Is there really a difference between rum cake flavors? If you are asking, you need to make yourself one with the best rums for a rum cake recipe. Some of the best and most crowd favorite recipes around call for dark or golden rum or rum extract as their key ingredient.
Here we will show you the different types of rum, which kind to use, and where to get it. All of these recommendations come from respected best rum brands who have been making great rums for decades, so we feel confident in our suggestions.
No matter what your original recipe calls for, the rum is your choice!
Of course your taste is the final judge! Happy baking, making the best rum cakes and good luck tasting all these tasty treats!
Here is the scoop on the best rum for rum cake recipes!
1. Bacardi Gold
The gold standard for sweet but dry white rum that works well in many applications including beverages and desserts such as baked goods, puddings, ice cream, and cakes. Bacardi Gold offers a very sweet, smooth rum that doesn’t overpower the other flavors in your recipe. That is why Bacardi is one of the best rum for rum cake!
This rum is a good choice because of its smooth sweetness and lack of a heavy molasses flavor. It has a milder flavor compared to other dark rums which makes it a great addition to make almost any delicious rum cake recipe.
A Bacardi rum cake is probably the dessert you are most familiar with, so you know that even half a cup of rum for the rum sauce will be a delicious flavor you know and love.
2. Cruzan Single Barrel Rum
This golden rum is the ideal choice for cake recipes or rum sauces calling for dark rum because it offers a smooth sweetness of the brown sugar that won’t overpower other flavors. It is another of the best rum for rum cake. The Cruzan Single Barrel Rum has been aged for around 12 years, has a balanced sweet and spicy flavor, and has a buttery warm end flavor note.
This crafted rum is prepared with natural ingredients and a peculiar distillation process. This also counts with variations of warm and tropical flavors which is the ideal choice for a delicious moist cake.
As an added bonus, Cruzan’s craftsmanship means all their rums are gluten free! This makes it safe to use in baking and cooking with no worries of contamination.
3. Bacardi Black
Bacardi Black is their darkest, sweetest offering which is also known as “The Ladies’ Choice” in the Bacardi company available at any liquor store. This rich, high-ester rum will add depth and flavor to your cake tastes while still blending well with other ingredients no matter its alcohol content.
You can even use this versatile spirit as an ice cream sweet glaze topping or drink it on the rocks after dinner! Bacardi Black adds unique character and enhances flavors within your recipes for delicious rum glaze, a classic rum cake recipe, brownies, cookies and cupcakes too!
4. Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
Brown spices are the best things that are added into their award-winning smooth blend of Caribbean rums to create Captain’s signature spiced flavor. The result is an intensely flavored brown cake that tastes great with or without icing which makes it one of the best rum for rum cake.
Captain Morgan’s rich dark color and bold flavors are perfect for desserts. Try Captain Morgan Spiced Rum to have a delicious tender cake! Brown spices are added in with their award-winning smooth blend of Caribbean rums to create Captain’s signature spiced flavor.
Though the recipe is a closely guarded secret that has been passed down through generations of captains in his family, there are hints of cinnamon and clove along with all the great dark rum flavor.
Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum is the perfect way to add a kick of festive flavor to your favorite co*cktail drink, hot chocolate, or even coffee drinks! This richly flavored rum would make the perfect addition to any recipe for chocolate cake, brownies, cookies and cupcakes.
5. Myers’s Original Dark Rum
This is the Caribbean standard for dark rum, which has been the most popular drink in the region for centuries and certainly one of the best rum for rum cake.
This dark rum offers a rich molasses hazelnut, toffee and coffee hints of flavor enhanced by the smokiness of the barrels through which it is aged. Myers’s Original Dark Rum adds deep, rustic flavors to pecan pies, buttery rum glaze for the top of the cake, butter tarts, warm cake, and buttermilk pancakes.
Myers’s Rum is one of the best rum for rum cake. You can add a splash of the rum to any flour mixture, obtaining a beautiful cake that you can serve on new years eve or any event.
