Jamaican Rum Cake
Jamaican Rum Cake. The best recipe I've tried! A dense yet moist cake infused with a rum & butter syrup that just takes the deliciousness to a whole other level. Utterly irresistible!!
Originally published April 2020.
I'm going to start from the top with a confession. Spouse and I ate this entire cake over the course of several days.
You may think, so what, but that is quite an unusual occurrence in this house. Yes, we make plenty of delicious baked goodies as the hundreds of recipes here can attest.
However, we almost never have more than one serving each of anything. We normally freeze the rest or more often, give them to friends and family.
That did not happen with this Jamaican Rum Cake. We found it utterly irresistible! Sliver by sliver, we whittled that cake down to the last deliciously moist crumb.
Rum as an ingredient.
Both Spouse and I have a pretty well established love of anything rum flavoured, although neither of us are actually rum drinkers. From our gorgeous homemade Rum & Raisin Ice Cream to our Rum Spice Glazed Pork Tenderloin, amongst many others, it truly is one of our favourite ingredients.
A number of years ago, we took the kids on a Western Caribbean cruise and one of the stops was Jamaica. It seemed every little shop we entered, was selling Jamaican Rum Cake.
Samples were often on hand and I partook in plenty of them. My favourite though was a sort of dense, moist bundt/pound cake that seemed to have the perfect amount of rum soaked in.
On returning home, I naturally tried to replicate that recipe with somewhat limited success. The attempts were all pretty good but not quite all that I wanted in a rum cake.
My attempts at Jamaican Rum Cake.
They were all delicious but lacked that perfect texture I enjoyed so much. Just a couple of weeks ago, I took up the torch again and decided to have another crack at it.
I did my research, looked at 100 different photos on Pinterest and read more than a dozen recipes. Many had a lot in common but several of them had one other thing in common, a rum & butter syrup to soak into the cake when baked.
Now, I had been using straight rum to soak my attempts before which sometimes left the cake too soggy. I'd used a syrup previously as well, but the flavour I remembered wasn't quite right.
The thing that made the difference in end turned out to be the inclusion of butter in the syrup. It added that missing flavour that I remembered so well. No doubt it helped keep the cake moist as well.
Many of the recipes I read were copies of the King Arthur Flour version, and some were slight variations. Most included a package of instant vanilla pudding mix in the batter.
Since those packages are mostly cornstarch and sugar, and since I don't like using packaged mixes in my baking, I decided to use corn starch instead and up the amount of vanilla extract. It worked perfectly and gave that dense but soft texture I remembered.
The result
After baking and cooling, I had the patience to wait until the next day to cut into it. Many recipes I read gave that same advice and it turned out to be good advice indeed.
From the first bite, both Spouse and I fell instantly in love. It was so buttery, soft, moist and delicious! Perfection.
I don't say it lightly, but this was one of the best cakes I ever baked in over three decades of baking. It really is that good!
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Jamaican Rum Cake
Jamaican Rum Cake. The best recipe I've tried! A dense yet moist cake infused with a rum & butter syrup that just takes the deliciousness to a whole other level. Utterly irresistible!!
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 ¼ cups flour
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- ½ cup soft butter
- ¼ cup canola oil (or other vegetable oil)
- ½ cup evaporated milk (undiluted; straight from the can)
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup rum ( I used amber rum)
For the rum & butter syrup
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ to ¾ cup rum ( I used amber rum)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To prepare the cake
- Begin by preheating the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a bundt pan or funnel pan.
- To the bowl of an electric mixer, add the flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt, sugar, butter and oil.
- Mix on low speed for just a couple of minutes until the butter and oil are well incorporated and the mixture is crumbly and sandy looking.
- Mix in the milk and then mix in the eggs one at a time. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl well after each egg is added.
- Finally, mix in the rum and vanilla extract until the batter is smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55-65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Completely cool the cake on a wire rack.
To prepare the rum and butter syrup
- Add the butter, water and sugar to you smallest saucepan.
- Bring to a slow boil and simmer for 7 or 8 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before adding in the rum and vanilla extract.
- The amount of rum you add to the syrup is completely up to you. I like it with the full ¾ cup but you can use less if you want a less rummy cake.
To add the syrup to the cake.
- Place the cooled cake back in the bundt pan. This traps in any syrup that drips over the edges and then absorbs it into the cake.
- With a long skewer, poke holes all over the top of the cake, straight through to the bottom of the pan.
- Slowly spoon all of the rum and butter syrup, evenly over the surface of the cake.
- Cover the pan with plastic wrap and leave for several hours or overnight.
- This cake needs no frosting or glaze. It is perfect as it is. I think a frosting might make it a little too sweet.
- Store in an airtight plastic cake container at room temperature.
- This cake remains moist for days. The cake was just as good on day four as it was on day one. It didn't see a day five.
Nutrition Information
Yield
16Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 315Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 72mgSodium 260mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 0gSugar 23gProtein 4g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
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Is the flour self raising or is it plain flour
If you are using a North American recipe, assume nobody uses self raising flour.
I made this cake and it is every bit of perfection you said it would be! I appreciate all that you tried to get to this! Thank you. One question: have you tried freezing this? would the potency or taste of rum change?
Is the flour Plain or self raising? Is sugar granulated or caster?
None of those terms are used in North American baking. Self raising flour os practically unknown here. Granulated sugar.
Is it OK to use Gluten Free flour in this rum cake recipe?
Never tried it. I don't bake GF.
This recipe does not specify what type of flour. Can you please let me know what kind of flour you are using in this recipe?
All purpose.
Can this cake be froze with the rum sauce in it?
Yes....if it lasts that long!
What size Bundt pan please?
Standard.
Fantastic recipe ! I have made this several times and it always comes out awesome
Thank you
If baked in two loaf pans, would you use 2 9x5 and approximately how long to bake? Thanks
Trust the toothpick test.
Was wondering if baked in two loaf pans would 8x4 or 9x5 be best and how long to bake?
Just trust the toothpick test.
Any way you can think of to use rum extract and some sort of juice for those who cannot drink alcohol?
Not the same.
Thanks for sharing this rum cake recipe. It's really amazing. I made it for my birthday cake and it will be the only birthday cake I want from now on. Like you my husband and I ate our way through the whole cake in 4 days and could easily eat it every single day of the year it was so good. Did give a small slice to my friend who immediately wanted the recipe to make as soon as she could.
There is no way that this is a Jamaican Rum cake recipe. Jamaican rum cake is black. There’s nothin Jamaican about this. You’re missing basic ingredients like all the rum soaked blended fruit and wine. Remove this recipe or give it the correct name.
Well, someone's a know-it-all!! Chill out! Maybe read the post in it's totality before having an unnecessary freak out! You would have then had some context, at least! I have had this cake in Jamaica. They sell it to tourists.(All mentioned in the pst, BTW!) There are also many recipes for this particular type of rum cake online and have been for decades! If you had bothered to look, we also have the recipe for Jamaican Black Cake, the traditional Christmas one, as well. In fact my fruit has been soaking since last December, for this years cake. Next time, read the post and save yourself the embarrassment of having such an indignant, ludicouus, self important response. Happy Baking! Barry.
Hi. Beautiful recipe I want to try. Can I use a round cake tin please? And what size? 8 inch or 9 inch please? Also is it dark or light rum? Thank you. Love your recipes. Emma from UK xxx
I only bake it in a bundt pan. Trust your toothpick test. Light rum.