This Chocolate Rum Cake isn’t your average rum cake. This one has a spicy kick that’s mixed into the cake batter. There’s rum in the glaze that’s soaked into the cake and a nice chocolate drizzle on top. This cake is wonderful during the holidays or any time you just want to feel cozy.
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You don’t want just any old rum cake, do you? I mean, what’s life without a little controversy. (Can a cake be controversial?) Anyway, I didn’t want to just come up with a plain ol’ rum cake, no I had to go all crazy (maybe a little controversial) and make a chocolate rum cake with a kick. I know what you’re asking…what’s the kick? Are you sure you want to know?
You have to promise me you’ll just give it a chance before saying no way. Ok, the kick is cayenne pepper powder. (Oh, the controversy.) Yeah, I know it sounds a little strange, but it really works well with the chocolate and no, it doesn’t make the cake spicy hot…promise.
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Now, if you don’t even want to try the cayenne pepper in it, I promise I won’t be mad, but obviously I think you should try it 😉 You won’t be adding much, it just gives it a little extra spicy kick.
The flavor of the cayenne pepper is subtle. It doesn’t hit you in the face and scream CAYENNE PEPPER! You only get a hint of something spicy going on…just enough to be intrigued.
Now, you are definitely gonna taste the rum in this one. If you don’t like rum, this may not be the cake for you and you might want to try my chocolate butter cake. But, if you’re like me and you like some Captain Morgan every now and again, then I hope you try this one out.
I’m not a big drinker. I don’t like beer, nor am I a huge fan of wine either. Maybe that makes me weird? Anyway, I DO however like rum, but I’m kind of picky. I only like Captain Morgan Spiced Rum.
Every once in a while, I’ll have a glass of rum and coke, but I’ve had the same bottle of rum in my house for two years and as you can see in some of the pictures, it’s still got a long way to go.
Basically, the brand choice for rum is up to you. Of course I prefer Captain Morgan, but you may prefer something else and I say go for it.
Not only will you be adding the rum to the cake batter, but you’ll also add it to the glaze that soaks into the cake. Then you’ll drizzle on a nice helping of melted chocolate.
Ok, on to the recipe for the Chocolate Rum Cake!
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe:
Chocolate Rum Cake with a Kick
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder (can use up to 1 cup)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper powder can use up to 1 tsp
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup spiced rum (I used Captain Morgan)
- ¾ cup hot coffee or hot water
For the rum glaze:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup spiced rum
For the chocolate drizzle:
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup milk or cream
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Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan and set aside. (I used cocoa powder to dust my pan after I greased it.)
- In a mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cayenne pepper powder. Whisk up well.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the liquid ingredients (eggs, oil, extract and rum.) Whisk up well.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture. Mix until incorporated.
- Add in the hot coffee or hot water and mix until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.
- Pour into a bundt pan and bake at 325 for about 45-50 minutes.
- One baked, cool on a rack for about 20 minutes, then invert onto a rack or a plate to cool completely while you make the glaze and drizzle.
For the rum glaze:
- In a saucepan, melt a ¼ cup of butter. Take it off the heat and add in ½ cup rum. You can add it back to the burner to make sure everything is melted together. Take off the heat and let cool down just a bit.
- Once your cake is cooled for about half an hour, brush on the rum glaze. While it’s soaking in, work on your chocolate drizzle.
For the chocolate drizzle:
- In a saucepan, add two cups semi-sweet chocolate, ¼ cup cream or milk and melt. You may need to add in a little more milk to get the correct drizzle consistency.
- Once it’s melted, drizzle onto your cake.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Alright, there you have it! This chocolate rum cake is definitely out of the norm, but it’s sure to be a hit with the rum fans out there.
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Donna Beltrame
Cake looks good will try it ty
Sheila
Can you make this without the alcohol and use extract instead? This sounds yummy and I love rum flavoring but don’t drink at all. Thank you!
Kara Jane
Hi Sheila, in theory you should be able to use extract instead. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’d do this: Replace the rum in the cake with about 2-3 tsps of rum extract plus a 1/4 of hot water. You’re already adding 3/4 cup of hot water to the cake batter, so basically, you’re just making that a full cup. Make sense?
