Last Updated on November 19, 2019 by Chef Mireille
Caribbean Rum Cake – This from scratch version of Caribbean Rum Cake is super soft and moist and drunk with rum – as it should be!
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I hope you have been enjoying all of the Caribbean Dessert Recipes this week. Caribbean people love lots of spices, coconut and rum. Most of our desserts have at least one and sometimes all of these ingredients in them.
This last Caribbean Dessert Recipe for the week usually makes an appearance only around the holidays. By the way, are you hosting the family holiday dinner this year? Don’t forget to download my FREE PARTY PLANNING GUIDE at the bottom of this post to help you have a stress free holiday event!
Rum in the Caribbean
Although rum is also produced in India & the Philippines, most rum is produced in the Caribbean. Every island has it’s own brand with the locals being extremely loyal to their country’s brand. Some of the larger islands even have 2 or 3 brands.
All Caribbean islands have large sugarcane plantations. Sugar is one of the major GDP in most of the Caribbean except on islands like Aruba, which is a tropical desert.
Distilled from sugarcane, rum began to be produced in the 17th century when the slaves discovered that molasses, a by product of sugar refining, could be fermented into alcohol.
Since then, it is a vital part of our culture and cuisine. From this type of rum cake to Black Cake to Rum Punch to Kremas (eggless eggnog), no party is complete without some food or drink made with rum. My mom never made a single cake without adding 1-2 tablespoons of rum.
The first alcoholic drink I ever had was Rum Punch. When we were kids maybe around age 12 or 13, they started letting us have very small portions of Rum Punch for special occasions, although diluted with a lot of ice.
Tortuga Rum Cake
Today’s rum cake is totally different. This cake is not simply infused with rum flavor so that you just get a slight aftertaste. This cake is drunk with rum, literally, as the methodology involves feeding the cake with a rum glaze after it has been baked.
If you have ever travelled to the Caribbean, you may have purchased a Tortuga Rum Cake from the duty free shop prior to departing. It is quite famous, although to be honest, I have never had one.
When I visit the Caribbean, I am usually so filled with delicious home cooking from my family that I am not usually looking for cakes when I am getting ready to leave.
However, I was at a food festival a few weeks ago when I tasted this type of Rum Cake and I knew I had to figure out how to replicate it. The vendor was so nice and explained to me how she made it.
You will find many versions of this cake recipe online and in Caribbean cookbooks, however most of them use vanilla pudding mix in the batter. I always try to cook with natural products whenever possible, so I wanted to come up with a from scratch version but that would still have the moist and tender crumb.
I think I succeeded as the people I shared this cake with couldn’t stop raving about it and now I have been requested to make this for a few people for Christmas.
This cake is so soft and moist and drunk with rum. It is like a rum cocktail in cake form!
TYPES OF RUM
There are basically three types of rum, depending on how long it has been aged – white, amber or dark. I used amber rum in this recipe, but you can use whichever you have about. Some people also mix and may use half white and half dark when making it.
Don’t drink alcohol?
You can use this same methodology, but use juice instead to make intensely flavored fruit cakes. Use mango juice or papaya or guava to at least keep it along the tropical themes from the Caribbean!
Travel to the Caribbean
I hope with all this talk of rum and the delicious recipes you saw this week, you have been inspired to plan your next vacation to the Caribbean. Looking for ideas? How about Dominica? With its unspoiled beauty, it is a great destination for nature lovers!
RELATED: DOMINICA, NATURE ISLAND OF THE CARIBBEAN
Now let’s get to this delicious recipe! Here are some tips to make sure you achieve the perfect Caribbean Rum Cake (no pudding version)
Caribbean Rum Cake Cooking Tips
Don’t be afraid when you see the feeding glaze go almost to the top of the cake pan.
Within 2-3 minutes, the cake will have absorbed all of the liquid.
After the glaze has been absorbed, wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Don’t cut the cake until the next day. This will seal in all of the rum flavor.
The next day the cake will be so soft and spongy!
If you like the flavor of rum, you will LOVE THIS CAKE!
Caribbean Rum Cake (no pudding version)
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup dry milk powder full fat
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- ¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
- ½ cup oil
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup rum
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Chopped nuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a springform pan with non stick spray.
- Sprinkle chopped nuts on bottom of pan (if using).
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine flour, milk powder, baking powder, cornstarch, salt and sugars. Mix to combine.
- In a small bowl, combine oil, eggs, rum and vanilla extract.
- Add to dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Transfer to prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Turn off oven and leave cake in oven for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine butter, salt, sugar and water.
