Buttered rum cake is rich and flavorful-topped with chopped walnuts and covered in a butter rum glaze, it's a sure hit when entertaining and can be made ahead of time. This tried-and-true recipe uses cake mix to make it fast and easy!
Y'all! I have so many holiday baking recipes to share with you it's going to be hard to fit them in before the holidays! This Butter Rum Cake was at the top of my list however, because it's deceptively easy and always a huge hit when entertaining.
Why I love this recipe
Starting the cake with premade cake mix (like this peanut butter chocolate chip cake or Starbucks copycat Lemon loaf)and adding in pudding mix for even more flavor makes this cake super fast to throw together.
The butter rum glaze adds intense flavor and a moist texture to the cake and the chopped walnut topping just pulls the flavors together and make this little bundt look as fancy as it tastes!
This cake is unique in that it actually tastes better if it's made ahead and served after a day or so-funny, right? The rum flavor develops as it sits so don't be afraid to make it ahead of time!
Ingredients
- 1 box butter yellow cake mix
- 5 oz box instant vanilla pudding mix
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup spiced rum, divided
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven and prepare a bundt pan with baking spray (affiliate link).
- Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, oil, and rum in a large bowl. Stir until totally blended.
- Sprinkle walnuts in the bundt pan and pour the batter over to cover.
- Bake for 1 hour.
- Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.
- In a small saucepan combine butter, sugar, rum and water. Bring to a boil and cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Pour half a cup of the glaze into the bottom of the empty bundt pan. Return the cake to the bundt pan and use a skewer to poke holes in the bottom of the cake.
- Use a large spoon to add glaze to the cake, allowing it to soak in before adding more, until all the glaze is added. Let sit 1 hour before removing from the pan and serving.
Tips for best results
- Have patience! When spooning the glaze over the cake you need to allow it to soak into the interior of the cake. If you pour it all in quickly it will run down the edges and pool at the bottom.
- This cake tastes even better the next day so don't be afraid to make it ahead of time!
FAQs
Use a dark spiced rum. I prefer Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum but you can experiment with your favorite brand as well!
You can substitute a butter rum extract instead. (affiliate link) Use 1-2 teaspoons of extract in the cake and another 1-2 teaspoons in the glaze instead of rum.
Due to the rum this cake can be stored at room temperature up to 5 days.
Yes, wrap the cake twice with plastic wrap, then with aluminum foil, then place in a freezer bag. Store in the freezer up to 3 months. Thaw overnight at room temperature.
If you try this recipe, please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
Print
Butter Rum Cake
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This butter rum cake is rich and flavorful-topped with chopped walnuts and covered in a butter rum glaze, it's a sure hit when entertaining and can be made ahead of time.
Ingredients
- 1 box butter yellow cake mix
- 5 oz box instant vanilla pudding mix
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup spiced rum, divided
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Spray bundt pan with nonstick spray or a baking spray (affiliate link) with flour.
- In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, ½ cup water, oil, and ½ cup rum.
- Stir until totally blended.
- Sprinkle nuts in the bundt pan and pour batter over to cover.
- Bake for one hour or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool 30 minutes then invert onto a serving plate.
- In a small saucepan combine butter, sugar and ½ cup water.
- Bring to a boil and cook 5 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
- Pour half a cup of the glaze into the bottom of the bundt pan and return cake to pan.
- Use a small skewer to poke holes in the bottom of the cake and slowly spoon glaze over the cake allowing it to soak in before adding more.
- Let cake sit and absorb the glaze at least one hour before serving, best when made a day ahead.
Notes
Store covered at room temperature up to 5 days.
To make without rum substitute a butter rum extract instead. (affiliate link) Use 1-2 teaspoons of extract in the cake and another 1-2 teaspoons in the glaze instead of rum.
Keywords: butter rum cake, rum cake
Melanie says
wow, yum!
★★★★★
Shelly says
I just made this recipe using a gluten free mix. It is amazing! I will be making this cake to bring the family Christmas gathering. It's going to be a hit! Thank you for sharing!!
DonnaB says
on the butter rum cake recipe it calls for 1 cup of rum, divided, 1/2 cup is used for the cake mix..uhmm what about the other 1/2 cup of rum? Is it to be used with the glaze??
Aphia Stanwood says
That's what I was wondering as well
Melissa says
Thank you so much for catching that-it was an omission on my part-yes, the additional 1/2 cup of rum is in the glaze-I've updated the post to reflect that! ~Melissa
Alesa says
This looks amazing! I plan to make this today. I normally print the recipe card. I see the post was updated years ago, but not the printable. I will just write it in for future reference. Thanks