This Pina Colada Rum Cake is moist, boozy, & upside-down – infused with everything coconut, crowned with a pineapple halo & toasted coconut caramel sauce.
GUYS.
So, this Pina Colada Rum Cake. It’s like a fluffy coconut. With rum. And pineapple on top. And then more coconut. And caramel.
Do you know what that means?!
Yep. Double workout tomorrow at the gym for me.
BUT IT’S SO WORTH IT!
JUST TAKE ME TO THE PIÑA COLADA RUM CAKE ALREADY!
If you’d rather skip my (pretty darn helpful) tips and tricks, essential cooking info, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to this deliciously easy rum cake recipe, just scroll right on down to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card!
Rum cake has a special place in the hearts and home of Mr. Crumby and I.
It all started back on our first vacation together, a cruise to the Bahamas back in 2007. We’d been together a year, so we grabbed some friends and hopped a Royal Caribbean ship for a weekend getaway. I had never been out of the country, much less somewhere as “exotic” as the Bahamas, so I was pretty pumped to explore.
In Nassau, we found a little shop called the Tortuga Rum Company, where we proceeded to spend obscene amounts of money on bottles of rum, rum balls, and every flavor rum cake they carried.
Obscene amounts.
Of course, we didn’t see any of it again until we got off the ship. Cue my sad-face.
But when we got home and tore into my first rum cake, I fell in love. I just couldn’t get over the yummy cake, marinated in that classic rum bite. Whenever I came upon a Tortuga cake after that trip, I made sure to grab a few.
Of course, I’ve made my own over the years, but you never forget your first.
Fast forward to 2012.
Mr. Crumby and I were in the midst of wedding planning. Of course, the perfect 4-tier cake was a huge deal for me, and when we finally settled on a pretty well-known and loved bakery, our hardest decision was cake flavors.
Except of course, for the 2 rum cake tiers, filled with pineapple. Those were a given. (We finally settled on Red Velvet and Vanilla-Chocolate with raspberry filling for the other two – it was all delicious!)
The cake was a hit! It was even more gorgeous than I could have imagined, and the flavors were out of this world! We had almost an entire tier left over to enjoy the following week!
We opted not to save our top tier (frozen pineapple filling? ew), and instead went to the same bakery and had them redo a small rum cake for our first anniversary.
Upon inspection on the way to Disney (where we spent our anniversary), we noticed that the cake had been pretty laughably decorated, but we thought nothing of it.
Cutting into it after dinner that night…that was a different story.
While the two tiers of our wedding cake were moist and had absolutely been soaked with rum, our anniversary cake…there was no rum to speak of. It was vanilla with a bit of pineapple.
We still polished off the whole thing that week, but we were disappointed that we couldn’t relive the happiest day of our lives through our cake. That day, I vowed to make our anniversary cakes for year two and beyond. No more store-bought!
This past Saturday was our 2nd anniversary, which we spent in St. Augustine (our favorite city). We arrived in the middle of the Greek Festival, which was a pleasant surprise. Of course, we ate! Spanakopita and Pastes and Souvlaki…and that was our pre-dinner appetizer!
Then we headed down St. George Street toward the best pizza in town at Pizzalley’s Chianti Room. A glass of wine and a slice of Garbage Can pizza later, we were off to downtown, requisite leftovers in hand.
We strolled to the Lightner Museum, where we caught a freshly married couple getting their formal portraits done before their reception.
Not going to lie, we had a serious discussion about playing out Wedding Crashers in real life.
St. Augustine bustles on Saturday nights, especially when the weather is nice, so we stayed out a little later than normal before grabbing our Kilwin’s ice cream and heading home.
And, following through with my vow, I made a variation of our wedding cake – the beautiful Pina Colada Rum Cake you see here.
I began with the Bahamian Rum Cake recipe from David Lebovitz and adapted it to include my beloved pineapple, and ended up hitting it out of the park, turning my favorite cake into a sort of boozy, pineapple upside down coconut extravaganza!
