Toasted Coconut Rum Cake
Soaked overnight in dark rum and then topped with toasted coconut,
this Toasted Coconut Rum Cake is a great way to celebrate the holidays!
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I trust that everyone is having a great holiday season so far. I know I am! My wife and I went down to visit her family and friends in central Pennsylvania. This week between Christmas and New Year’s is one of my favorite weeks of the entire year. Sure, there is the whole no work thing, but this week allows me to recharge the batteries. As fun and exciting as it is, the holiday season is still hectic…and we always leave a few days here at the end of the year just to sit on the couch and watch college football bowl games. (Ok, maybe we throw in a couple of movies, too…for some reason, my wife wasn’t born with the ability to watch 12 straight hours of football. I know…crazy!)
So what are your plans for New Year’s Eve this year? For us, it’ll be staying home with a homemade pizza and a slice of this Toasted Coconut Rum Cake. (To be honest, it’ll be a new slice. The version you see in these pictures disappeared mysteriously a couple of weeks ago.) Are you heading out to Times Square? Seeing the ball drop would be pretty darn cool…but sitting on my warm couch with delicious rum cake is pretty darn cool, too.
You know what else would be cool? Visiting all of the different foodie ball drops. Sure, we all know about the crystal ball in Times Square, but did you know about all of the food-themed drops, too? Here’s my bucket list of foodie ball drops:
- The Bermuda Onion (St. George’s, Bermuda) Plus, visiting Bermuda for New Year’s Eve would just be pretty cool.
- A giant illuminated Peep (Bethlehem, PA) Seriously…it’s a Peep! Sure, the giant one might be fake, but I’m sure there are still plenty of Peeps to go around.
- 12-foot electronic Moon Pie (Mobile, AL) I wonder if they also have a 12-foot can of RC Cola?
- Sardine (Eastport, ME) Just kidding. I have no desire to see this. C’mon…it’s a sardine!
- 12-foot long, 200-pound Lebanon Bologna (Lebanon, PA) Umm, this just blew my mind! I had never heard of Lebanon Bologna before I met my wife…apparently it’s a central Pennsylvania thing. But 200 pounds!?
- 80-pound decorated wedge of cheese (Plymouth, WI) I don’t think the cheese is real…but it should be. I’d visit Plymouth, WI on New Year’s Eve for an 80-pound wedge of cheese. We’d probably have to tie it to the roof of our car to get it home, though.
I had no idea there were so many awesome foodie-themed ball drops for New Year’s Eve. The list above is just a small sampling of some of the more ridiculous notable ones. Maybe next year we’ll visit one of these. Or maybe we’ll continue our homemade pizza tradition instead.
Toasted Coconut Rum Cake
Toasted Coconut Rum CakeOne tradition that you do need to start, however, is this Toasted Coconut Rum Cake. Topped with coconut flakes, chopped pecans and then more coconut, this cake will help get your New Year’s Eve party started. (Seriously. It’s soaked overnight in a rum syrup…it really will get your party started!) Truth be told, I think I might actually prefer this cake without the rum syrup. Don’t get me wrong: both versions are delicious! In fact, maybe you should just make 2 cakes…one with the rum syrup and one without. Whichever way you go, don’t expect any leftovers. This rum cake is seriously tasty, and it’s one heck of an awesome way to ring in the new year!
Did you make this Toasted Coconut Rum Cake at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). I’d love to see your version!
Toasted Coconut Rum Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- ½ cup pecans finely chopped
- ¼ cup shredded coconut
- 1½ cups sugar
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 3.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding mix
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup milk
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup dark rum
- 2 tsp vanilla
For the Rum Syrup (Optional)
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- ¼ cup dark rum
- ½ tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a bundt or tube pan.
- In a small bowl, mix together the pecans and shredded coconut. Sprinkle this mixture evenly around the bottom of the bundt pan; set pan aside.
- Using a countertop mixer, cream butter and sugar together for 2-3 minutes on medium speed, or until fluffy and light in color.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt and pudding mix. Mix on medium speed until well combined.
- In a small bowl, combine the vegetable oil, milk, eggs, rum and vanilla. Add this liquid mixture to the mixing bowl; mix on medium speed until well combined, scraping the sides as needed.
- Pour the batter into the bundt pan. Bake at 325°F for 65-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out mostly clean.
- While cake is cooling, make the Rum Syrup by combing the butter, brown sugar, and water in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-high heat until mixture begins to boil. Allow mixture to boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove mixture from heat and stir in rum and vanilla.
