At all of our get-togethers, this rum cake is a favorite among the family. It is particularly unique because of the butter rum glaze!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 (10-inch) Bundt cake |
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 (15.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
- 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup dark rum, divided
- ¾ cup water, divided
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped walnuts evenly over the bottom of the pan.
- Combine cake mix and pudding mix in a large bowl. Mix in eggs, 1/2 cup rum, 1/2 cup water, and oil until well-blended. Pour batter over chopped nuts in the pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean, about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze: Combine sugar, butter, and remaining 1/4 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens and slightly darkens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1/2 cup rum.
- Let baked cake sit in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Brush glaze over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze and repeat until all glaze is used.
- An easy way to glaze your cake is to pour half of the glaze into the Bundt pan, reinsert the cake, then pour the rest of the glaze over the bottom of the cake. Let the glaze soak in thoroughly, then invert back onto the platter.
- Please note the differences in ingredient amounts when using the magazine version of this recipe.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 500 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 55 g |
| Cholesterol | 82 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 464 mg |
| Sugars | 40 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This recipe came out very good. Easy with the boxed ingredients. Yum!
Ladies and gentlemen, I spaced out and forgot to add the oil. I committed to the end and I have to say I am so dang glad I did. The cake was airy and fluffy and with Bumbu Rum it tasted amazing. What a happy accident. I plan to do this again the right way. Totally worth it.
Excellent! Easy & fail proof! I’ve made it several times, perfect every time. I even tried it using devils’s food mix w its chocolate pudding- fantastic! Everyone’s favorite! Thanks!
A very favorite cake! Moist, flavorful, easy to make.
I left out the nuts and with shrinkflation it looks like most cake mixes are 15.25 oz now! But those were the only changes I made and this was still fantastic. I might use a LITTLE less glaze next time, maybe only like 2/3 of the full amount. But it was amazing.
I enjoyed making this cake! The mix I used was Ginger Evans (generic type) and it turned out moist as could be! What I did differently was to add spiced rum as it was all I had, but it worked! I had everyone drooling when I shared the picture with friends and on facebook! I tried several times and can’t add a photo.
Delicious! Perfect just as is or it can be revised by adding pecans instead of walnuts. Or without nuts! I recommend the recipe state granulated sugar should anyone confuse white sugar with powdered sugar. This is not a problem for those familiar with baking and doing it frequently. But it can be confusing for someone really taking a recipe literally.
I have been making this for years at least 20 plus years. Great cake. Always the center of attention at the dessert table
I have been making this for over 30 yr, it is the best.
I’ve made this several times and turned out each time. I have used peach schnapps and pecans to change it up and that is even tasty. Top them with maraschino cherries and rosemary sprigs for a festive look.
I make this cake a lot. My friends and family loves it but I use 3/4 of rum and 1/4 water in the cake.
Wow, this was a winning recipe. My advice is to stop looking now for other recipes because you have found the hold grail of Rum Cake. I was thinking of adding pineapple to the cake for fun and hoping I don’t ruin a good thing. Thank you for sharing this.
Super easy and so tasty. My husband is not a big sweets guy and absolutely loved, loved, loved this one. Have made it a couple times and it always comes out delicious.
I’ll just say, I took this cake to work, I made it with walnuts, and people started to look at me differently. A man said if he wasn’t already married, he’d be in love and a woman said “I’ll tell you what, she knows her way around a rum cake”. It’s safe to say this recipe is a keeper.
Delicious! My whole house smells divine! I used a very dark Jamaican rum and followed the tip about inverting the cake back into the pan with the glaze. I left it in there to really soak, and it’s seriously delicious. My son wanted a rum cake for his 21st birthday and this was an absolute winner!!
Delicious, and everyone loved it! I used Coconut Rum, and like many suggested, poured half the glaze into the pan, reinserted the cake, then poured the rest on top. I chilled the cake overnight in the pan, which I think allowed it to soak in all the flavor and moisture. It’s a VERY sweet cake- those with a sweet tooth will enjoy this!
I received this receipt from a dear friend of mine from work. I make this cake several times a year. My family loves it. I sub out pecans for the walnuts and I poke holes all through the cake still in Bundt pan and pour the syrup in and then dump it much easier and less messy. I hope you enjoy
OMG this cake is amazing!! I love how easy it is to make with the box mix. The 2 changes I made were: 1. Grease the pan with butter and sprinkle about 1Tbsp of turbinado sugar (like sugar in the raw) on the inside of the pan. 2. Toast the nuts before putting them in the pan The extra layer of sugar on the pan gave the cake an almost crunchy crust, but was super moist and delicious inside. Definitely going to make this a lot more!
Chef Mo, I will be attending dinner with the boys tonight and modified your recipe a bit, please forgive me. I made it a Bourbon Old Fashioned cake instead. Instead of rum I used bourbon. I also added orange zest, chopped maraschino cherries to the recipe. The icing: I used more bourbon instead of water along with the bourbon at the end of making the icing. I also added more diced cherries and orange zest. Along with Orange Bitters and Cherry Bitters to the icing. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
This has always been my favorite rum cake recipe. This time I used banana cake mix with banana cream pudding mix. Extra delicious treat!
This is our favorite rum cake recipe. Always moist and delicious, and the glaze is so good. Only thing I change is to use pecans instead of walnuts.