This rum soaked cake recipe is a decadent celebration cake for any occasion! And we're making this rum cake from scratch with richly flavored dark rum in the cake batter, the brown butter rum syrup, and in a brown butter rum glaze on top!
If you like the flavors in this brown butter rum cake recipe, you'll love my Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake, my Brown Butter Sweet Potato Pie Recipe, and my Bananas Foster Pancakes!
*This post is sponsored by Karibe, but all opinions are my own. It also contains affiliate links — as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see my disclosure for details*.
Brown Butter Rum Soaked Cake Recipe
You all know my love for brown butter. I love it in everything. So when I decided to share a rum cake, my first instinct was to make it a brown butter rum cake! And let me tell you -- my instincts were NOT wrong!
This rum cake recipe is supremely moist, dense yet soft, with a tender crumb. It's got dark rum baked right in, it's infused with a brown butter rum syrup and then we'll top it with a brown butter rum glaze. The flavors are out of this world!
What is rum-soaked cake called?
Rum soaked cake has lots of different names depending on the type of rum soaked cake! Baba is a French yeast cake that is soaked in a syrup of rum, sugar and water and served with whipped cream.
Puerto Rican rum cake, called bizcocho de ron, is a sponge cake with fresh or dried fruit. Traditional Jamaican rum cake, on the other hand, is a rum soaked fruit cake that is often called black cake because of the dark color provided by rum-infused fruit and caramelized sugar.
Does cake soak up alcohol?
This recipe was my first time making a rum cake recipe. I have to admit that in the past, I haven't been a big fan of cake soaked in alcohol. Many a rum soaked cake recipe has too strong a rum flavor with no other flavors to balance it out.
So with this brown butter rum cake, I wanted to make sure there was a good balance of rich, yet subtle rum flavor, vanilla, and that amazing brown butter. You'll love that balance of flavors! And along with choosing the right rum, it goes a long way toward making this rum soaked cake recipe amazing!! Its flavors are a lot like those in my Eggnog Bread Pudding with Brown Butter Rum Sauce!
Karibe™ Utensil Set
To make this brown butter rum cake recipe, I used the Karibe™ 10-Piece Utensil Set. This high-quality set was a huge help making this cake and is perfect for any recipe you make!
Each utensil has a silicone head, so it makes scraping batter and browned butter easier but doesn't scratch my cookware. Plus they look great, and since it's at 10-piece set, it's got all of the utensils you'll need. And they'll look great on your kitchen counter!
Rum Soaked Cake Ingredients
- salted butter - I prefer salted butter in most baking because I find it brings out flavors more and offsets the sweetness of the cake. If you prefer to use unsalted butter, feel free -- just add ½ teaspoon salt to the batter to help bring out all the amazing flavors in this rum cake recipe.
- white sugar and brown sugar - together, they add sweetness to the cake, and the brown sugar gives it a rich, caramely flavor.
- eggs - the eggs in this rum cake add to the lift of the cake and make it a little more rich.
- pure vanilla extract - be sure to use a high-quality pure vanilla extract. Or better yet, check out my post on how to make vanilla extract at home with just 2 ingredients!
- room-temperature sour cream - I love using sour cream in cakes! It helps to keep the cake moist and add a tangy flavor. Be sure to use full-fat sour cream.
- spiced dark rum - whatever kind you like to drink! See below for tips on choosing a rum for this recipe, and substitutions if you want to skip on the rum.
- all-purpose flour - be sure to measure your dry ingredients correctly! Use either a kitchen scale for the most accurate measurement, or the spoon-and-level method.
- baking powder - helps the cake to rise.
Then we'll make our brown butter rum syrup and glaze! This will be divided to serve as both a syrup to infuse the cake from underneath and a glaze to drizzle on top!
- salted butter - adds the perfect buttery flavor!
- dark brown sugar - I love the richness of dark brown sugar in this syrup.
- water - to thin out the syrup as it cooks down.
- spiced dark rum - we'll cook it down a bit to cut down the bite of the rum and make it so rich and mellow!
- pure vanilla extract - again, be sure to use a high-quality pure vanilla extract.
- sifted powdered sugar - to thicken the syrup into the glaze!
Best Rum for Rum Cake
I would definitely recommend a dark rum for this cake, such as Myers or Bacardi Black, but you can use any type of rum that you like. It should be a rum that you like to drink, that would go well in a sweet, fruity cocktail.
The rum I like best for this cake is Doctor Bird Jamaica Rum. It's a dark rum full of rich, fruity aromas blended from several Jamaican rums and aged in sherry barrels. Thanks to the bold rum flavor, this cake has subtle flavors of banana, mango, and pineapple! It's perfect for this brown butter rum soaked cake!
Rum Substitutions
Maybe you want to enjoy this rum cake recipe, but don't want your cake soaked in alcohol -- no worries! You've got options:
- rum extract + water: the total rum in this recipe is 1 cup, so just combine ½ cup of rum extract with ½ cup of water to total one cup of liquid. Taste to ensure the flavor you prefer, then divide as necessary for the recipe.
