Butter rum cake recipe
This irresistible buttery rum cake has a secret ingredient – instant vanilla pudding mix. It might sound strange but it really does work! You could use instant custard powder or an instant dessert mix like butterscotch Angel Delight instead.
You will need a 27cm/10.5in bundt pan or fluted cake tin.
Ingredients
For the cake- 125 g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the tin
- 250 g self-raising flour, plus extra for flouring the tin
- 60 g walnuts, chopped
- 30 g cornflour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 200 ml whole milk
- 200 ml dark rum
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp vegetable oil
- 300 g granulated sugar
- 1 x 75g/2.6oz packet of instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 portion of crème fraîche or ice cream, to serve
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 75 ml water
- 150 g granulated sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 100 ml dark rum
Details
- Cuisine: Caribbean
- Recipe Type: Cake
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 25 mins
- Cooking Time: 60 mins
- Serves: 8
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F/gas mark 4. Grease and flour the cake tin and sprinkle the bottom with the chopped walnuts.
- In a large bowl, combine the self-raising flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, rum, vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of the vegetable oil.
- Cream the sugar and butter in a food mixer fitted with a balloon whisk until pale and fluffy. Slowly add the dry ingredients and the remaining 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and continue to mix for a few minutes on a medium-low speed, until the mixture looks like sand.
- Add the instant pudding mix and the egg mixture, scraping any mixture from the sides back down into the bowl with a spatula. Mix again on medium speed until well combined. The cake batter should be thin and smooth.
- Pour the batter into the bundt tin and bake for 50–60 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, make the rum syrup. In a saucepan set over a medium-high heat, combine the butter, water, sugar and salt and cook, stirring, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
- Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and slowly stir in the rum. Set aside to cool.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the tin for 10 minutes. Loosen the cake slightly from the tin (inverting it onto a plate works best), then place it back in the tin.
- Poke several holes into the top of the cake with a skewer to help the syrup seep in, then slowly pour half of the rum syrup over the cake.
- Let it stand for 15–20 minutes then invert onto a serving platter and slowly pour the remaining syrup over the cake until it is all absorbed.
- Serve with a dollop of crème fraîche or ice cream.
This recipe is from Ainsley’s Caribbean Kitchen by Ainsley Harriott (Ebury Press, £20). Photography by Dan Jones.
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