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Coconut rum cake, sliced, on a cake pedestal.
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5 from 1 vote

Easy Coconut Rum Cake

This Easy Coconut Rum Cake transforms a box of white cake mix into a flavorful coconut-filled bundt cake which is soaked with a buttery coconut rum glaze. Makes a great party cake!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Additional Time20 minutes
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 15 servings
Author: Melissa and Bebe

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 1 Box White Cake Mix We used Duncan Hines Classic White Perfectly Moist
  • 1 box (3.4 oz) Instant Coconut Cream Pudding Mix (If you cannot find coconut cream, use vanilla instead- do not prepare).
  • ½ cup All Purpose Flour (60g)
  • ½ cup White Sugar (100g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (113g) (This is 1 stick of butter)
  • ½ cup Coconut Rum (121g) (You can swap in white rum if you'd like.)
  • 1 cup Sour Cream (227g)
  • ½ cup Milk (We use whole or 2% fat)
  • 2 teaspoons Coconut Extract (8g)
  • 1 cup Sweetened, Flaked Coconut (We use Bakers Angel Flake)

For the Glaze

  • 1 cup White Sugar (200g)
  • 1 stick Unsalted butter (113g)
  • 3 Tablespoons Water (44g)
  • ⅓ cup Coconut Rum (75g)

Additional Coconut

  • ⅓ cup flaked coconut -optional (for sprinkling into bundt pan before adding batter)
  • Additional coconut to sprinkle on top- optional

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
  • Grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup bundt pan. Sprinkle ⅓ cup flaked coconut into the bottom of the pan (optional).
  • Sift the cake mix into your mixing bowl. Add the flour, coconut cream pudding mix, salt, and sugar. Whisk to combine.
  • Next, add everything except for the flaked coconut-- the melted butter, sour cream, four eggs, coconut rum, milk, and coconut extract.
  • Mix at low speed (paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) for about ten seconds to incorporate before increasing to medium speed for two minutes. Next, fold in the cup of flaked coconut.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
  • During the last 15 minutes of baking, make the glaze.

Glaze Instructions

  • In a saucepan, stir the glaze ingredients (sugar, butter, water, coconut rum) over low heat until butter has melted. Raise the heat to medium heat, stirring constantly until it begins to boil. (Be careful-It may boil over if you are not stirring.) Boil for 3 minutes and remove from heat.
  • This glaze will be poured over the cake just after the baked cake is pulled from the oven and still in the pan. Pour the warm glaze over the cake (still in pan) and let it sit for 15 minutes to absorb.
  • After 15 minutes has passed, when the glaze has been absorbed, place your cake plate/pedestal upside down against the cake pan and then flip it all as one so that the cake plate is now right side up with the inverted pan on top. Remove the can pan to reveal the cake.
  • This cake can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container or under a cake dome.

Notes

The recommended bundt pan size is a 10 or 12 cup pan.
If you are using a smaller pan than this, the general rule of thumb is not to fill your pan more than ⅔ full or you will run the risk of it overflowing as it bakes.