Jamaican Chocolate Rum Cake
If you haven’t had this Chocolate Rum Cake recipe, you’re in for a serious treat! This rich and delicious dessert is perfect for any occasion. The key to this dessert is the rum, and we chose one from Jamaica for a special treat.
I went to Jamaica a couple of years ago and stayed at a Montego Bay Resort. I had a blast and the food was amazing. If you go, you must try an original Jamaican rum cake!
This chocolate rum cake is always the first dessert to be devoured, and this one is such a crowd-pleaser. And who doesn’t love bacon and chocolate? It’s such a delicious combination and takes this cake to a whole new level!
A very important part of this Jamaican Rum Cake is, of course, the rum. I know what you’re thinking. You have a bottle of regular rum in your pantry and you were wondering what you might do with it.
For a fun boozy rum drink, try this Drunk Bunny cocktail. It’s deliciously fun for Easter! But for this cake, you really should use Jamaican rum.
If you absolutely can’t find Jamaican rum, use whatever rum you can find. BUT, it won’t be Jamaican Rum cake without Jamaican Rum! You should easily be able to find Jamaican rum at your local liquor store. You can buy Jamaican rum as white rum or dark rum.
There are many brands you can find in the US now, such as Appleton Estate, Hamilton, and Smith & Cross – all probably available at your local Total Wine store. If you haven’t been to Total Wine, it’s like a toy store for those of us who imbibe.
What You Need
To make this chocolate bundt cake, you will need a box of chocolate cake mix, instant chocolate pudding, eggs, vegetable oil, rum (Jamaican is best!), crispy bacon, both chocolate as well as peanut butter chips and a little water. This cake comes together so easily!
We made this in a 10 inch, 12-cup bundt pan, but you can use a pan of your choosing. A 10 inch x 2 inch round pan or a 9 inch x 2 inch or 10 inch by 2 inch square pan will work well. Just keep in mind that this 10 inch bundt pan holds about 10 – 12 cups of batter.
For the rum glaze, you’ll need unsalted butter, powdered sugar, and rum, along with a little water. After you’ve glazed the cake, you’ll garnish it with bacon, and both chocolate and peanut butter chips.
How to Make It
Preheat oven to 325º F (165 degrees C).
Grease one 10-inch Bundt cake pan or use cooking spray. Make sure to cover the bottom of the pan where the cake is more likely to stick.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, half cup of water, and a half cup rum on high speed for 2 minutes.
Add 1 cup of bacon, 1 cup of chocolate chips, and a half cup of peanut butter chips, and stir to combine. You don’t want to puree the bacon, so even using the mixer on low speed isn’t a good idea. It’s better to just stir with a spoon. Pour cake batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 325 degreesº for 50-60 minutes.
Let cake stand for 20 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool a bit more before moving to the serving plate. Poke the cake all over with a toothpick.
Make the glaze by mixing a 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, 3 cups sifted powdered sugar, 1/4 cup rum, and a 1/4 cup water using a hand mixer.
Mix until well combined. If the icing is too thin, beat in 1/4 C of powdered sugar until icing pours like lava. If by chance the rum sauce is too thick, add a little extra rum.
Pour rum glaze over the top of the cake and garnish with crisp bacon, chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips. If you can wait, wrap the cake with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight so it can really soak up the rum. This will also give you a super moist cake. It’s so good!
You can absolutely freeze this cake. That means you can make one for now and one for later! Just sayin’! Don’t add the glaze until you’ve thawed the cake to room temperature.
You certainly can! Just remember that darker rum usually has a stronger flavor.
Yes, feel free to use a dark chocolate cake mix. It’s actually a good match for the sweet chocolate and peanut butter chips. You could also add a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder to turn a regular chocolate cake mix into dark chocolate.
You are going to love this boozy dessert! Take it to a party and you’re guaranteed an invitation back! Just remember this is an adult-only dessert!
More Boozy Desserts
Jamaican Easter Bun with Stout
Chocolate Jamaican Rum Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 15.25- oz box Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Premium Cake Mix
- 1 3.9- oz box Instant Chocolate Pudding mix
- 4 Eggs room temp
- 1/2 C Water
- 1/2 C Vegetable oil
- 1/2 C Jamaican Rum
- 1 C crisp cooked Bacon chopped
- 1 C Chocolate chips
- 1/2 C Peanut butter chips
Glaze
- 1/2 C unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 C powdered sugar sifted
- 1/4 C Jamaican Rum
- 1/4 C water
Garnish
- 1/2 C cooked bacon chopped
- 1/2 C chocolate chips
- 1/2 C peanut butter chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325º F (165 degrees C).
- Grease one 10 inch Bundt cake pan or use cooking spray.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, water, and rum on high speed for 2 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of bacon, 1 cup of chocolate chips, and a half cup of peanut butter chips, and stir to combine. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake at 325 degreesº for 50-60 minutes.
- Let cake stand for 20 minutes and then turn out onto a serving dish. Poke the cake all over with a toothpick.
- Make the glaze by combining butter, sugar, rum, and water.
- Mix until well combined. If icing is to thin, beat in 1/4 C of powdered sugar until icing pours like lava.
- Pour rum glaze over cake and garnish with crisp bacon and chocolate chips. If you can wait, wrap the cake with plastic wrap and let it set overnight so it can really soak up the rum. SO good!
Notes
Nutrition
By the way, if you’re watching your weight, these Weight Watchers chocolate desserts have a lot to choose from, too.
And if you’re looking for dinner recipes, you’ve got to check out these Guinness Irish beer ribs and Cast Iron chicken.
This post was originally written on June 27, 2019 and was updated on March 3, 2025 for clarity.
