Mom’s Famous Rum Cake

Recipe from Florence Esmailka

Adapted by Julia O'Malley

Mom’s Famous Rum Cake
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
About 1 hour
Rating
4(672)
Comments
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This classic rum cake recipe, built around a yellow cake mix, is a favorite of mushers and snowmobilers passing through the village of Tanana, Alaska, in the wintertime. It's hard to mess up, comes together quickly, fills out a (prepared) Bundt pan reliably and can be made on a whim with ingredients from the pantry. It travels well; keeps, covered, for several days; and pairs nicely with coffee and cold weather. —Julia O'Malley

Featured in: In Alaska’s Far-Flung Villages, Happiness Is a Cake Mix

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

    For the Cake

    • Butter or vegetable oil, for greasing the pan
    • 1cup/120 grams chopped walnuts or pecans
    • 1(roughly 16-ounce/450-gram) package yellow cake mix
    • 1(3.4-ounce/100-gram) package vanilla instant pudding mix
    • 4large eggs
    • ½cup/120 milliliters cold water
    • ½cup/120 milliliters vegetable oil
    • ½cup/120 milliliters rum (dark or light), preferably Bacardi

    For the Glaze

    • ½cup (1 stick/115 grams) unsalted butter
    • 1cup/200 grams sugar
    • ½cup/120 milliliters rum (dark or light)
    • ¼cup/60 milliliters water
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

836 calories; 43 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 92 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 65 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 685 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch Bundt cake pan, scatter the nuts evenly into the bottom of the pan, and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, whisk together the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, oil and rum. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs attached.

  3. Step 3

    While the cake bakes, make the glaze: In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, rum and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, then remove from heat.

  4. Step 4

    When the cake is done, remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Using a skewer or a fork, poke holes all over the top and sides of the cake, then brush the entire cake with the glaze, repeating until all the glaze is gone. Serve warm or at room temperature. Cake keeps (and improves, some say), wrapped and refrigerated, up to 3 days.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
672 user ratings
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Comments

sues

This made me so nostalgic for my mom and her friends. They are all gone now. A box cake with pudding mix added was the way they made cakes. And this one, with the rum and butter is super good. I will make this cake again and again and think of those moms and dads of the fifties and sixties, who so appreciated the small pleasures of life, and loved quick and clever recipes. Thanks Julia for sharing your mom's recipe.

Morna

I add a chopped tart apple to the recipe and been serving it to coworkers as a "coffee cake" for years. It's one of my most requested recipes--it's a definite crowd pleaser!!

David

Made it lots of times.. always a crowd-pleaser and never any left at the end of any party! I'm lazy with the glaze... I pour most of it into the mold, then put the cake back in the way it came out. Let it sit, and it soaks up the glaze. I just hand-glaze the part that's exposed when it's in the mold.

R. Kelly

I made a gluten free version using GF yellow cake mix. Because the mix called for 1/2 cup of butter instead of oil I used that. Other than that I followed the recipe. It's been many years since I baked a regular gluten cake so I don't know if GF is different, but despite poking many, many holes in most of the glaze would not absorb. Made a huge mess. Out of frustration I decided to put the cake back into the Bundt pan and pour it all of over the bottom of the cake. That definitely helped.

Ali

Made some subs and turned this baby into a coconut rum cake, have gotten rave reviews both times I've made it (esp. from people who said they didn't think they would like rum cake, which is wild to me because rum and cake are both great). Subbed: coconut rum and coconut puddings for the standard/vanilla versions in the recipe, kept the yellow cake mix over coconut. Instead of nuts, I used flaked coconut, which I cooked with the glaze. Made it all stick all over the bundt perfectly.

Cherie

When I had just moved to my own apartment in the early 80s, I started throwing dinner parties. I never made my own deserts because making the food and getting ready took so much time. My younger sister gave me this recipe from a Bacardi rum recipe. She told me to substitute lemon jello for the pudding because that’s what our Nana did whenever she made a box cake. I always take a skewer and punch holes in the cake to aid in the penetration of the glaze. A reliable and delicious crowd pleaser.

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Credits

Adapted from Florence Esmailka

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