Caramel Rum Bundt Cake

RUM, don’t walk, to make this Rum-soaked Caramel Bundt Cake!

Looking for the perfect treat to transport your taste buds to a tropical island getaway? Mamasaur has you covered! This Caramel Rum Bundt Cake recipe is your ticket to delicious departure. It will have you singing about how much you love getting caught in the rain with Pina Coladas…

Our neighbor, Ed, had his 83rd birthday quickly approaching. This guy loves his rum, so once a year, I bake him a Caramel Rum Bundt Cake. Homemade with love… And booze. Baking up one of these bad boys for the special birthday boy is always a hit. And not just with Ed, either.

Weeks leading up to the occasion, our neighbors excitedly chatter about the special occasion. More than once, in a group chat or in passing by, mentions are made about the Caramel Rum Bundt Cake that I’ll be bringing.

It never lasts long. It’s a crowd-pleaser and an absolute party staple of flavorful perfection. And, conveniently enough, it’s pretty straightforward and easy to make.

Making Magic with this Rum Bundt Cake

Y’all know me. Always looking for recipes in which I can incorporate my toasted sugar. Granulated caramel can ENHANCE so much, and take good bakes to transcendent new heights. This was one such recipe I made some personal tweaks and revisions to, and the improvements were SO worth it.

First off, I NEVER use boxed cake mix. BIG No-No here. Instead, even if I’m using a recipe calling for pre-packaged mix, I use my tried-and-true Betty Crocker cookbook to reference scratch substitutions. So instead of using boxed mix, I just combine the listed dry ingredients for whatever base cake I’m making.

With some personal modifications…

TOASTED SUGAR!

Using my granulated caramel in the Caramel Rum Bundt Cake, as well as the glaze, yielded a rich flavor profile that married Werther’s notes to various rums so effortlessly. Imagine: a buttery Werther’s caramel carrying with it a warm, boozy burn.

This Caramel Rum Bundt Cake is IMPOSSIBLE to keep around and disappears quickly at parties. The toasted sugar brings a depth to the cake and cuts through the sharp, in-your-face sweetness that rum often carries. It mellows the booze punch and melds the flavors of coconut, caramel, and paradise.

And Ed raves about this Caramel Rum Bundt Cake.

He even told me, when he dropped by to return my cakebox, that he had had a couple slices of his birthday cake for breakfast the next morning. I say, let 83-year-old retirees be… And let them eat cake!

Boozy Birthday Bundt

Using a whopping cup of two different types of rum throughout this cake, it’s definitely geared more for adults. I’d be lying if I said I don’t let my toddlers try a couple bites, but I cut them off fairly quickly.

To be fair, the half-cup of rum in the cake bakes out, leaving behind the deep flavor notes of the sweet Caribbean libation. However, you’ve still got to account for the half-cup in the glaze that the Caramel Rum Bundt Cake soaks in. So, just a taste, tots. The rest of this slice is Mama’s! Go get a cookie.

For this Caramel Rum Bundt Cake, I used Molasses-Finished Dark and Naturally-Flavored Coconut Island Getaway rums. These are Texas-based, American-made rums blended and bottled by a woman- and minority-owned distillery right in Dripping Springs! Only an hour away from NBTX.

I love that there isn’t any added sugar in Island Getaway Rum and that the process they use to distill it is more environmentally-friendly and sustainable than competitors. There are cheaper rums out there, but this is definitely a case of “you get what you pay for”. At roughly $20 a bottle, the price point is super reasonable for the quality.

And I especially LOVE that I can support local business by buying this rum. Well worth it.

Easy as 1-2-3!

So, this recipe is incredibly easy to make and straightforward. As long as you’ve done what Mamasaur’s told ya and toasted up a batch of granulated caramel ahead of time. (It’s ALWAYS worth it!)

Just check out all of the recipes that you can make with it at www.themamasaur.com if you doubt me:

The BEST Key Lime Pie Ice Cream
Caramel Whipped Cream
Whipshots Copycats
Caramel Marshmallow
Caramel Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats

And, now, Caramel Rum Bundt Cake!