Mr. Crumby loved it, but said: “It could use more rum.”
Never satisfied.
To be honest, we didn’t let the cake sit and marinate overnight in the rum before digging into it. We couldn’t wait!
The second (and third and fourth) piece we had, however, was supremely moist, and oh so yummy!! Not overly sweet, in spite of the rum caramel coconut sauce on top.
Absolutely. Perfect.
It may not taste like a Tortuga, but it’s definitely delicious enough to be a keeper!
LOOKING FOR MORE PIÑA COLADA-FLAVORED TREATS RECIPES?
- Creamy Pina Colada Tres Leches Cake
- Pina Colada Cupcakes
- Pina Colada Bundt Cake
- Strawberry Pina Colada Popsicles
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Pina Colada Rum Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 8 ounces crushed pineapple drained
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup coconut milk canned
Rum Syrup
- ¾ cup coconut milk canned
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ cup coconut rum
Coconut Rum Glaze
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon coconut rum
- ½ cup sweetened coconut flakes toasted
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a bundt pan liberally. Sprinkle pan with brown sugar, then spread the pineapple over it evenly. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugars, slowly increasing the speed to medium and beating about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Drizzle mixture into the creamed butter, scraping the sides as needed. Once the eggs are completely incorporated (it should resemble moist icing), gently mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then half of the coconut milk. Repeat a second time. Add the remaining flour and stir until just combined.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan (it will be very thick). Bake for 35-45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Rum Syrup
- In a small saucepan, warm the remainder of the coconut milk, and the sugar over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Be careful not to bring it to a boil. Remove from heat and whisk in rum.
- When cake comes out of the oven: Using a wooden skewer, poke numerous holes in the warm cake - the more holes, the more rum soaks in!
- Pour 3/4 of the syrup over the cake slowly, allowing it to soak in before adding more.
- Let cake cool in the bundt pan, then invert on plate.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the top with the remaining syrup.
Coconut Rum Glaze
- Combine the butter, cream, salt and sugar together in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring the mixture to dissolve the sugar (about 2 minutes).
- Remove from heat and whisk in the rum. Cool, then whisk in the toasted coconut.
- Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake. For stronger rum flavor, allow cake to rest overnight under a covered dome.
- Garnish as desired, serve, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
REAL-LIFE REVIEWS FROM READERS!!
ORDER OUR #1 BEST SELLER COOKBOOK!
Joanna Reynolds says: “Made this for my mom’s birthday. The rum flavor and quality of the cake were awesome. Thank you for this recipe!!”
Jenny Huereque Villafana says: “The only thing I didn’t do is add the cream on the bottom…Taking it to my moms for family night. Can’t wait to try.”
Paul Andrew Sayegh says: “Made Piña Colada Rum Cake for a small friend’s gathering last night. A perfect cake to conclude the summer!”
PIN THIS PINA COLADA RUM CAKE FOR LATER!
Erin says
First and foremost: Happy (belated) anniversary! It sounds like y’all had a wonderful weekend!
I absolutely love that you’ve started making your own anniversary cake after a flop of a first anniversary cake from a bakery. This Pina Colada Rum Cake looks and sounds divine… and though I’ve never had a rum cake before, I think it’s time I tried! … We actually froze the top tier of our wedding cake, and it was surprisingly delicious, though I love the idea of baking a special cake for your anniversary yearly. Maybe I’ll start that up this year later this month for our fourth?
erica acevedo says
Thank you, Erin! we had a lovely day, for sure. How have you never had rum cake?! Girl, you haven’t lived!! I’ve heard from many people that their cake was still good the following year, I just can’t imagine ours could have made it that far! My hubby always has special birthday cake requests (think red, blue and green velvet with caramel filling and cream cheese icing…it was actually better than you’d think lol), so it makes sense, since I love to bake anyway, to make one myself for anniversaries. And it’s a lot of fun! Every year can be something new new different! Definitely give it a shot, I bet your husband would love it!!