6. Malibu Coconut Rum
If you are one of those who prefer that nutty coconut flavor on their cakes, then Malibu Coconut Rum is the right rum for you! Enjoy this tropical flavor to prepare summer baking goods, frozen drinks, or a refreshing coconut pina colada. It has a smooth, sweet and fresh flavor which makes it one of the favorite tropical rums for a lot of people and the best selling coconut rum.
Since this rum has a very pleasant flavor, it is ideal to apply on the sides of the cake as a remaining glaze on the second day in order to always enjoy a delicious moist cake. You can also make a delicious topping for fruit, other desserts, and ice creams. By whipping this rum with heavy cream in a large bowl, use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment for a few minutes until it remains stiff and fluffy!
7. puss*r’s Navy Rum
The history behind this blend of Caribbean rums is one of the most romantic tales in the rum world. Back in the 1800s, British sailors would get their daily ration of rum from “puss*r” (an officer responsible for supplies)…hence the term “puss*r’s” when referring to naval rum.
puss*r’s Rum was retired from active duty in 1980 but continues to be enjoyed today by sailors and civilians alike! This dark blend remains true to its intended purpose as an excellent mixer no matter what your pleasure may be! Now is one of the best rum for rum cake.
On your baking time, It is good to add to a cake because it imparts a rich flavor without being too sweet. Since it is unaged, there are no harsh woody flavors, making it suitable for use in instant pudding mixes, rum cake batters, and most desserts of all kinds.
8. Smith & Cross Rum
Smith & Cross Rum is another great choice! When making a cake, you want to be sure that the spices are strong enough to really pop, but still balanced. This navy rum is one of the best rum for rum cake because it has just the right blend of strong, complex flavors without an overwhelming sweetness.
This is a great dark Jamaican rum with spicy aromas and flavors highlighted by notes of blackstrap molasses, cloves, vanilla extract and almonds. There’s also a bit of citrus bite on the finish. It makes for an excellent addition to your batter from a preferred box of cake mix or favorite recipes!
Add to a streusel topping for a coffee cake or add to biscuit dough. It is also great when added to savory dishes like beans and greens.
9. Cruzan Black Strap Rum
Bakers, you will love Cruzan Black Srap Rum if you are looking for strong molasses notes in your cake. While it adds a dark richness to any recipe, the sweetness is not overpowering. Certainly, one of the best rum for rum cake!
This rum is distilled from pure sugar cane, then aged in oak barrels until it turns black as coal (hence the name “blackstrap”). It’s one of the most full-bodied rums available and has deep molasses flavors with spicy undertones. It is perfect to have the best rum cake recipe ever!
It has a little more kick than some of our other suggestions…but when baking with it, you want to be sure that you don’t cut down on any of the liquids or leavening agents so that you don’t lose any of its great flavor!
10. Bacardi Superior Light Rum
If you are looking for the best rum for rum cake, it’s time to be choosy. Your Bacardi rum cake should not be overpowering because it has a light aromatic flavor ideal for traditional rum cake recipes.
This is a great light bodied rum that has a very neutral flavor, great to add it to your cake the next day. It is perfect for creating the depth of flavor of your personal preference. It works well with almost any recipe and adds just enough sweetness without being too sweet!
This rum has vanilla notes which pair beautifully with most fruits, cake mixes, as well as nuts or seeds like coconut, almond or pumpkin.
It is simply another of the best rum for rum cake, adding a dash of this in your batter will complement every flavor beautifully!
11. Myer’s Rum Platinum White
Talk about adding some deliciousness to your rum cake! Meyer’s Rum Platinum White a classic dark Jamaican rum that has been in production for over two centuries. It’s rich and mellow flavor is one of the most popular flavors to extract from all varieties of liquor, so it’s no surprise this one lands on our list!
It has caramel notes which are great paired with any type of cakes as well as fruits like bananas or apples. You can even use it to bring out the deliciousness of nuts like cashews, walnuts or pecan! Try using just a dash in your batter before baking and you’ll be amazed at how much more depth your cake will have.
12. Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum is a great all-purpose rum that makes a fantastic addition to both the cake and the icing! It’s got a warm spiced flavor that brings back memories of drinking eggnog by the fireplace. It would even make a yummy butter rum glaze for fruit cakes…try to poke holes on your finished rum cake and drizzle it for some extra deliciousness!