- homemade rum substitute: Cook's Illustrated has a great rum flavoring recipe. You can make it at home with just water, raisins, butter, molasses, salt, and a tea bag!
- fruit juice - swap pineapple juice, mango nectar, or orange juice for the rum in this recipe. The fruit juice will still add lots of flavor to the cake and balance so well with the brown butter and vanilla.
Equipment
The most important tool you'll need for this recipe is a bundt cake pan! It should be a good quality, nonstick bundt pan to make sure that you can easily remove your cake. Other than that, you'll need either a stand mixer or a hand mixer, as well as a saucepan to heat your brown butter and a whisk to whip up your glaze.
Gather those tools together, and you're ready to make this amazing rum soaked cake recipe! And check out my post on the differences and similarities between pound cake vs Bundt cake!
How do you moisten a cake with alcohol?
This rum soaked cake recipe has several steps, but each one is easy to follow and totally worth it! See the recipe card below for detailed instructions and a recipe video, but here are the basic steps to this brown butter rum cake recipe:
First you'll cream your butter and sugars, then add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
In a second bowl, whisk together your flour and baking powder. In a third bowl, mix together your rum and sour cream.
Alternate adding in the flour mixture and the sour cream rum mixture to your main bowl, mixing until just barely combined after each addition.
Prep your bundt pan, gently spoon in batter, and smooth the top. Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
While the cake is cooling, brown your butter over medium heat and add remaining rum syrup ingredients, cooking until slightly thickened. Reserve ⅓ cup of this syrup for the glaze later!
Once baked, let cake cool 10-15 minutes then invert cake out of from Bundt pan to cool a bit more. Line Bundt pan with plastic wrap and carefully place cake back into lined pan. Poke holes all over cake and pour rum syrup all over to soak in.
Let soaked cake sit in the fridge at least 2-3 hours, then add powdered sugar to the reserved rum syrup to make your glaze.
Once cake is done chilling, pour that delicious glaze all over it and let it set. Serve at room temperature.
Hint: Be sure to cream your butter and sugar for a full 5 minutes on medium speed to help give this rum soaked cake a lighter texture!
How to Brown Butter for this Rum Soaked Cake Recipe
The secret to this amazing rum cake recipe (besides the rum of course) is the brown butter! Brown butter is an easy hack to make all of your cakes, cookies, pies, and even savory dishes absolutely amazing!
And in this cake, the brown butter perfectly complements the deep, fruity flavors of the rum, and the brown sugar and vanilla in the cake. But if you haven't browned butter before, not to worry -- first of all, I have a whole blog post on how to brown butter that details the process with step-by-step images.
But in a nutshell, browning butter just means heating it in a light-colored sauté pan or saucepan so that you can see the change in color of the milk solids. It takes about 5-10 minutes and requires you to watch the pan carefully and remove it from heat as soon as the butter turns a light golden brown and smells nutty. Again, check out my Brown Butter Appreciation Post for details on this process!
Variations
Make this rum soaked cake recipe your own!
- Add nuts - add about 1 cup of pecan chips to the bottom of the bundt pan before spooning in your cake batter. your cake will have a crunchy pecan topping that complements the brown butter in this rum cake perfectly! You can also top your cake with more chopped toasted pecans.
- Omit the glaze - if you prefer a less sweet cake, you can just omit the glaze and just use the brown butter rum syrup!
And check out my Chocolate Orange Cake or my Butter Pecan Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting if you're looking for another decadent cake recipe that's perfect for holiday baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
It's not likely, since we are cooking our rum down before soaking it in the cake or adding it to the glaze on top. The rum that is used in the cake batter itself is also cooked to the point where the alcohol is burned off. If you want to be extra careful, you can limit yourself to just 2 or 3 slices of this delicious rum cake!
This rum soaked cake recipe is essentially a pound cake infused with rum and brown butter, so if you like this one you will definitely want to try my key lime pound cake recipe or my
I also definitely recommend checking out my brown butter banana cake. It's loaded with ripe banana flavor and topped with a brown butter cream cheese frosting that you could eat with a spoon! It's so good -- give it a try!
Another great recipe with similar flavors is my Pineapple Banana Bread -- it's got brown butter, ripe banana, and juicy crushed pineapple in every bite, and it's so simple to make!
We'll make this rum soaked cake by removing the baked cake from the Bundt pan, lining the pan with plastic wrap, and then placing the rum cake back in the pan. Then we can poke holes in the cake and add lots of that amazing brown butter rum syrup!
If you try this recipe, I would love it if you could leave a star review rating and comment below! It’s so wonderful hearing your feedback! And don’t forget to share your creations with me by tagging @chenee_today on Instagram!
More Recipes Like this Rum Soaked Cake
This rum soaked cake recipe is essentially a pound cake infused with rum and brown butter, so if you like this one you will definitely want to try my key lime pound cake recipe or my Apple Cider Donut Cake!