Erin says
I don’t know how I’ve gone 30 years without trying rum cake, but clearly, this needs to change and pronto!
I love that your hubby has special birthday cake requests for you. ๐ Mine was born on December 26th, so he doesn’t generally want cake on his birthday after overindulging on Christmas, but he’s requested cakes for other times. Definitely considering making us a special cake for our anniversary in two weeks! Thanks, girl!
Camille says
Oh yeah…this is happening. This cake is calling my name!
erica acevedo says
Get on it, girl! You don’t even need a special occasion for it!
Alli Smith says
I’ve been buying Tortuga rum cakes forever. Every year when I visit the Caribbean, I always come back with one (or more) and I also order them for my (grown) son’s birthday. It’s his favorite cake! But I have to say that your cake looks even better! It’s got all of my favorite flavors! Why am I dieting??? ๐ I do see this cake in my future!
erica acevedo says
You know, I’ve always had fleeting thoughts of ordering them, but I just don’t feel like it would be the same! I’m sure it tastes the same, since they ship worldwide, but something about picking one up down the road (or the ocean lol) from where it’s made makes it so special. Hey, the holidays are coming up, diets are so hard to stick to when there are so many amazing things to eat everywhere!!!
Mikki says
WOW!! That cake looks AMAZING!! You go girl!
And Happy Belated Anniversary!!!
Stopping by via the Southern Girl Blogging FB , but I knew it was you.. LOL!
erica acevedo says
Thanks, Mikki! <3 Make a drive-by any time!
A Woman The World Deserves says
Oh my goodness! My mouth dropped when I saw this! I HAVE to make it!
erica acevedo says
A little love and patience goes a long way! It’s so worth the effort! ๐
Guest says
This look so delish and it’s gorgeous too!
erica acevedo says
Thank you, Heather!!
Stephanie Pass says
That is one beautiful cake! Happy Anniversary!
erica acevedo says
Thank you so much, Stephanie!
Amanda says
YUM, this sounds so delicious! I can say I’ve never had rum cake before. I might need to try this! ๐ Visiting today from Hump Day Happenings ๐
erica acevedo says
Thanks for stopping by, Amanda! Rum cakes are wonderful, you won’t regret trying one!
Jenna Brussee says
This cake is so beautiful! I love making a special meal for for anniversaries/special occasions. Dessert is always a part of a special meal for me. Thanks for sharing this with Hump Day Happenings.
erica acevedo says
Thanks, Jenna! Dessert is the MOST special part for me! LOL
Kimberly Walker says
This sounds so amazing. I’m horrible at baking but I really want to try it! YUM!
erica acevedo says
Don’t let the ingredient list deter you, it’s really pretty easy! Good luck if you do decide to try it! ๐
Michelle Nahom says
Your cake sounds so good, and your photography is beautiful too! I’m not usually much of a baker but I might have to give this one a go!! Thanks for sharing it with us at Foodie Fridays!
erica acevedo says
Thank you, Michelle!
Mila Furman says
Oh this sounds super yum!!! Almost reminds me of a Baba Rum we used to make in culinary school! And your pics are bomb! Thanks for coming by and linking with us at #FoodieFridays! You have been pinned ๐
erica acevedo says
Thank you, Mila!! I’m glad I found you guys! The more I do this blog thing, the more I wish I’d gone to culinary school…regretttttt.
April Harris says
Happy Anniversary! Your Pina Colada Rum Cake looks and sounds delicious (I’ve pinned it and hope to make it soon). It was lovely to see some of your wedding photographs & read a bit of your history too. Thank you so much for sharing with us at the Hearth and Soul hop. You asked how we celebrate our anniversaries – it has varied over the years. One of my favourites was our tenth when we renewed our wedding vows and had two parties with family and friends, one here at home in the UK and one where I came from in Canada ๐
erica acevedo says
Thank you for hosting the hop, April, and for stopping by and taking the time to read and comment. ๐ I hope to do the same as you when we reach 10 years – a good friend and her husband did just that this past weekend, and it’s a lovely way to mark such an occasion, especially in this day and age when marital longevity is so inconsistent. Two parties must have been lovely!