It has flavors of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg which pair up perfectly with other spices like ginger or anise. You can also experiment with adding subtle flavors like lemongrass, star anise or chai tea! Just be sure not to overpower your cake with too many additions. We don’t want it tasting completely different from what you were going for!
13. Chairman’s Reserve Finest St. Lucia Rum
Chairman’s Reserve Finest St. Lucia Rum is another incredible rum choice for baking cakes. This is also a great rum for baking or sipping!
The sugar cane for this rum is grown near the St. Lucia volcano in the eastern Caribbean. With the subtle volcanic activity, the soil in the area is perfect for growing sugar cane!
14. Plantation Isle of Fiji
Plantation Isle of Fiji rum is a Chairman’s Trophy Winner and with good reason! This delicious rum combines delicious aromas of pear and molasses with notes of apple, gooseberry, banana, vanilla, and nutmeg.
This is the perfect rum for baking all of your favorite spicy treats. As your cake bakes don’t be afraid to have a little taste for yourself.
15. Cruzan 9 Spiced Rum
Our last suggestion is a classic with a twist…this is an amazing rich molasses rum that the flavor here packs a punch, and is very distinct with hints of vanilla, caramel and smoke!
Cruzan 9 Spiced Rum is made from the byproducts of the sugar refining process which means it’s one of our most economical suggestions on this list!
Don’t let that fool you though…It makes for an excellent glaze for spice cakes because it contains ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg notes. We also suggest using it in place of blackstrap in your favorite dark rum cake recipe for added richness!
Now that we have all these options in order to have the best rum for rum cake, we are also going to share a classic rum cake recipe (that does not have egg yolks only) for you to enjoy on this holidays!
Rum Cake Recipe: Ingredients
Now that you have your favorite rum, it’s time to start baking! You will need:
- 1 yellow cake mix box
- 1 cup of pecans finely chopped
- ½ cup rum
- 1 package of vanilla pudding mix
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
For the buttered glaze
- 2 Tablespoons water (room temperature)
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup rum
Rum Cake Recipe: Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and prepare a 12-cup bundt pan or any other bundt cake pan by spreading vegetable oil very well on the sides of the pan and bottom, and coating it with flour.
- Spread ½ cup of the chopped pecan at the bottom of the pan and set aside.
- On the bowl of your stand mixer or any other big bowl place the yellow cake mix, the vanilla pudding mix package, the rest of the chopped pecans, rum, water, oil and eggs.
- Start blending with the paddle attachment on low for about 1 minute. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl down. Then, keep mixing on medium speed for another 2-3 minutes until smooth.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and place it into the oven to bake for 50 minutes until the cake is golden brown.
- Once the cake is completely baked, place the pan over a cooling rack and let it rest and cool for about 20 minutes.
- While the cake cools, start to prepare the glaze. Melt butter in a small saucepan on low heat. After that, mix in the water and sugar on medium heat until the mixture is about to boil. Lower the heat while stirring until it starts to thicken (for about 5 minutes). Turn off the heat and mix in the rum.
- Poke holes at the bottom of the cake with a wooden skewer and drizzle the glaze all around the cake. Let it cool completely.
- Carefully run all around the cake with a butter knife to remove it from its bundt pan and place it on a serving plate or your favorite cake stand
- Pour some of the remaining glaze over the top of the cake, let it set, slice and enjoy.
Happy Baking
Some people say that this cake tastes better on the second day, so you can store the cake by wrapping it up with aluminum foil or plastic wrap if you want… But to be honest, who wants to wait so long to try this decadent desert!
Still not sure what rum to use? That is an important question but try them all out and see which one you like best! They’re all fantastic options for a great make, and will be delicious additions to any cake batter. Of course, we’d love to hear how your experiments go. Also, be sure to let us know how they turn out in the comments section below!
For more great baking scoop check out our SIMPLE BAKED PEACHES RECIPE and 3-INGREDIENT VEGAN WHIPPED CREAM!