Whipping up a Caramel Rum Bundt Cake is incredibly simple. Easy as 1-2-3!

1. Bake a Rum Bundt Cake!

First, prep your Bundt pan with a generous spray of Baker’s Joy to make it easy on yourself, like I prefer. Or go a more traditional route and lather that pan up with butter, generously sprinkle flour, and you’re good to go.

Once your pan is prepped, you’re going to adorn the bottom of it (which will be the top of your cake after it’s baked, cooled, and released) with a nice layer of sweetened shredded coconut.

Sift all of the dry ingredients together, including the Jell-O vanilla instant pudding mix. I’m sure one day I’ll deep-dive into perfect cornstarch and flavor ratios so that I don’t HAVE to go the processed, pre-packaged route here either. But for the sake of ease and brevity, I’ll allow it for now!

Add all the wet/moist ingredients to the dry in the bowl of a stand mixer (with a whisk attachment), and mix it thoroughly until fully incorporated.

Pour that over your coconut, and you’ll never guess what happens next…

You pop it in the oven, and then…you bake it. Easy as cake.

2. Make the Glaze!

Mmm, mmm, MMM!!! This glaze MAKES the Caramel Rum Bundt Cake. It is unspeakably delish. This thin glaze packs all the heat from the rums, carried over by a warm, rich, decadent, buttery caramel. It SCREAMS boozy Werther’s.

And it’s as simple as melting, then boiling, salted butter, granulated caramel, and some water together for a few minutes. You start on the glaze about 10 minutes or so before you expect the cake to come out of the oven. You want the cake and the glaze to both still be hot when you combine them.

Once the mixture has boiled for roughly 5 minutes (while you constantly stir it with a heat-safe spatula), remove it from the heat. Let the bubbles subside, and then you can add in the Dark and Coconut rums. Add the rums AFTER you’ve boiled the buttery caramel mixture to ensure that you aren’t cooking off any of the alcohol.

3. Infuse the Rum Bundt Cake with the Caramel Rum glaze!

After baking the cake and making the glaze, you have to put the two together! So, while the cake is still hot, don’t remove it from the Bundt pan yet! Skewer that sucker!

Liberally poke holes with a wooden skewer or chopstick all over the bottom of your Bundt cake. Then, slowly pour your hot glaze over the cake, a bit at a time, ensuring that you aren’t overflowing your pan. If you’ve poked a lot of holes, it will seep in pretty quickly.

After this step, put your feet up and let yourself AND your Caramel Rum Bundt Cake REST. The cake will need to rest at least 2 hours at room temperature to ensure all that sweet, sticky glaze has been soaked in and infused into the cake. DO NOT REFRIGERATE IT.

Once it’s sufficiently rested up, then, and ONLY then, flip the Bundt pan onto a serving platter and give your Caramel Rum Bundt Cake a couple minutes to succumb to gravity and pop out. Using Baker’s Joy, I’ve never had much issue with release.

The gorgeous and deliciously decadent results will be well worth it!

Sinfully Sweet Slices

Whether for a birthday party or a backyard BBQ, this Caramel Rum Bundt Cake is your new go-to! Let the richness of the rum cake transport you to a new dimension of tropical deliciousness. Fair warning: it. is. RICH.

Best to be shared with a crowd, this Caramel Rum Bundt Cake is sure to satisfy everyone there. Assuming they’re of legal age. Enjoy responsibly.

If you give this cake a go, I KNOW you won’t be disappointed. But I want to hear how NOT disappointed you were when you enjoyed that first boozy bite!

Comment/rate my recipe, shoot me an email, follow me on socials, and SHARE THIS RECIPE… Slide into my DMs to tell me how easily this cake slid its way into your stomach. Take a photo to share on IG and tag @the_mamasaur in it with #caramelrum.

Can’t wait for you and your friends to enjoy!