Lorrie says
Hi Erica, I can see this cake was posted a while ago but I’m hoping you will still receive my message! I am making the cake for my daughter’s wedding shower and the other ladies and I thought a Pina Colada cake would be yum. I ran across your cake and it sounds delicious but I wasn’t going to make a bundt cake but instead a two tier cake for the shower and wondered if I could adapt your cake? The cake pans belong to my friend and she tells me they are larger than typical pans…ones used for larger cakes. I know I’m being vague but honestly I don’t know. I guess more like a real bakery would use…she is an amateur cake decorator (looks professional) and makes larger cakes for people. If I doubled this recipe and put the brown sugar and pineapple on the bottoms of the cake pans do you think it would work? I’m strictly a bake at home kind of gal…love making cakes but never made any for showers and things. Thanks for any help you can give. The cake looks absolutely delicious!
Erica says
The recipe will definitely work with regular cake pans! Whether or not you need to double it will depend on the size of those cake pans, though, but more batter wouldn’t hurt; if you end up with too much, you could always bake a smaller cake with the leftover batter for yourself or a friend! I hope that helps!
Lorrie says
Thanks for the quick reply Erica! I will give it a try! Sounds delicious!
Amy says
Is there a box cake I can use? I am absolutely horrible at making cakes from scratch, something about not measuring… looks great!
Casi says
I was trying to decide what to make for my parents’ wedding anniversary and this just screams perfection. I know this post is older, but couldn’t help but wonder — what is piped along the base of the cake? Is it simply a sweetened pineapple and whipped cream concoction? Great work and thanks!
Leslie says
Making these in cupcakes for a wedding shower.hope they work!!!!
isabella says
hola…encontrรฉ esta riquรญsima receta en el internet y me parecรญo fabulosa especialmente porque es entendible y los ingredientes son similares en muchos paises…felicitaciones y gracias por compartirla…solo una pregunta: en la receta del pastel porque hay 2 tazas de azรบcar una granulada y la otra morena que es la que se bate con la mantequilla? espero me contesten para poder realizarla….gracias
Elisha says
Gorgeous cake! What did you pipe along the bottom? Thanks!!!
Diane says
I was wondering the same. Is it whipped cream?
Erica says
Yes, ma’am, it is indeed whipped cream!
Ka says
Just wish every recipe you want to see that you donโt have to read a persons life history to get to the point of looking how to make it. Itโs not just this one but ALL of them.
Erica says
blog
noun
1. a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.
In other words, you can easily scroll down to the bottom where the recipe card is – you don’t have to read anything up top! Please understand that this is a blog, not a recipe database, and there are reasons that bloggers like me do what we do with our posts. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the cake!
Cjensen says
Stupid question… the alcohol isn’t cooked out right? This wouldn’t be friendly for the whole family would it?
Erica says
While I doubt anyone would even get a buzz off it, I wouldn’t recommend it for small ones, no. There’s quite a bit of rum added after baking. You could always substitute rum extract, but I’m not sure how much you would have to use to achieve the same taste!
Dawne says
I would love to try this but could not find one person on the comment list that actually made this cake! Sure it looks good but comments should be saved for actual reviews so we can decide whether it would be worth purchasing all the ingredients to try!!
Erica says
Dawne, I WISH I could get all of my readers to leave constructive comments on all of my recipes when they try them! My blog is much smaller and not as highly trafficked as some of the others out there, so I think it’s just a matter of how many people actually see this recipe! I understand your predicament (I’ve often been disappointed by recipes I’ve recreated from blogs), but I can promise you that this cake is totally worth the effort! My husband and I are huge rum cake fans, and I’ve made this multiple times over the years. It’s supremely moist and completely reminiscent of a real pina colada – but better, since it’s cake. ๐ I DO hope you try it!
