comments on “Rum Cake from Scratch – The Best Ever!” — Add one!
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Thank you, thank you for using grams and millilitres 🙏🏾🙏🏾
You’re welcome! :)
can i use gluten free flour with this recipe?
I haven’t tried it but I think Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF Baking Flour would work well!
Made this rum cake for the 1st time tonight & I was impressed with how easy it was. I am NOT a good baker, but I can follow a recipe & your recipe is clear & concise. I made a mistake with the butter rum syrup – I didn’t get it hot enough that when I poured the rum in – it boiled off the alcohol ……. so, into the cake went a 1/2 cup of alcohol. It was really moist & ridiculously boozy. The friend I was making it for was very forgiving & said she loved it just the same! I used gold rum, instead of dark & maybe that makes a difference. :)
I wouldn’t say that you made a mistake. You don’t want the alcohol to boil off. ;) It’s supposed to be nice and boozy! I’m happy that you and your friend both enjoyed it and that you found the instructions were clear. :) Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
After making this cake twice, it’s become a family favorite. We do, however, add even more rum because that’s the way we roll!
When my sister retired from work, she asked that I bake the rum cake as gifts to the different departments she had worked with. So, with my two bundt pans stuffed in my carry-on, I went to her house and baked 11 bundt cakes (using the recipe’s amount of rum). Since we couldn’t let the cakes soak up the syrup overnight in the pans, we molded aluminum foil in the shape of the bundt pans and used that instead (worked out great). Everyone loved your recipe. Here’s some of the comments from the various departments: “Your cake is AMAZING,” “It’s so delicious (hiccup),” “I absolutely loved the cake.” Thank you for a great recipe!
Haha. I love that you add more rum! And 11 bundt cakes?! That’s impressive. You’re a nice sister to fly over there and bake for her. :) And how awesome that your foil bundt “pans” worked out well! Thanks for your nice comment and for sharing the feedback from your sister’s colleagues! I’m thrilled you all enjoy the cake so much.
Hi Erin, I was looking for a Rum cake recipe and found your wonderful blog! My husband requested a Rum cake for his 60 TH birthday and I had not ever made one.
I subed a few things….instead of olive oil I used liquid coconut oil by Louana, also I greased the bunt pan with solid coconut oil and used a spray…just in case. We had a few drinks and I added and extra stick of butter into the batter, whoops!!! Well I wasn’t going to start over so in it went for 55 minutes. Well needless to say I was pretty nervous about how it would turn out. It would come out of the pan so I just dug it out put it in a bowl and poured the sauce over it and it was delicious. It was just my husband and I so I did worry he loved it. But in the future I will be more careful to get the ingredients right.
Do you think it was the extra butter that made it stick or should I grease with something else and maybe flour the bunt as well? I always do that with my Mother’s raw apple cake. By the way I bought the Nordic gold 70TH anniversary bunt pan you had advertised! Can’t wait to use it, I found it on Amazon for $39. Thank you for your wonderful recipes, I will be looking for low sugar cakes and deserts in the future.
Heather Stephens
Haha. Aww. I love that you added an extra stick of butter after having a few drinks. I’m sure it made for a memorable birthday cake. ;) And I hope your husband had a great birthday! I checked the Nordic Ware website for how they recommend greasing the pan and they say, “Before each use, brush with solid vegetable shortening and dust with flour or cocoa, or use baking spray with flour in it.” All I used was Pam but think it’s probably better to go with their suggestion. I think the extra 1/2 cup butter was definitely to blame! And I’m so happy to hear that you bought the Crown Bundt Pan. I hope you’ll have lots of fun baking with it! Thanks a bunch for your comment. :)
Hi Erin,
This is Heather again…back for more RUM Yum! My co worker wants me to make this to celebrate a good prognoses with prostate cancer. Now that I have the Crown bundt pan I am concerned about putting the cake back in the pan in order to add the syrup. I am afraid it will break off the delicate tips at the top if I don’t get it exactly lined up…could I just let it cool in the pan, poke the holes and drizzle over, let sit for 2 hrs and turn it out? Or if not how do you make sure to get that pretty cake lined up right to make sure it stays perfect? Thanks for any suggestions, Heather
PS..I could use my old style bundt that is standard and more rounded and would not have to worry about the top being damaged as with the Crown 70th Nordic Ware.
