My Banana Rum Raisin Cake is laced with rum soaked raisins. Perfect for any occasion (even breakfast if you are so inclined), this moist and delicious cake keeps really well too.
This recipe was the result of an experiment in the kitchen back in 2013, provoked by a surfeit of bananas. We are quite fussy about bananas in our house. We don’t like them under-ripe, but we really, really don’t like them over-ripe. This leaves a window of about two and a half hours for optimal banana enjoyment. As we are a small family, this leaves us with quite a few past their best bananas. It’s a good thing I have lots of great banana bread, muffin and cake recipes on hand.
The thing is, every once in a while I want to try something new…something different…something maybe a little bit rich and decadent. And one day a few years ago, it was one of those times. So when I found I had some just-past-their-best bananas that were just perfect for baking, I decided to get creative.
This Banana Rum Raisin Cake was the result. Rum soaked raisins nestle in a moist banana cake, decorated with a boozy-licious glaze. I shared it with friends and everyone gave it rave reviews. In fact, it disappeared in record time.
This is one of those cakes that tastes even better the next day…or even the day after that. It will keep in a sealed container at room temperature for at least five days.
Do I Need To Glaze Banana Rum Raisin Cake?
This cake even tastes great naked, although I think it is at its best glazed. However, if you are in a rush, just sprinkle this delicious cake with icing sugar.
Is There An Alcohol Free Version of This Cake?
Unfortunately, even rum extract contains alcohol, so the short answer is no. However, you can soak the raisins in orange juice instead of rum and even substitute orange juice in the glaze and call this Banana Orange Raisin Cake if you like!
Serving Ideas
My Banana Rum Raisin Cake tastes wonderful on its own with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea. To dress it up for dessert, serve with a scoop of rum raisin or good vanilla ice cream. You could even serve a creamy, rum-laced coffee alongside for grown ups if you want to be really decadent.
Feel no shame if you slice and eat this cake for breakfast. I have done so on many occasions!
You probably have all the ingredients you need to make this delicious cake right now – and you will be so glad you did!
Banana Rum Raisin Cake – Printable Recipe
Banana Rum Raisin Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup raisins or sultanas
- ¼ cup dark rum
- 3 cups all purpose plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg freshly ground if possible
- 1 cup butter unsalted for preference, softened
- 1¾ cups sugar I use golden caster sugar, but granulated is fine too
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1½ cups mashed banana 3 to 4 medium bananas
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- For the glaze
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar icing sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 1 tablespoon liquid honey
Instructions
- Put the raisins in a bowl and pour the rum over top. Cover and let sit for at least an hour or overnight, stirring occasionally.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Butter a 12 cup Bundt pan.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together into a large bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugar together using an electric mixer.
- Beat in the beaten eggs along with a tablespoon of the flour.
- Add the bananas and beat in on low speed.
- Add the buttermilk and flour alternately in four additions, beginning with the flour and ending with milk
- Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer and thoroughly fold in the raisins and any remaining rum with a wooden spoon.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared Bundt pan.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then remove the cake carefully from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- To make the glaze, add the rum gradually (a tablespoon or less at a time) to the icing sugar to make a thick glaze. You may not need all the rum. Beat in the honey until the glaze is thick and glossy. Drizzle over cooled cake.
did you make this recipe?
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Photographs by Terry Joshi Images.
Comments & Reviews
Raquel @ Organized Island says
I love bananas but I too am fussy about how many spots it can have on it and I do not like ones that are mushy! Your rum cake looks delicious! Found you on the All My Bloggy Friends party and following on Twitter.
April Harris says
Thank you, Raquel! I’ve followed you back. It’s nice to ‘meet’ you 🙂
Michelle says
I laughed out loud at your window of 2 1/2 hours. My son would 100% agree. Most of the bananas I buy end up in baked goods because he deems them unfit. You make the prettiest bundt cakes, April. Bundt cakes scare me…always worried they aren’t going to release from the pan! Thank you for linking!
