Coconut rum cake

Heat the oven to gas 3, 165°C, fan 145°C. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan and sprinkle the shredded coconut evenly on the bottom of the pan.

Make homemade vanilla pudding mix by combining the cornstarch, caster sugar and vanilla powder. Then sift the cake and pudding mix together into a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, 115ml water, vegetable oil, dark rum and 60ml coconut rum. Beat until smooth and fully incorporated.

Pour the batter over the Bundt pan, and bake for around 1 hour. Remove from the oven and leave in the pan.

Prepare the glaze. Combine the butter, 60ml water and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, and once boiling stir constantly for around 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the remainder of the coconut rum, approximately 60ml.

Poke holes into the bottom of the cake using a skewer and pour the glaze into the cake. Leave to soak for a minimum of 2 hours at room temperature.

Once the cake is fully cooled, loosen it from the sides of the pan and slowly and carefully flip it onto a serving dish. Once on the serving plate you can either serve straight away or dust with icing sugar.

Tips & tricks

The clue is in the name with a Caribbean coconut rum cake; as it’s a fairly simple recipe to follow and execute, our top tip is to mix the rums you use for deep and wonderful flavour dynamics. Experiment with different brands and flavour profiles to vary the end result. We would recommend sticking to a variety of golden, dark and coconut rum, however, as spiced rum can be very overpowering for the final taste. We have a helpful guide to Caribbean rum that you can explore here to select your favourite options from.

Be patient when removing the cake from the pan, as this is the trickiest element of the process and the easiest part to cause issues. Let gravity take its course if the cake has stuck to the bottom of the pan, and wait for it to gently release onto the plate for serving.

There are other variations of the recipe that you can explore too. For a summer take on a coconut rum cake, you can add a layer of freeze-dried raspberries or pineapple to the cake. Once you’ve covered the shredded coconut in the cake tin with a shallow layer of batter, you then add a layer of your fruit of choice and cover the fruit with the remainder of the batter to bake it in. Or for a more festive flavour, you can add different spices like cinnamon or nutmeg to the cake batter.

How to serve it

For serving, it can be enjoyed simply as it is, or in the recipe above we’ve mentioned dusting with a sprinkling of icing sugar. Other options include using toasted coconut for a crunchy topping and extra hit of that coconut flavour. For more coconut-based dessert recipes, we have a selection of inspiration and ideas here.

To taste a truly authentic Caribbean experience, why not enjoy a slice of cake alongside a traditional Caribbean rum cocktail, like a tasty punch, that’s perfect for sharing with friends.

Storage

It’s best to store coconut rum cake in an airtight container, at room temperature. They can keep for as long as ten days, as the rum acts as a preservative, but for the best and freshest cake experience, we’d recommend enjoying it during the few days after baking.