Hi Heather! I’m happy you’re back for more rum. :) And that’s great about your co-worker. I used almost the same rum sauce in my coconut rum cake where I used the Crown Bundt pan. It worked without issue! I thought it was pretty easy to get it lined up (though I didn’t think it would be!). I just lined it up like a regular bundt pan! Sorry I don’t have some neat trick to share. ;) I don’t recommend letting it cool in the pan and then pouring in the sauce. I’m pretty sure it won’t come out, but I could be wrong.
Hi Erin!
I like your this cake. its looking is very beautiful and spicy.
i totally agree with your this recipe.
thanks for this great sharing. scratch rum cake is very nice recipe.
Hi there! I’m so happy you like it. Thanks for your comment! :)
Is there any substitute for the booze?
If you don’t want any rum in your rum cake, I suggest just finding a different recipe. ;) Perhaps a Kentucky Butter Cake would be better? I suppose you could try subbing the rum with orange juice but I have no idea if that’d work.
Rum flavor from the cooking section is a great substitute, tastes a lot like butterscotch when put into the glaze.
Thanks for your suggestion! :) That’s a great idea if you want the rum flavor without the alcohol, but there’s still 3/4 cup of rum in the cake and another 1/2 cup in the syrup and other than another type of alcohol or maybe orange juice, I’m thinking it wouldn’t work very well.
Erin, I’ve made your cake several times just omitting the rum and using the recommended amount of rum extract off the box the rum extract comes in and the cake always comes out nice and moist and everyone loves it, same for the sauce I just omit the alcohol rum for the rum extract and it tastes great. The amount of rum is all I change in both and it’s wonderful. I also add some pecans in the bottom of the pan before pouring in the batter and when pouring the batter I pour half of it in the pan and sprinkle chocolate chips and pecans over batter and then pour in the remaining batter and everyone likes it like that
Oh, wow! That’s crazy that that works (omitting 3/4 cup of liquid from the cake). I’m happy you found a solution! And I love your pecan addition. Sounds wonderful! Thanks so much for your feedback. :)
Wondering if light run can be used instead of dark?
I’m sure that’d work fine! I just personally prefer dark rum. :)
Hey there ! I was wondering if there is anything that I can use instead of the dry milk powder ? Can I put some homemade vanilla pudding instead ?!?
Thanks for answering ! :)
Oh, btw, that cake look amazing !!!
Thanks! :) I haven’t tried this using anything other than dry milk powder so I’m not sure. Do you mean homemade vanilla pudding powder? That could work, but I’m not sure and it may make it too sweet. If you really meant just pudding (and not pudding powder) then I have no idea how you’d sub that in. I wouldn’t recommend it!
Can I use whole milk instead of powdered milk?
I haven’t tried it so I have no idea how that’d work. Sorry about that!
Love rum! I think this is another rum cake that I will have to try :D
I hope you will! It’s terribly delicious. :D
Thanks very much for a great recipe. It’s worth the effort to make this cake from scratch. Ever bite is pure delight.
You’re so welcome! I’m happy you enjoyed it. I actually made it today and am letting it soak now. Can’t wait to dig in. :) Thanks for your feedback!
I have informally dubbed this the “New Years cake” – because it is beautifully tasty, festive, and boozie! We just had it last night and I’m not sure what I enjoyed more, this or the champagne.
I had to make some changes out of necessity, since I did not have all the ingredients in house and was not going to head out on new year’s eve.
I swapped the powdered milk portion for two packets of Carnation instant breakfast (once baked you only really taste but a wonderful hint of chocolate), 2% milk, and sprouted spelt flour because I had it from our CSA portion and not enough flour. The texture was a bit course or grainy but came out golden, moist on the inside, and crispy in the outside. Because of the slight difference in texture created by the spelt flour, I doubled everything in the syrup portion except for time and a half of the rum.
