Rum Cake Recipe

This old-fashioned Rum Cake is a Southern holiday favorite, known for its rich buttery flavor, moist texture, and irresistible rum glaze. Made with yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding, and a generous splash of rum, it's baked over a layer of chopped pecans in a Bundt pan. While the cake is still warm, a buttery rum sauce is poured over the top, soaking into every bite.

" My mother and I lived with my maternal grandmother in her home on Constance & Octavia streets during WWII. Down the street lived the Cortese family. Mr. Sam Cortese made and sold Roman Candy from his mule drawn wagon. The taffy candy is flavored with vanilla, strawberry or chocolate. One can still see the mule drawn cart on the streets of New Orleans usually in the picturesque Audubon Park area in Uptown New Orleans.

One time while Anne & I were demonstrating cooking at a home show, we had an opportunity to sample the Cortese family’s new product, Roman Candy Rum. And to our delight it tasted exactly like the Roman Candy! Needless to say, we both bought a bottle.

This rum cake is my go to cake for holidays and when I need a dessert to take to a friend’s house. Make this in a Bundt pan. You are going to drizzle the hot rum sauce over the cake while it is still in the pan. It’s so easy to put in the car and go. When you get where you are going, then you flip it out of the pan! Everyone will be thrilled. "

— Chef Harriet Robin

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 1 cup chopped pecans

• 1 box yellow cake mix*

• 1 (3-ounce) box instant vanilla pudding

• 4 large eggs

• ½ cup cold water

• ½ cup oil

• 1/2 cup good rum (dark or light) 80 proof

For the Sauce

• 1 stick butter
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup rum

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt or tube pan.

3. Sprinkle chopped nuts over the bottom of the pan.

4. Mix all ingredients together and pour over nuts.

5. Bake for 1 hour, checking the cake with a toothpick after 50–55 minutes. When finished, do not unmold.

6. Cool on a wire rack and follow the directions below for adding the sauce while the cake is still hot from the oven.

Rum Sauce

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil for 1 minute.

2. Be attentive, as the sauce will boil over quickly.

3. While the cake is still hot and in the pan, puncture it all over with a serving fork.

4. Slowly and carefully pour the hot rum sauce over the cake.

5. Let the cake cool in the pan, then invert onto a serving plate.

   
   

   Important Recipe Note

   If you use a cake mix with the pudding already added, omit the pudding in the above recipe. Use 3 eggs instead of 4, and reduce the oil from ½ cup to ⅓ cup.