This is a super easy recipe and perfect with a cup of tea to celebrate the holidays! The cake is soft and moist, packed with rum-infused raisins, and makes for a great Christmas time cake.
Caribbean Rum Cake. Well! What can I say about this cake other than it is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!
Last Christmas I went to stay with a very good friend, Wilma. Wilma lives in England, however, she is originally from the Island of St Kitts. Wilma is a fabulous cook and I've had many a good meal at Wilma's. On my last visit, Wilma kindly gave me a lesson on how she makes her Caribbean Rum Cake. Well, you know Caribbean people LOVE their rum and so it is no surprise they have a recipe or two which includes rum!
So I set about with my notepad and camera to have the recipe ready for sharing with you all. It is certainly one which can't be missed. Simply because the flavours and textures, the smells when this is cooking, and the rumbling of the tummy whilst you wait for a slice of this Caribbean Rum Cake is just something you can't miss out on!
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This Caribbean Rum Cake recipe has been in Wilma's family for generations. It is the way her mother used to make this cake, and that is just how it is. I am sure if you go to any Caribbean house, they will also have their own 'family' recipe for this cake. It's a very popular cake, especially at Christmas time.
What fruit is inside this rum cake?
For the fruit, Wilma chose a mixture of cherries, raisins and sultanas. You can of course also add a variety of dried fruit. The trick to getting this cake so packed with flavour is to marinade the fruit a few weeks ahead. Store in an airtight container and just let the rum do it's magic and soak in to the fruit.
The cake will store, covered tightly with foil in an air tight container for a few weeks if you did want to make ahead. You could also choose to frost or decorate it. However, Wilma serves it just as it is, as you see in the photos.
We ate this with a nice cup of tea. In fact I had several slices and several cups of tea!!
Check out our handy Oven Temperature Conversion Guide!
So please do enjoy and thank you to Wilma for sharing your wonderful family Caribbean Run Cake recipe!
Recipe By Wilma Facey
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour
Serves
8 - 10 Slices
Ingredients
9 oz or 250 g Dried Fruit (raisins, sultanas,cherries etc)
zest 1 lemon
10 fl oz or 300 ml Dark Rum
8 oz or 250 g Butter, cubed
8 oz or 225 g Dark Brown Sugar
½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 Eggs, Lightly beaten
9 oz or 250 g Self raising Flour (or same in All Purpose PLUS 1 teaspoon Baking Powder)
1 Tablespoon Mixed Spice
½ Teaspoon All Spice
4 Tablespoons Brandy or Sherry
Instructions
1. Add dried fruit, rum, and lemon zest to a covered container and let soak. Ideally, this should be done several weeks ahead so the fruit can marinade nicely.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C. Grease and line an 8 inch / 20 cm Cake pan or 9 inch loaf pan
3. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs a bit at a time with some flour to combine.
5. Then add the remaining flour and spices. Combine then add the fruit, gently stirring to fully distribute.
6. Bake for 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until done. Test the centre with a skewer to make sure it comes out clean. Check after 1 hour.
7. Allow to cool on a rack then pierce holes over the top of the cake and pour the sherry or brandy over. Wrap the cake in foil and let sit overnight or longer before eating.
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our post. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
Recipe Card
Caribbean Rum Cake
Caribbean Rum Cake, an easy delicious recipe! The cake is soft and moist, packed with rum infused raisins and makes for a great Christmas time cake.
Ingredients
- 9 oz or 250 g Dried Fruit (raisins, sultanas,cherries etc)
- zest 1 lemon
- 10 oz fl or 300 ml Dark Rum
- 8 oz or 250 g Butter, cubed
- 8 oz or 225 g Dark Brown Sugar
- ½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 Eggs, Lightly beaten
- 9 oz or 250 g Self raising Flour, or same in All Purpose PLUS 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Mixed Spice
- ½ Teaspoon All Spice
- 4 Tablespoons Brandy or Sherry
Instructions
- Add dried fruit, rum, and lemon zest to a covered container and let soak. Ideally, this should be done several weeks ahead so the fruit can marinade nicely.
- Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C. Grease and line an 8 inch / 20 cm Cake pan or 9-inch loaf pan.
- Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs a bit at a time with some flour to combine.
- Add the remaining flour and spices and fruit
- Bake for 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until done. Test the center with a skewer to make sure it comes out clean.
- Allow to cool on a rack then pierce holes over the top of the cake and pour the sherry or brandy over. Wrap the cake in foil and let sit overnight or longer before eating.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 502Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 560mgCarbohydrates: 58gFiber: 3gSugar: 35gProtein: 5g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate
Recipes using Rum
Here's a selection of delicious recipes using Rum as an ingredient
Rum, Orange and Raisin Cookies - A delicious flavor combo, crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside!
Spiked Rum Pumpkin Pie, the addition of rum takes this traditional homemade pumpkin pie to another level! Perfect Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday dessert
Coconut and Rum White Chocolate Truffles, luxuriously creamy and decadent, are easy to make and perfect for gifts and parties!
Cranberry and Pecan Christmas Cake, loaded with delicious fruits and Spiced Rum. A perfect treat for Christmas.