- Allow cake to cool in pan for at least 20 minutes and then turn cake out onto a cooling rack until completely cool.
- Wash and dry pan and then invert cake back into the pan. Pour Rum Syrup evenly across the top of the cake. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature overnight. (Note: This allows the Rum Syrup to soak fully into the cake.)
- Flip cake out onto a large plate or cake stand before serving.
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That looks like a great bundt cake to me! Especially with rum… 🙂
Thanks so much, June! Rum makes everything better, right? (especially during the holidays!) Happy Holidays!
Wow that is an amazing cake, I really need to make this.
I wasn’t born with the genes to watch 12 straight minutes of football. However, coconut rum cake could hold my attention for days on end. GREG
Hahaha! What about football if you are holding a slice (or two) of coconut rum cake? Would that hold your attention for a bit longer? 🙂
I can’t help but giggle myself senseless right now. You KNOW I adore you. We’re buddies, right? So here I am, trying not to rain on your coconut rum cake parade… I’m allergic to coconut, can’t drink the rum, and the 80 pound wedge of cheese?? Cmon over…. let’s go to Plymouth together and see what a REAL cheesehead looks like! 😀
Happy New Year’s, Dave!!
Hahaha! Oh, Becca…I promise I didn’t purposefully try to torment you with this post! But I would love to see what a REAL cheesehead looks like…as long as I can bring an 80-pound block of cheese home with me. Can we make that happen?? 🙂 Happy New Year’s, Becca!
I’m not a big fan of rum in its pure state but I’m guessing I could eat a slice or two of this deliciousness without any problems… It might even make watching football bearable… 🙂
I actually agree with you about rum in it’s pure state, Simone! But add it to this cake and I’m a huge fan!! I think you just discovered my wife’s philosophy on how to watch football…eat rum cake while the game is on! 🙂 Thanks for commenting, and happy (early) New Year!
I would much rather sit on my warm couch with homemade pizza and a WHOLE Toasted Coconut Rum Cake within reach than be freezing my boogers off at Times Square watching the ball drop! David – this cake is meant for sharing! I think you NEED to hand deliver this cake to me when you start your “Spiced: Football Stadium Foods” Tour/show – in ATLANTA!!!! 😉
And -woa – I had no idea there were foodie themed drops – while I wait for your “toasted coconut rum” cake to appear on my porch, I will reading about those drops…
Haha…maybe I will head on down and we’ll create the “Rum Cake Drop” right on your front porch tonight, Shashi! Oh wait, you’re not there. Maybe I’ll just have the Rum Cake Drop at my mailman’s house instead. 😉
Here’s to one heck of an awesome New Year’s Eve…inside where it’s nice and cozy and warm!
My mouth is positively watering from your photos! All that rum soaked cake looks divine!!! And definitely looks like the perfect way to ring in the new year! I hope you and your wife enjoyed the quiet night in!
We absolutely enjoyed the quiet night…and I’m impressed with myself because I actually made it until midnight this time! Of course, now it’s back to work…and that alarm going off this morning really made me want to throw it out of the window. Haha! I hope you guys had a great one, too…I’m sure you did given that you were hanging out with Taz!
Hi, is there a substitute you can recommend to replace the rum, to make the cake child-friendly 🙂
Hey Yara! Hmmm…that’s a tough one. Rum is a pretty unique flavor, but I think you could get away with substituting the 1/2 cup (i.e. 8 Tbsp) of rum in the cake for 1 Tbsp of rum extract and 7 Tbsp of apple juice. As far as the syrup, I’d go with 1/2 Tbsp of rum and 3.5 Tbsp of apple juice. I’ve never made this cake using those substitutions, but I think these replacements would be a good place to start. If you do make it kid-friendly, come back and let me know what you do! Thanks for stopping by Spiced! 🙂
Thanks David..I will try it and let you know….I was thinking of pineapple juice but apple juice is just as easy to find 🙂 thanks again
Ooo…the pineapple juice is a great idea, Yara! Forget the rum and rum extract/apple juice…just make a pineapple coconut cake! 🙂
Delicious! I opted to not add the sauce, still everyone loved it. It’s day 4 and still a nice moist cake.
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed this cake, Riley!
Hi! Just curious, may I know what is the use of this pudding mix in this recipe which is seldom seen in baking cake recipes? Also without the rum syrup will this cake still have the potent flavour of rum?
Hey Celine! The pudding mix is an old trick that not only boosts the flavor in the cake, but keeps it super moist, too. As far as the rum flavor, the cake will have a noticeable hint of rum without the sauce, but the sauce is what takes it to a whole new level. I recommend it!