This tender, buttery rum pound cake is super simple and tastes incredible! We add rum to our recipe in two ways! First, we add dark rum to the batter. Then, the moment the cake comes out of the oven, we brush it with a simple rum syrup. It’s so good!
This rum pound cake recipe is inspired by Caribbean rum cake. I spent a few years living in the Cayman Islands as a child, and I remember my parent’s excitement over rum cake! Now, I understand why. We infuse the batter for this pound cake with a blend of orange, vanilla, and dark rum, which takes classic pound cake and makes it 1000% times better. Then, once it comes out of the oven, we brush over a simple rum syrup to add moisture and even more flavor.
I love slices of this pound cake with homemade whipped cream or coconut whipped cream (incredibly delicious). It’s also incredible when served next to our simple berry fruit salad!
Key Ingredients
- Flour and Baking Powder: This recipe uses all-purpose flour for a perfectly textured cake. Baking powder ensures a good rise, so make sure yours is fresh! Check the expiration date to guarantee your cake rises as expected.
- Sugar: While this recipe uses granulated sugar, you can substitute brown sugar. Brown sugar will likely make the cake a bit more moist.
- Eggs: We use 3 eggs to create the rich texture that defines a pound cake. Substituting the eggs is not recommended in this recipe.
- Cream and Butter: As a classic pound cake, this recipe includes a generous amount of butter and cream. These ingredients are key to the incredible flavor and texture.
- Spices: Cinnamon, cloves, orange zest, and vanilla enhance the warm, toasty notes of the rum.
- Rum: Dark rum is recommended for this recipe, as white rum lacks the same depth of flavor. You can use rum extract if you don’t have rum on hand. (Tips for substitution amounts are included below the recipe.)
How to Make Rum Pound Cake
You do not need any fancy equipment for this rum pound cake. Simply make the cake batter in a bowl with a whisk and a spatula. Start by whisking the dry ingredients together in one bowl.
Next, rub the orange zest into the sugar, creating an orange-scented sugar that will permeate the entire batter as it bakes. Whisk the eggs and vanilla into the orange sugar, then the cream and rum.
To bring the batter together, stir everything thoroughly and then add the melted butter. Pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake!
While the cake bakes, make the rum syrup. It’s a simple mixture of heated water, sugar, and rum. When the cake comes out of the oven, brush it all over with the syrup.
The warm cake will absorb the syrup’s flavor and moisture, creating an incredibly moist and delicious cake. That’s what really makes this pound cake recipe over the top.
Buttered Rum Pound Cake
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This rum pound cake is very simple to make. The cake itself is flavored with orange, vanilla and dark rum. Just as the cake comes out of the oven, we drench it with rum syrup. Divine. The rum used really needs to be dark and strong otherwise it gets lost.
We use an 8 ½ by 4 ½ inch loaf pan for this. If you are using a 9 by 5-inch pan, check for doneness 5 minutes before the baking time stated below.
You Will Need
Pound Cake8 tablespoons (115g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 ⅓ cups (175g) all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons (240g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
1 tablespoon dark rum
Rum Syrup3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
Directions
1Center a rack in the oven and heat to 350°F (177°C). Butter and flour in an 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pan. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or two regular baking sheets stacked on the other.
2Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves together and set aside.
3In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together until the sugar is fragrant with the orange. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until blended, then whisk in the cream and rum.
4Switch to a large rubber spatula. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, stirring gently until they disappear and the batter is smooth.
5Fold in the melted butter in 2 parts. The batter should be smooth and thick.
6Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Make the rum syrup as soon as the cake goes into the oven.
7After 30 minutes in the oven, check the cake for color. If it looks like it is browning too quickly, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
8As soon as the cake goes into the oven, stir the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rum. Transfer syrup to a heatproof bowl or cup and let cool.
9When the cake is done, transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the cake and place it right-side up on the rack. Position the rack over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.
10Using a toothpick or thin skewer, poke holes all over the cake. Brush the cake with the syrup. Do this slowly so the cake has a chance to absorb the syrup. Cool the cake to room temperature, slice, and serve.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Rum extract: Use 1/2 teaspoon of rum extract for every 1 tablespoon of dark rum.
- Recipe inspired and tweaked from Dorie Greenspan’s Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cakes. The recipe can be found in her incredible book: “Baking: From My Home to Yours” – we highly recommend it.
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Thanks for sharing this recipe. I made this several times last year for various Christmas gatherings with success.
and rave. I injected more rum and orange syrup.
Can i replace the heavy syrup with yougurt?
Hi Joy, We are thrilled you enjoy the recipe so much. Yes, you can skip the glaze and instead spread or drizzle yogurt over the loaf. I might save the yogurt for serving though and add a spoonful the same way I did in our photos with the whipped cream.
Making Inspired Taste part of my weekend! I baked this recipe for the first time and wish I doubled the ingredients! it’s easy and super delicious! I followed it exactly and tastes so good! I used Grand Marnier indeed. Thanks for commenting about the smaller pans, as I used and turned out perfectly. Highly recommended! Thank you Joanne and Adam!
Made a tropical version of this for Father’s Day and it was delicious! Swapped the heavy cream for sour cream, orange zest for lime and included dried (unsweetened) pineapple chopped up and soaked overnight in banana rum for favor and texture. It was a hit! Used lime juice and zest and more banana rum for the glaze, but if you don’t want alcohol you could omit the rum on top.
i made this for christmas this year! I’m happy to have found a rum cake for a loaf pan. It’s my very first time making one. It was SO moist and flavorful and very fun to make. It’s one of the best cakes ive ever made. I have some notes, however.
My cake wasnt yellow but brown inside and it had domed and cracked like a pound cake im more used to.it didnt look like your pictures.
i did have to cook mine 20 minutes longer for the pick to come out clean but that might be elevation differences. also, i dont know how deep i had to poke holes or how many so i stabbed it a bunch like a potato trying to get at least half way. the rum had sunk to the bottom of the cake. i have no clue how that happened.
this is also my first time zesting an orange. i only got about one teaspoon of it but only had one orange so i just went with it. it still had a HUGE orange flavor. i feel like if i had used two like in the recipe, it would have blasted my entire family into orbit.
This was still a really really good cake. Very easy AND tastes incredible. my family loved it. i would recommend anyone looking at this to try it, but maybe watch the orange.
Hi! First off, I want to say: I love your website! <3 Also, I was wondering if I could substitute heavy cream with single/liquide cream? If not I'll get some at the store 😉
This cake looks fabulous, I love the Rum Syrup.
Hi, do you think I can bake this in mini loaf pans like a 5×3 loaf pan? So I can make them as giveaways for the holidays. Thanks!
You should be able to. The bake time will be a little less, though.
How long would you recommend the cake will last after baking it?
Once cooled and wrapped, the pound cake should last a few days at room temperature and a little longer in the refrigerator. (We like keeping it chilled in the refrigerator).
I want to make this but in mini loaf pans how would I adjust the cooking time????
HI Julie, We have not tried adapting this recipe to smaller pans, but mini-loaves tend to bake for about 30 minutes. (Depending on how “mini” your pans are, of course).
Here’s what we suggest: Reduce the temperature by 25 degrees or so then bake a test loaf. Check for doneness around 20 minutes and go from there, checking with a toothpick every few minutes. Hope that helps!
This looks so delicious. Cloves and oranges were made for pound cake!