As far as the rum glaze goes, you can try just melting the butter with maybe a couple teaspoons of the extract. Hope this helps!
Christine
I made this cake yesterday for a bbq. It was excellent. The cake is also easy to make. I had all of the ingredients on hand which is a bonus. The cake itself is moist and the rum is not over powering. I didn’t make the chocolate drizzle. I used vanilla icing in a tube and it was still good. I received many compliments on this cake.
Kara
Wonderful Christine! I’m so glad you liked this one and I’m also really happy that you found it easy to make. Thanks for the great review!
Janice
Hi, I see some recipes that use 4 eggs instead of 3 and perhaps less water as a result. Do you happen to know what the difference would be and which method you recommend?
Kara Jane
Janice, I think you could get similar results using both methods, but I don’t really recommend one over the other. It totally just depends on the recipe and the other ingredients. It’s all about the ratios.
Amy
Hi I cannot seem to get my hands on a bundt pan that would get here in time for when I need it, can I use a regular round pan? If so what size would I need to replicate this recipe?
Kara Jane
Amy, I haven’t made this one in anything other than a bundt pan. It’s more of a dense pound cake-like texture, so I’m not sure how it would be as a layer cake, or if baked in a different pan, but it would probably be the same amount for baking it in two 8″ round (2″ thick) pans. You could also bake this in a loaf pan and that might work out even better, since it’s more of a pound cake structured cake anyway…Maybe two 9″ loaf pans. You may have a bit of extra batter left over, but maybe not. I hope it works out!
Amy Unsworth
Thank you, I have looked into some other conversions as I need it to be a single cake as I am creating the letter ‘c’ out of it. I am going to increase the recipe by a quarter and try to use a 12 inch round springform, and see how much mixture I can get into one tin, as I could do with a few extra portions too. How far did you fill the bundt pan, and when you say you bake at 325 is that a conventional oven or fan? Sorry for all the questions, I am desperate to get this right for my husbands birthday!
Kara Jane
Amy, no problem on the questions! Ask away. 🙂 I hope that works for the springform pan. I’m crossing my fingers for you. For the temp question…the 325 is for a conventional oven. I couldn’t remember how full I filled the pan, so I went back and looked at the video. Looks like it should be filled a little more than halfway full. I hope everything works out! Please let me know!
Janet
Recipe looks amazing! What size is your bundt pan?
Kara Jane
Thanks Janet! My bundt pan is a 9″ bundt pan. I believe it’s a 12 cup pan. Hope this helps!
Karen
Can this be made in mini (like cup cake size) bundt cakes would love to give as gifts. If so how long to cook and I live in 6500 altitude so do I make what changes for high altitudes? Please help.. thank you. I love your site….
Kara Jane
Hi Karen, I haven’t tried these in the mini bundt pans, but I think they would work out just fine actually. For my altitude, I’d probably bump up the heat to 350 degrees and start checking for doneness at about 20-25 minutes. That’s just guessing at this point because I haven’t tried it out yet, but that’s my best guess. I have to say that I have no experience baking at high altitude though. I’ve only ever lived in Texas, so I don’t have a way of testing that out. I do refer people to a good article on King Arthur Flour’s website that goes through some alterations that you’ll want to do. Here’s the link: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking I hope this helps!
Milica
Can this recipe be used for muffins? 🙂
Kara Jane
The cake would probably be fine as cupcakes or muffins. I’d bake at 350 degrees though and start checking them at about 20 minutes or so, but may need to bake a bit longer. I don’t know about using the rum glaze with cupcakes or muffins though…it may work, but I’ve just not tried out this recipe as muffins so I can’t be sure.
Anthara Sai
The BEST rum cake I’ve ever made !! It looks like a long process but in my opinion its not that long, and the end result is absolutely delicious. By far the best rum cake recipe I’ve come across. The spice, the sweetness, the kick you get from the rum.. ITS ALL PERFECT.
Kara
Wow what a great review! I’m so happy you love it! I think a lot of people just assume they wouldn’t like a rum cake, so they never end up trying one. But I just think they’re so good especially around the holidays. So glad that you tried it and loved it. Thank you for the awesome review!