I also definitely recommend checking out my brown butter banana cake. It's loaded with ripe banana flavor and topped with a brown butter cream cheese frosting that you could eat with a spoon! It's so good -- give it a try!
Another great recipe with similar flavors to this rum soaked cake is my Pineapple Banana Bread -- it's got brown butter, ripe banana, and juicy crushed pineapple in every bite, and it's so simple to make!
📖 Recipe
Equipment you may need
- 10-cup Bundt pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) salted butter - room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (165 g) dark brown sugar
- ⅔ cup (153 g) sour cream
- 4 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (59 ml) dark rum
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon (8 g) baking powder
- baking spray
Brown Butter Rum Syrup and Glaze
- ½ cup (114 g) salted butter - 1 stick
- ¼ cup (55 g) dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup (59 ml) water
- ½ cup (118 ml) spiced rum
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar - plus more as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place oven rack in middle of oven.
- Beat the butter in a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer until creamy. Add sugars and beat another 3 minutes.1 cup salted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- Add in eggs one at a time, then vanilla, beating until smooth and scraping sides of bowl after each addition.4 large eggs, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. In another separate bowl, whisk together sour cream and dark rum.¼ cup dark rum, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ⅔ cup sour cream
- Add ⅓ of flour mixture to the batter and gently mix until just combined. Follow with half of sour cream mixture, and then another third of flour mixture. Continue alternating until both wet and dry ingredients are incorporated into batter.
- Spray a 10-12 cup Bundt pan with baking spray. Spoon in batter and smooth the top to even it out.baking spray
- Bake in preheated oven 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Let cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from Bundt pan onto a cake plate to cool for another 15 minutes. Hold on to the Bundt pan for later.
Prepare Brown Butter Rum Syrup
- Brown salted butter in a light-colored saute pan, removing from heat as soon as it is lightly browned. (see note)½ cup salted butter
- Add water, brown sugar, and rum and bring to a simmer. Cook 1-2 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring.¼ cup water, ½ cup spiced rum, ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and remove half of syrup (about ½ cup) and set aside for later.1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Line the inside of your Bundt pan loosely with plastic wrap. Carefully return cake to Bundt pan and poke holes all over the cake using a toothpick or skewer. Pour remaining syrup evenly over holes on the cake.
- Cover cake, still in Bundt pan, with plastic wrap and allow it to cool completely and soak up the syrup for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
- Once cake is done chilling, invert onto a cake plate. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat reserved syrup in the microwave for 30 seconds or until warm.
- Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth, adding more powdered sugar as needed for desired thickness. Pour warm glaze over cake and serve.1 cup powdered sugar
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Last Updated on September 7, 2023 by Chenée Lewis
Aimee
Can I use mini bundt pan?
Chenée Lewis
I haven't tried this cake in a mini bundt pan, but it should work if they're baked about half the time.
tamara
Tried it as a new thanksgiving dessert! Delicious!
Chenée Lewis
So great to hear that!
Dana
This cake is phenomenal! Not only is it delicious but the presentation is so gorgeous, too. Thank you so much!
Chenée Lewis
So glad you liked it! 🙂
Kathleen
Wow! What marvelous flavors in this perfect Holiday cake.
Chenée Lewis
They really are! So glad you like it!
Kali Alexandria
Absolutely incredible. My husband's favorite dessert!!
Chenée Lewis
Fantastic!! I'm so glad you like it 🙂
Gina Abernathy
This was such a beautiful cake! The flavors were a perfect balance of rum, sugar, and vanilla. I know my guest will love this cake as much as I did. I plan to make it again next week for the holidays.
Chenée Lewis
So glad you liked it!
Pam
I'm with you on the brown butter. There is something special about it, and using it in this gorgeous cake is no exception.
Chenée Lewis
It's like magic! Thanks so much!
Jess
This looks like a slice of Fall on a plate!
Chenée Lewis
Absolutely! All the warm buttery vanilla flavors -- plus RUM! lol
Pris
I love the idea of brown butter, and I've tried without success because I've burned a couple of times trying to make caramel. So sad... I'm gonna follow your link for the extra butter browning tips. This combination of brown butter and rum seems a match made in heaven! Thank you for the lovely recipe and great tips!
Chenée Lewis
Rum and brown butter really are perfect together! I hope the brown butter post helps, and let me know if you have any questions!
Beth
These look so delicious and yummy! I can't wait to give this a try! My husband is going to love this!
Chenée Lewis
I hope you both enjoy!
Chris Collins
Browned butter and rum sounds like a marriage made in heaven! Can't wait to try this gorgeous cake 🙂
Chenée Lewis
They're so great together! 🙂
Maria
Wow! This looks sooooo yummy! Thanks for including which type of rum works well!!
Chenée Lewis
You're welcome! The rum makes such a difference in the flavor of the cake, so it's important to find one that works well in baking and adds rich flavor.