Box Mix Simple Rum Glazed Bundt Cake with Pecans
A box mix turned into a festive cake: spiked with rum and filled with a layer of pecans that could not be easier to bake.
I know what you are thinking: really a box mix cake recipe?
From this food blog?
But I was waxing nostalgia remembering the 1970’s when every mom baked the “Bacardi Rum Cake” during the holidays. It was made with Jell-O instant pudding and yellow box cake mix and a ton of booze. I think I must have ingested a few shots as a child not having any ideates cake was full of liquor.
I wanted to re-create this cake and see if it was as good as I remember.
It is.
It is a fantastic cake.
You can whip up this cake in under an hour. Take to a pot luck, a friend or just share it with the family all week. The only problem is manufacturer’s are making cake boxes 3-4 oz smaller than when we were kids. The classic recipe called for an 18 oz. box of yellow cake mix and my grocery store sells box mixes that are a mere 15.25 oz. I added in an extra 2/3 cup of all purpose flour and 1/4 cup extra sugar and used the large box of instant Jell-O pudding mix and not the small.
Why this recipe works:
- Old recipe- too sweet. The glaze from the 1970’s was packed with a heaping 1 cup of sugar. Add in the rum and the glaze is much too sweet. We cut the sugar in half and added 2 more tablespoons of butter.
- We added in more pecans- more nuts gave the box cake a deeper flavor.
- Dark rum AND More rum- rum means smokey taste and it is much more balanced with the reduced sugar.
Yes, please Santa!
This cake whips up in a mere matter of minutes because there is not much measuring to slow you down. Watch this cake closely. It if is over-baked, it will dry out and pecans could burn.
You will need a few special items for this recipe:
- 12 cup bundt pan- buy my favorite here.
- dark rum
- yellow cake mix
- vanilla cook and serve pudding boxed mix
- bamboo/wooden cake testers
- Baker’s Joy spray worked very well. Do NOT use 100% spray on oil like Pam. It will pool at the bottom of the pan and leave a burned taste to your batter and the nuts. Butter and flour the bundt pan well if you do not have Baker’s Joy.
Other great recipes with nuts:
- Buttery Bourbon Pecan Bars
- One Pan Lemon & Olive Tea Cake
- Candied Hazelnut Affogato
- Banana, Brown Butter & Walnut Monkey Cake with Frosting
- Blackberry Cherry Walnut Crumble