Bacardi Rum Cake with Butter Rum Glaze

Bacardi Rum Cake with Butter Rum Glaze is rich and delicious and comes together quickly with a cake mix and instant pudding. It’s how Bacardi made it and I wouldn’t change a thing!

This recipe for Bacardi Rum Cake with Rum Butter Glaze has been on this blog since before it was a blog; it was most likely one of the very first recipes I included in my first recipe site WAY back in 1995. I decided it needed to be updated once before and it was time to do it again.

Why? Well, the date was July 2009 and the photo was a little thing from a point and shoot camera. Awful.

It’s another of those treasures that are ensconced in an ugly little recipe binder I’ve had since before blogs, heck since before anyone had even heard of the Internet and it’s always been a favorite to make for special occasions.

I’ve gone back and forth with myself about including a post with this recipe for Barcardi Rum Cake that uses a boxed cake mix AND a box of instant pudding. I long ago became a ‘scratch baker’ and thought I should take this recipe and convert it to ingredients that fit that standard for me today. But two things stopped me.

First, this is a legacy of sorts; the first adult cocktail I ever had was a Bacardi Cocktail, a simple drink with Bacardi Rum, grenadine, and lime juice. It was my standard so I typically had a bottle of Bacardi Rum on hand. This recipe was published in a magazine in the 1970’s and because I was a Bacardi fan, I thought I had to give Bacardi Rum Cake a try.

NOTHING like the cocktail I loved but at the time right up my alley; in my 20’s I was all about boxed cake mixes! The cake was a hit though…from the first time I made it to the last; a quick, desperate need for a dessert with almost no time to make one and I got this Bacardi Rum Cake in the oven in minutes… being easy was of major importance that night.

The second reason is that I mentioned to a friend that I was going to change it up and make it a recipe from scratch, eliminating the cake mix and the instant pudding.

She hit me with a resounding ‘NO!’ I had no idea that every year for her husband’s birthday she went to my blog, found that old, old recipe for rum cake and made him his favorite cake.

She loved that it was easy and you know what else? It is SO good. Some might say they can tell if a cake is not from scratch and I would love to test them on that with this cake. Once you add a stick of melted butter warmed with sugar and rum and saturate the cake with it, um, well, all I can taste is delicious.

The only modification I’ve made over the years for Bacardi Rum Cake is to put all of the nuts on the outside and not separate them into some for the batter and some for the topping. It’s more of a caution in case someone is present that doesn’t care for nuts; they can avoid them if they’re not in the batter. Heck, give them to me!

I was pretty excited to use this new swirly Bundt pan too. I’ve had it for a bit but have had no inspiration to use it. It’s a lovely swirly pan but I worried about the cake coming out of it when done…and I should not have.

While I would normally use butter and flour on cake pans with parchment in the bottom of them, I took advantage of a product called Baker’s Joy which is an aerosol that combines oil and flour in a spray for ease. It’s so easy to spray the inside of an intricate pan like this, I might have to rethink that butter and flour business.

I’m sold…I poked holes in the bottom of it and poured the sweet butter rum mixture all over the bottom so it could fill those holes and saturate the Rum Cake and then waited a couple of minutes…and when I flipped it over on a cake plate, it was magic, came out perfectly.

With my old standard Bundt pan, I would have simply placed the chopped walnuts (or use pecans if you prefer) in the bottom of the pan after preparing it and then poured the dough on top as indicated in the recipe below.

I knew that wouldn’t work with this pan so if you use something other than a standard Bundt pan and want to follow my lead; dribble some of the sticky syrup along those crevices and sprinkle your toasted nuts on top of it; worked like a charm.

Does it Matter Which Type of Rum I Use?

Not really; I typically go with a darker rum to make sure the flavor comes through in the cake but I’ve used Bacardi’s white rum too. Don’t make a special trip; use what you have although I don’t suggest a flavored rum or one with additional sugar.

How Long Will This Cake Last?

Because of the amount of liquid poured into the cake, one thing you don’t have to worry about is having it dry out. I’ve made this Bacardi Rum Cake 2-3 days before a party and it’s not only fine but I think the aging improves it! Best if you can let it sit for at least an hour once out of the oven before serving it.

PIN IT! ‘Bacardi Rum Cake’

Bacardi Rum Cake

Barbara Baker

Bacardi Rum Cake is worthy of any special celebration; it's easy AND delicious!

3.79 from 50 or more votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Cakes, Cupcakes & Cheesecake

Cuisine American

Servings 12 Servings

Calories 496 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the Cake

• ½ cup finely chopped walnuts toast them if putting them on the cake after it is baked
• 1 Box Yellow cake mix
• 1 Small package vanilla instant pudding mix
• ½ cup milk
• 4 Large eggs
• ½ cup rum
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Rum Glaze

• ½ cup butter
• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup rum

Instructions

 

To Make the Cake

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Spray a large Bundt pan (12 cup) with Baker’s Joy, nonstick spray with flour. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts on the bottom if using a regular Bundt Pan; reserve and sprinkle on top if using a more elaborate one.
• Combine cake mix, pudding mix, milk, eggs, rum, oil, and vanilla extract in a large bowl and combine on medium speed with electric mixer for 2 to 3 minutes, scrape down the bowl halfway through until very smooth
• Pour into Bundt pan. Bake for about 55 minutes- until fully golden and tester comes out clean and cake springs back.
• Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack while making the rum glaze; do not remove from the Bundt pan.

To Make the Rum Glaze

• Combine butter, water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until sugar is dissolved and syrup is well combined and a little thicker. Remove from the heat and add the rum, mix to combine.
• Poke holes all over bottom of cake with wooden spoon or other type of kitchen tool you can use to poke holes. Pour rum/butter syrup evenly all over bottom of cake. Allow cake to cool 10 minutes in pan before turning out onto serving platter. Let cool for another 45 minutes before serving.

Notes

If scattering nuts on top, reserve a bit of the syrup and pour it over the areas you want to put nuts; it will help to hold them in place.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Bacardi Rum Cake

Serving Size

 

1 Serving

Amount per Serving

Calories

496

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

24

g

37

%

Cholesterol

 

86

mg

29

%

Sodium

 

453

mg

20

%

Carbohydrates

 

57

g

19

%

Protein

 

6

g

12

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Calories

496

Keyword Bacardi, cake, rum

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