This Pineapple Rum Cake Recipe starts with a homemade buttery sour cream pound cake with a lovely texture and pineapple flavor like my Pineapple Coconut Cake which gets enhanced with sweet tropical pineapple flavor and an irresistible Jamaican rum syrup. The gorgeous pineapple upside down cake topping makes it a showstopper!
Here come the rum cakes. Decadent pound cakes drenched in buttery rum syrup and decked out with glazes galore. Making your way through the holiday season, you’ll find rum cakes of all shapes and sizes or flavors and textures because each one is truly like a snowflake: one-of-a-kind. Recipes are passed down and new ones are created but each represents a vital part of a holiday meal.
Ingredients
For the Cake Batter
1 1/2 cups Land O Lakes unsalted butter room temperature
2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs room temperature
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup crushed pineapple
tbsp pure vanilla extract
For the Top of Cake Assembly
2 tbsp unsalted butter melted
1/3 cup light brown sugar packed
6 whole pineapple rings
6 maraschino cherries
For the Rum Syrup
1/2 cup rum
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp salted butter melted
2 tbsp pineapple juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the cake
Start by preheating oven to 350 degrees and spraying a 12 cup bundt pan with nonstick spray or grease pan (make sure you really prepare your pan well to insure no sticking for this cake).
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for 2 minutes on high speed.
Slowly add the granulated sugar. Mix together for an additional 5 minutes, until very pale yellow and fluffy.
Add the eggs 1 at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed and slowly add the flour in 2 batches. Add the salt. Be careful not to overbeat. Add the sour cream, crushed pineapple and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix the batter until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
To assemble with top of cake
To assemble cake, pour melted butter in the bottom of the sprayed pan then sprinkle the butter with brown sugar.
Line the bottom of the pan with the pineapple rings and add 1 cherry to the center of each pineapple ring.
Evenly pour cake batter over pineapples and bake for 70-80 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out mostly clean but still moist.
Allow cake to rest for 10 minutes then quickly invert cake onto serving plate.
For the Rum Syrup
In a small pot set over medium heat, combine all the ingredients and cook over medium-high heat.
Reduce mixture by about a third and thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
Finally poke sides and top of cake and pour syrup over cake and allow to seep in then cool.