Coconut Rum Cake
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Coconut Rum Cake is made with vanilla cake mix, sweet coconut, and tropical coconut rum. It's a special dessert to serve at holidays and celebrations!
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A Cake with a Kick!
Coconut Rum Cake is filled with tropical flavors and a surprising boozy finish. This dessert is perfect for special occasions or holiday parties with adult friends and family.
Serve it with a dollop of whipped cream if desired. But, most of all, enjoy the memories you'll make while eating it!
Since this cake is made in a bundt pan, it's fun to try different types of pans (ad) when you make this recipe. I've used every type there is over the years, and they all turn out beautifully.
If you're a coconut lover, you'll also flip over Pumpkin Coconut Bark and this amazing Coconut Mojito recipe.
How to Make Coconut Rum Cake
1 - The magic starts by greasing and flouring a bundt pan, then crumbling a cup of chopped pecans into the bottom.
2 - In a mixing bowl, add dry cake mix and dry pudding mix, then mix together gently. Add rum, water, oil and eggs, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in coconut and stir well.
3 - Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. While the cake is baking, make the hot rum glaze by boiling together butter, sugar, water, and coconut rum.
4 - Once the cake comes out of the oven, grab a fork and start poking holes in the top of the cake while it's still in the pan. Next, pour half of the hot glaze onto the cake and allow it to soak up the icing completely.
5 - Allow the cake to cool for one hour, then invert it onto a serving plate or cake stand. Tap on the bottom of the bundt pan with a dull knife several times and the cake should pop out on the plate. Luckily, the glaze helps make this happen!
6 - Drizzle the other half of the glaze on top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides and onto the cake plate to create a lovely presentation.
Recipe FAQS
Any type of rum is great to use in this recipe. Coconut rum is our choice, but you can substitute white rum or dark rum if desired.
If you're lucky enough to have left overs, a rum cake will last up to 5 days. It's best to wrap it tightly and keep in the refrigerator.
The Story Behind This Cake
Our family has fond memories of my father-in-law enjoying the icing on his slice of Coconut Rum Cake during the holidays. He would always scoop the icing off the top, and eat the cake later.
When our son grew up, he started requesting a rum cake for his birthday (which happens to be on Christmas Eve). So, every year, I make his favorite cake and watch him scoop up the icing just like his Granddaddy did.
*Rum cake is definitely not kid friendly. It's got a little kick and is best served to adults over the age of 21.
Storage Tips
Store leftover cake at room temperature for up to 1 day after baking. The longer coconut rum cake sits, the better it tastes!
After 1 day, wrap it in foil or put in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Serve it warm after heating a slice for a few seconds in the microwave, or cold straight from the fridge.
More Holiday Treats
If you like this recipe, you'll love my other holiday treats...
Recipe Card
Coconut Rum Cake
*See notes in blog post for detailed tips, photos and instructions.
Equipment
- hand or stand mixer
Ingredients
CAKE
- 1 cup pecans chopped
- 1 box 18 oz vanilla cake mix
- 1 3.4 oz pkg. vanilla instant pudding mix
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup coconut rum
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
GLAZE
- 2 sticks butter
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup coconut rum
Instructions
CAKE
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan, then crumble nuts into bottom.
- In a mixing bowl, blend together dry cake mix (just use the dry mix without adding any ingredients listed on the box), dry vanilla pudding, coconut rum, water, oil and eggs.
- Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed, then stir in coconut.
- Pour batter into bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
- Remove cake from oven, then use a fork to poke holes in top of cake.
- Immediately pour half of glaze onto cake and cool cake for 1 hour.
- Invert cake onto cake stand or serving plate. Tap bottom of bundt pan with knife a few times and cake should pop out.
- Drizzle the other half of the glaze on the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.
GLAZE
- Melt butter in a saucepan, then add sugar and water.
- Bring mixture to a boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and add rum, stirring well.
- Pour half of glaze over hot cake, then allow to cool. Pour other half of glaze over cake once it has been inverted onto a cake plate.