Michael Andrews
says:Hi I’ve made three run and fruit cakes one each for my two sons and one for my son in law.they went down a treat ☺excellent.the only problem I seem to have had in two the fruit was evenly distributed ,but the third one the fruit sank to the bottom? Any help as to why this should happen.i’ve had orders to make some more of the cakes and I don’t want the same thing to happen again. All the best regards Mike andrews
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Mike, sounds like you’ve been very busy in the kitchen! So glad everyone enjoyed the cakes.
I’m wondering, did you make the batch for 3 cakes using the same batter, if so, then the 3rd cake should have come out the same as the other two right?!
If you made the 3rd cake separately, fruit sinking can be down to a number of issues, I’ll list some here, and see if you can identify any of them
1. Fruit is too ‘heavy’ so it will sink (conversely, batter too thin). Remedy, coat the fruit in a dusting of flour before adding to the batter as that will give it some ‘grip’ when it hits the batter. Or, chop the fruit smaller, but as you’ve used the fruit in the recipe this wouldn’t be an issue in this case.
2. Oven temp is too low. – the batter will take too long for it to start cooking and holding the fruit in situ.
3. Too much liquid still on the fruit from soaking(causing batter to be too runny, as mentioned in point 1. )
4. Did the third cake go in the centre of the oven or on the bottom, assuming if you’ve bakes all 3 at once, the third may have ended up on a lower shelf due to space? If so, it will cook at a lower temperature (see point 2).
All in all, I think if you’ve been successful with the first 2 cakes, it may have been an unlucky bake on the third, but hopefully I’ve put some tips above that you can think about?
Hope that helps!
Mary
Michael Andrews
says:Hi mary thanks for your prompt reply, th fruit had been soaking for about two weeks! Come to think of it the
batter did look thinner than the other two possibly i over mixed it, thanks for The tips, l the best regards Mike Andrews
Michael Andrews
says:Hi in your recipe for Caribbean run cake it say 9oz of dried fruit, is this 9oz. or 3oz of each?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Michael, it’s 9oz in total of whatever fruits you choose. Hope that helps!
Michael Andrews
says:Ok thanks for your prompt reply I’ll get on and get the ingredients together now☺
Katie
says:Hi! If there’s some rum not soaked into the fruit by baking time, do I mix it into the dough too? I plan to marinate the fruit for 2 weeks, but what if there’s quite a bit of it left liquid…
Recipe looks stunning, I’m so looking forward to cooking this!
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Katie, that’s not a problem. If you have some left over, I suggest you save it in a jar and after the cake is baked and cooked, poke holes in the top of the cake all the way down, (use a skewer) you can drizzle the cake with the remaining rum (no more than 2 tablespoons at a time. Then cover with foil. Give it a few days and feed the cake again with 2 more tablespoons, cover and repeat until all the rum is used. Hope that helps!
Kelly Thomas
says:Thank you, the only problem I’ve had is the top cooking to quick. Everyone that’s tried it has lived it.
Thanks again for sharing with us
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Kelly, Glad you enjoyed the cake! If your top is browning too fast, half way through cooking, cover it with some foil and that should do the trick next time!
Cooke
says:Hi,
I already have a large batch of fermented fruit. Do I just use 550g of it? I have also blended it as I hate biting into fruit in cakes. Will this work?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Cooke, yes that should be fine!
Althea
says:I have baked this Jamaican rum cake the once, couple days ago.
The dark rum seems to be overpowering as in strong in taste, do you think it will be a good idea if I soak in red label wine, with a bit of white rum?
Will it give the same effect?
It says 225g of dark brown sugar, it was really sweet, what grams of sugar can I use?
I was thinking between 180g or 200g what do you think.
My cooker is a fan assisted electric cooker, I baked it on 150c for one hour and the sides of the cake was not the softest, I was thinking still bake it for the hour on 140c, what do you think
Other than that the cake is beautiful
I await your reply
Althea Kerr
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Althea, feel free to adjust the oven settings according to your oven, as you know all ovens can be very different!
For the sugar, you can adjust the quantity to suit.
The alcohol, again, you can swap the run for another spirit if you prefer.
It’s quite a flexible recipe so give it another go and let us know how it turns out!
Janet Meek
says:Hello I am going to bake Caribbean Rum cake when I soak the fruit, rum and lemon zest in a container do I put it in the fridge or is it not needed to do that. MARINADE.
THANKS
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Janet, you can keep the container in a cupboard without any problems.
Janet
says:Thank-you for that, looking forward to making it.
Sheridan Fortune
says:wrap the cake in foil, when the cake rise would it not stick to the foil or do you wrap the outside of the cake pan.
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Sheridan,
There seems to be a typo, the fool should be wrapped in point 7, after it is baked. There is no need for foil when putting the batter in the cake pan.
I’ve amended the recipe to read correctly. For some reason that sentence was added in point 6 and 7 which obviously caused the confusion!
It’s a delicious cake so I hope you can make it soon!
Kathyann
says:Can I omit the fruits in this recipe. If so do I need to add anything to substitute the missing fruit?
Leon
says:I also preferred not to use fruits and added walnuts instead.
Lina
says:I would love to try this cake, but wondering what is mixed spice?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Lina, if you live in the US, it is very similar to Pumpkin Spice. Hope that helps!