- Cook on medium high heat until the butter melts. Boil for 2 minutes.
- Add rum and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Let cake rest for 5 minutes.
- With a rubber spatula, go around the perimeter of the cake, making sure it is not sticking anywhere.
- Pierce cake all over with a toothpick.
- Pour rum glaze over cake and wait 2-3 minutes until the cake has absorbed all of the liquid.
- Remove the sides of the springform pan.
- Flip cake over onto a plate.
- Using a rubber spatula, carefully remove the bottom of the cake pan.
- Wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, using 2 plates to flip the cake back and forth until it is properly wrapped.
- On the next day, unwrap and cake, slice and enjoy!
Notes
DO YOU YUM? SAVE IT BELOW!
YumNeed more culinary inspiration? Check out the Recipe Index with over 1500 Recipes from Around the World with lots of Vegetarian 🥕🍆🍅and Gluten Free Recipes!
The texture of the cake looks fantastic Mir, I surely enjoyed your week’s theme and look forward to try some myself!
I can’t wait to hear how you like them when you try them out!
Chef why do u add the sugars to the dry ingredients and not the wet?
Not all traditional recipes follow scientific baking “rules”. So I can’t really give you a scientific reason. I can only say it works in the end result of this delicious cake!
Pinned! I love rum. I love cake. This recipe sounds perfect!! I have got to try this 😀
I am sure you are going to love it when you try it!
Wow! Look how moist this cake is! Love the infusion of rum. Can’t wait to try!
I am sure you are going to love it as much as I do!
That cake sure is a treat !..And I like the option of using juice instead of rum..interesting!
yes that was just to give an alternative if you dont drink alcohol!
Very interesting cake… especially sounds like basboosa since it is also dunk in a syrup… would love to try this with fruit juice…
yes it is very moist – like basbousa!
How cool that every island typically has their own rum, what a fun tradition! This cake is one of my favorites but I don’t think I’ve ever had it completely made from scratch, sounds absolutely delicious.
yes – Rum is definitely a big part of Caribbean culture
Hi Dear,
I am eager to try this recipe of yours but I have a question.
Your recipe says 0 baking powder. Am reading it correctly?
There is no baking powder at all, right?
Your reply awaited.
Thanks and Regards.
The recipe indicates 4 teaspoons of baking powder. Perhaps you overlooked it.
Thanks Dear,
Sorry for the confusion I created. May be there was a network error on my phone. All the time it was showing 0 tsp of baking powder.
Thanks a ton for your reply.
Will surely try this cake.
no problem – these fluky things happen sometimes!
What a fantastic looking cake. Amazing texture. I am tempted to try it with mango juice and my mouth is watering already!
yes I am sure it will be just as delicious and soft and moist with the mango juice
Sounds like a fantastic recipe. I’m not a massive rum fan and the after taste always kinds of puts me off but you’ve mentioned that there is that alcohol/bitter after taste! Perfect for me.
I’m not sure sure what you referring to as I did not reference any bitter taste. Regardless you wont find it in this cake!
Hi! This would be a yummy cake to try if I could find the recipe. I’ve jumped to the recipe, but it isn’t there. Could you please fix this? Thanks!
Have a fantastic rest of the week and weekend coming up!
I am having some technical issues after an update yesterday. Thanks for alerting me to this fact. As soon as it is fixed and the recipe is available, I will let you know!
The problem has been fixed. You can now grab the recipe!
That’s such a moist and flavourful cake Mir. I never baked with rum but tasted rum cake few times. Yours look more airy. I love the suggestion of using juice instead of rum. Will sure give it a try.
yes – think it would be just as flavorful with juice
That cake looks fantastic with a beautiful texture. Enjoyed going through all your Caribbean posts and sweets.
Glad you enjoyed them and hope you get to try them soon!
Cake looks so soft, moist and lovely texture.
it does have such a lovely texture. I am sure you will love it
Thank you so much for this recipe I’m really looking forward to trying it out, especially as it’s made completely from scratch. And I’m half Caribbean and havent enjoyed decent rum cake in 3 years since my last visit to the Caribbean… I wanted to check if its possible to use dairy alternative milk (liquid) instead of dairy milk powder
Kind regards
Parece
the liquid to dry ingredient ratio would affect the recipe outcome if you switch to liquid. However, you can use coconut milk powder which is not dairy. You can usually find this in Asian or Caribbean markets.
Okay perfect thank you kindly, excited to try this out
You must let me know how you like it when you finish. You can always tag me on instagram @chefmireille – Would love to see your pics!