The best rum pound cake recipe! This rum soaked cake recipe is a decadent celebration cake for any occasion! And we're making this rum cake recipe 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!
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
Browning butter: See my post on how to brown butter for details on the process of browning butter. In this recipe I would recommend using salted butter for the brown butter syrup.Storage and freezing: Store your completed Jamaican rum cake in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days. To freeze, just let the glaze freeze solid uncovered for an hour, then wrap well in foil and plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months.