Lenise says
I was wondering if I could use lite coconut milk? This cake looks and sounds delicious!
Erica says
Hi Lenise! You absolutely can use light coconut milk, it will still lend the coconut flavor perfectly. I hope you love it! ๐
Paulo Vicente says
Olรก ! Isso รฉ meio ฮฟff-topic, mas preciso de alguns ajuda ิe
um blog estabelecido. ร difรญcil parะฐ definir o ั๏ฝ u prรณprio blog?
Eu nรฃo sou muito tรฉcnico, maั pode resolver as coisas muito
rรกpida. Estou pensando ะตm criaรงรฃo meu prรณprio,
mas eu nรฃo sei ondะต comeรงar. ะขem algum dicas ะพu sugestรตะตs?
Apreciรก-lo
Kathy says
I made this! The cake took about 15 additional minutes in the oven, which may have been due to the size of bundt pan I was using. The cake turned out delicious, well worth the multiple steps!
Erica says
Kathy, I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you so much for the feedback – I truly, truly appreciate it and YOU!
Mary says
This is definitely a Pinterest winner! It was easy to make and was a big hit with my book club. I thought that the cake was exceptionally good. It had a very fine crumb and was wonderfully moist.
I really want to do something with that leftover pineapple juice. I wonder if I could add it to the rum syrup.
Erica says
Mary, this comment makes me so happy! I’m so glad you and your book club enjoyed it! It ‘s definitely a winner over here. ๐ In the future, you can absolutely swap some of the heavy cream out for the leftover juice in the rum glaze if you’d like! I personally just pour it in a glass and drink it (LOL) but it would be a killer addition to the glaze! Cheers!
Chrissy says
How long do you allow the cake to cook before removing from the pan?
Chrissy says
Cool. Sorry
Annette Koller says
When you say “sprinkle brown sugar in pan” – do you mean like how you would flour a pan, or just in the bottom?
Cheryl says
My cake took a lot longer to cook (40min at 350F). I had return the cake to the oven multiple times at 5 and 10 min intervals for the skewer to come out clean. But when I did my โtaste testโ from the bottom, flavour was nice. I just hope the top of the cake isnโt too burnt!
Aileen Figueroa says
Good afternoon,
A little confused, the cake recipe is mentioning 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, then another 1 cup granulated sugar (room tempeture) and 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup of softened butter. Do I only batter the 1/2 cup brown sugar first with he 2 tablespoons of butter or do all the sugars all together? Can you please reply as soon as possible. I’m in the middle of doing the cake recipe.
Thank you
Vicki says
Can I substitute another liquid that is not alcoholic in place of the tun.
Erica says
Hi Vicki! I would recommend trying an equal amount of pineapple juice, with about 1/2-1 teaspoon of rum extract.
shannon says
Do you use sweetened or unsweetened coconut milk?
Erica says
I tend to use sweetened, but it’s a personal preference – whatever you prefer will work fine here.
Berry Goda says
My spouse and I stumbled over here by a different website and thought I might check things out. I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to going over your web page for a second time.
Laura A Johnson says
It has become my traditional birthday cake ! Baking now as I text!!!
Erica says
I LOVE THIS!! You’ve made my day with this little comment, and I hope your birthday was fantastic, Laura!
Amanda says
Hello there, I am planning to make a few batches of these ahead of time for holiday parties, could I safely freeze them without the toppings, and add toppings when I defrost and serve them?
Thank you!
Erica says
You can definitely freeze them before topping them, Amanda! I suggest a double or triple layer of plastic wrap, then a foil layer, then maybe popping them in large plastic zipper bags before freezing. Thanks for asking, I’ll be sure to add this information to the post for other readers in the future. Happy holidays, and happy baking! ๐