I got this recipe from my mother, and I have to tell you that she didn’t call it Drunken Rum Cake. She’s a preacher’s wife. She would never do that. My mother got this recipe from the L.A. Times back in the 80s. That short-cut “cake mix” recipe quickly became a family favorite, but you know how I feel about cake mixes. And so when I re-imagined the cake as a made-from-scratch recipe, I felt powerful enough to re-imagine the name, too.

Just don’t blame my mother.

I’ll include the original short-cut version based on a cake mix at the bottom of the post in case you want to try that–but why would you? This cake is worth the bit of trouble of measuring out the flour and sugar yourself. In fact, this cake is so good, you will want to bury your face in it when it’s done and eat it whole. And if you have tested the rum properly during preparation, you might just feel okay with that. I know I did.

(Turning this “cake mix” recipe into a homemade cake wasn’t hard to figure out, of course. I blended a scratch yellow cake recipe with the rum and vanilla pudding, throwing in a couple extra eggs.)

How to make Drunken Rum Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter
4 eggs
1 3.4-ounce package (dry) instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup dark rum

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Before you add the rum, you might want to test it. Unless you’re trying to be frugal, because this is one of my cheap-but-special Christmas present ideas. You can bake this cake in a standard large bundt pan, but you can also bake it in two smaller (7-inch) bundt pans to give as gifts.

You don’t really want to give anyone bad rum, though, so you should probably check it. With eggnog.

Mix at medium speed for two minutes. Do not overbeat! Pour into one large greased and floured bundt pan or two smaller bundt pans. Place in a 350-degree oven. A large bundt cake will take approximately 50-60 minutes. Seven-inch bundt cakes will take 35-45 minutes.

Halfway through baking, I put a square of foil over the cake to keep it from over-browning.

Place the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack until completely cooled. Invert onto a cake plate. Prick the cake all over with some kind of long doohickey that will reach all the way through the cake.

I’m using a meat thermometer to prick the cake because it’s the longest doohickey I have. I don’t have any fancy doohickeys. I also added extra short pricks with a toothpick, but be sure to do at least some pricks with something that will go all the way through the cake to get ready for glazing.

Rum Glaze:

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark rum

Melt butter in saucepan. Add water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes then add the rum.

You can check the rum again now if you want to.

If the spoon in this picture is looking all wavy? You’d better put the rum down. Now drizzle the glaze over the cake, letting it soak in through all those holes. This cake gets better the longer it sits. In fact, you can let it sit in your refrigerator for weeks and it is just better. Not that I would let a cake sit around for weeks. Just sayin’.

This cake makes a great gift, especially since it can be made ahead! Now, if you want the original short-cut “cake mix” version from the newspaper, here it is:

1 package yellow cake mix
1 3.4-ounce package (dry) instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup dark rum

Follow all the above instructions for mixing, baking, and glazing.

But I really hope you try my homemade Drunken Rum Cake because it’s just better!

See this recipe at Farm Bell Recipes and save it to your recipe box.


See All My Recipes