IT WAS MAGNIFICENT! Thank you so much for this!
I’m thrilled that you liked it so much! That’s great that spelt works here. Was it whole grain spelt? And I love how you doubled most of the syrup. That must have been a very, very moist cake. :D Thanks a bunch for your feedback and I hope you’re enjoying the new year. :)
I just made this cake for at least the fourth time. I will be serving it as a dessert for the brunch I’m having. (I believe in dessert after every meal!) Everyone that has tried this loves it… even my two year old! I don’t think there’s anything to worry about since the alcohol should all be cooked out of it. I do love your orange juice suggestion and will have to try that sometime. Thank you for sharing this recipe. It is my go-to for rum cake (WAY better than the box cake recipes) and I will be passing it along to my friends and family.
Hi, Rachel! Sorry for my slow reply. I just got back from a vacation where the hotel had internet issues. I’m so happy that everyone enjoys the cake! And I believe in dessert after every meal, too. ;) By the way, my parents gave me rum cake as a child so I definitely don’t see a problem with it! Thanks so much for the feedback and the rating. :)
My cake is deliciously soaking in the rum syrup! I made it for a friend’s birthday this weekend. He is not crazy about sweets but I am sure he will live this rum soaked goodness!
Oops..love not live!
I hope he’ll love it! And with all that booze, how could he not? ;) Happy birthday to him and thanks for the feedback!
I LOVE this cake. It was full of liquor, moist, and amazing. I made a little extra syrup and used almost all of it I thought I drowns it but it was perfect. My new fav
Wow! You made even more syrup?! I’m impressed. :) So happy that you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback. :)
Hi i LOVE the rum bit :D What can i swap the rum with to make for little kiddies? To keep the moist part of it too. Dont think i’d be a great aunty if i got my cousins drunk :p Im thinking of honey but what else would i use..?
Haha. I like how you think. :) I wouldn’t use honey in place of all the rum just because it’d be way too sweet. How about making it an orange flavored cake and using orange juice? I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure if it’d work but at least it sounds good. :) I hope you and your cousins will like it!
I just made this cake and it smells wonderful!! I just hope all the syrup is absorbed. At the moment the cake is floating.. I’ll wait overnight and see what happens. .
Thx!
That’s normal! The cake should be floating at the beginning. I hope you enjoyed it! :)
Erin, I’m looking forward to making this cake today. Rum cake was my mothers absolute favorite (deceased 11/2012)and have been looking for a home made from scratch recipe to make in her honor for our family monthly dinner. I will let you know how it goes :) la.
I hope that you and your family will love the cake! If rum cake was your mother’s favorite, I know she’d have loved this scratch version. My mother also made rum cake often but her version uses a cake mix. I much prefer this version and hope you all will, too. :)
Everything was delicious but the cake itself was a bit heavy.
The rum and the syrup and the moistness of it all was amazing. I had to ply myself away from the cake this morning (I made 2- 1 for a party and 1 to keep at home).
The quantity of syrup made form the recipe was too much though.
I’m happy that you liked the cake and I hope the people at the party liked it, too! :) I’ll have to make this again to see about the syrup. Perhaps I went overboard with it. ;) Thanks so much for the feedback!
The people at my party LOVED it. My uncle said “Gina that cake tasted good can you please send a copy of the recipe to my wife, but just incase please make it again to ensure it is the correct recipe you are giving her”. (ie make the cake again for me!)
Both cakes disappeared very fast. I made one and a half times the recipe but next time I will have to double or triple it.
I did use most of the syrup but it took me awhile to pour it on and I had to leave the cake overnight for the liquid to be properly absorbed.
I love making stuff from scratch as my mom was never a fan of overly processed or canned foods growing up. So thank you, not many recipes out there have it without the store bought vanilla pudding.
Hahaha. Sneaky uncle! I’m happy that he liked it that much. :D Be careful with tripling the recipe. It can get a little tricky with baked goods sometimes! And I agree about the pudding thing. This was adapted from the only recipe I found online that didn’t have a pudding or cake mix! Thanks again for your feedback. :)