Notes
- Any type of rum can be substituted if you can't find coconut rum.
- Sprinkle entire cake with more shredded coconut as a garnish if desired. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
- Disclaimer: Coconut Rum Cake contains alcohol and is intended for adults age 21 or over.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is an auto generated estimate.
Tried this Recipe and Loved It? ❤️ Please scroll down and leave a *STAR* review!
I made this today for a family dinner. I didn’t have a boxed cake mix but had everything else, so I improvised with a substitution I found online. I also added cream of coconut to both the cake batter and glaze (reduced some of the sugar and water to account for this) because I love coconut! This cake turned out amazingly delicious! The whole family loved it and wanted extra slices to take home! Thanks for sharing this special recipe!
Thank you Beth! So glad you found this recipe and enjoyed it! I love your addition with the cream of coconut. 🙂
OMG! This cake was the bomb for Christmas dessert. No left overs. Had I known this was the highlight of all desserts, I would’ve made two not one.
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
That's awesome Kathryn! So glad you loved my Coconut Rum Cake. It's a big hit at our house too!
Just love this idea, and with the box cake, it is a quick one to try and prepare at home.
Can this recipe be baked as cupcakes?
Hi Debby! I've never tried it, because the rum has to seep down into the cake, but you could certainly give it a try!
Great recipe and made several times. Delicious
Thank you! So glad you like my recipe for Coconut Rum Cake! 🙂
I can’t bake a cake to save my life! But I had a lot of extra coconut rum from a Coquito recipe and decided to find another recipe to use it in.
This recipe was absolutely AWESOME! Usually when I dare to bake a cake, it is never shared with anyone because they are so…unsightly!😵💫 I eat a portion over a few days then throw the rest away!
After following this recipe, I made a cake that I was proud to share at a Christmas party! It was a BIG hit! Some parents even let their children have a sliver! (Not my idea!)
The only “bump” was the cake mix measurement. Your recipe called for an 18oz box of Vanilla cake mix and I couldn’t find one in 4 different grocery stores and none of the brand names had that measurement. Apparently, this is not a new phenomena! After googling the problem, I was informed how to add to the amount of cake mix!
I will definitely make this cake again!
Thanks for sharing this foolproof and wonderful recipe!
Thank you Lisa! So happy this coconut rum cake worked for you! You just need a regular box of cake mix. They used to be bigger when I wrote this recipe. I'll be sure and correct it so you don't have to add anything to it again! 🙂
This looks amazing!! Yummy, yummy. Coconut rum is my favorite.
Thank you Bill! So glad you loved my Coconut Rum cake!
Oh. My. Goodness. This cake was TO DIE FOR! Like the author’s son, I think I’m going to request it for my birthday every year, too! The only change I made was to add a few dashes of salt to the batter. Oh, and I was about 1/8 cup shy of the one cup of coconut rum, so I finished off the full cup with Myers Dark Rum. It was a party hit and so delicious, thank you for the recipe!!!
That's awesome Fran! So happy your guests loved this recipe as much as we do!
Is that sweetened coconut?
Yes, it's sweetened, shredded coconut.
Just the name of this cake caught my attention. I’m a coconut lover and coconut rum adds a little adventure to this delicious cake. As mentioned by others the pecan topping makes this easy to make cake even more memorable. I didn’t prepare the sauce as directed , my bad, I got a little too enthusiastic adding the rum before instructed but it still turned out good. You can definitely taste the rum in this cake so don’t serve to younger kids
Yay, Donna! I'm so glad you made this cake because it is one of our favorites. It's definitely an adult version! 🙂
This cake is so moist and flavorful. My favorite way to serve is with a little whipped cream. Man, it IS hard not to eat the topping separately!
Thanks, Carol. It is definitely an intense cake...and so perfect for celebrations. 🙂
This cake is to die for! The topping is so good that it is tempting to eat that by itself and then go back for the rest. So good with whipped cream or ice cream.
I appreciate that, Cindy. I loved it with whipped cream too.