April Harris says
Thank you so much, Michelle! I’m sure you would make lovely Bundt cakes. As long as I grease the pans with butter or use cake release spray they seem to come out pretty well 🙂
rachel says
OH MY WORD! <3 This looks and sounds AMAZING. We're the same – there's a banana window – thus the 30 bananas in my freezer right now! 🙂
I am in love with this recipe, April!!! Thank you SO much for linking it up! YUMMMM
April Harris says
Thank you so much, Rachel!
Sande Sivani says
Wow!! than bundt looks and sounds delicious. I too am picky about my bananas. Most at my house get eaten very quickly so for baking, I tend to buy ripe ones from the store and use them promptly. Please stop by and link up this great recipe post at http://www.mypersonalaccent.com/the-peacock-strut-1/ as we launch our first Blog Strut, Peacock Style.
April Harris says
Thank you, Sande, and thank you for the invitation to join in your Peacock Style Blog Strut. I’m sorry, I’ve just visited today, so was too late to join in, but if you email me and remind me I will try to join in this week 🙂
Fred Guevara (Ontario, Canada) says
I just couldn’t resist trying this recipe, although I did alter it a bit to suit my veracious taste for spice cake by adding 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom, 1/4 tsp. of 5 spice powder. As I am a diabetic, I also supplemented some of the sugar content with by using only 1/2 cup of sugar, plus 1/4 cup of Cooking Splenda, and 1/4 cup of Brown Sugar Splenda. Even if not “perfect” for a diabetic diet, it still fully satisfied my sweet tooth. … And I got my spice “cake, and ate it too”. (LOL) Diabetics have the right to eat well too; n’est-ce-pas? Thank you so very much from the bottom of my taste buds !
Irene says
I also often need ways to use bananas once that perfect ripeness window has closed!
April Harris says
I so glad you like the recipe, Irene. Please do let me know if you try it!
Bee says
I made this for the 2nd time only this time, it came out better than the first. This is because I got the butter measurement right this time. This tasted so good and moist.
April Harris says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Bee! Thank you for letting me know!
Mike Bennett says
The glaze didn’t turn out pourable enough, so I just have to play with it. It was my 1st time making icing like that.
April Harris says
Thank you for rating the recipe, Mike. I appreciate it!
I’m sorry you struggled with the glaze. So many things can affect the texture of icing sugar and glaze, even (believe it or not!) the weather. You can always add more or less liquid, but it can definitely take practice. I usually find that there is more than enough rum to make the glaze pourable, but if that isn’t the case when you make it, you can always add a bit more. If you feel that’s a bit too much alcohol, you can always use a bit of water instead. Warm water works best, so I tend to use some that I have boiled and let cool a bit – like if there’s some in the kettle after I have made a cup of tea.
I hope this helps 🙂
J. Neal says
The cake sounds luscious!
I’m trying to adapt recipes to be more keto-friendly/lower carb, so I might try reducing the amount of mashed banana from 1 1/2 cups to 1 cup, adding a tablespoon of olive oil to compensate for moistness (and maybe use a drop or two of banana extract to boost the flavor).
I also will try subbing the all-purpose flour with a mixture of almond and buckwheat flours, and add a little psyllium seed husk powder to increase the fiber and lower the net carbs.
Definitely will use a lower-carb brown sugar substitute monk fruit/erythritol sweetener in place of the sugar, and fashion a glaze with a powdered keto sweetener and a little cream with honey flavoring added instead of using confectioner’s sugar and regular honey.
I know those subs won’t totally de-carb this gorgeous dessert, but the changes should help toward “keto-fying” without impairing the recipe or the taste.
Wonder if rum extract would work okay in the glaze instead of rum? I don’t have a bottle of rum in my pantry, lol, but maybe I should. (Then, again, maybe I shouldn’t, heheh!)
If someone working out some lower-carb adaptations still wants to use raisins… remember that they do have a lot of natural sugar, and there’s natural sugar in the OJ as well. If you still decide to use some raisins, you can plump them in either hot water with a little orange extract or in heated orange juice, then squeeze them out a bit before adding them to the batter. If not using raisins, adding a bit of fresh, finely grated orange zest to the cake batter will give that touch of orange flavor.
By the way, it looks a bit like the cake is performing a feat of levitation just above that clear glass cake stand. Maybe a paper doily beneath the cake would avoid that. A gold one, perhaps, both for the elegance and to compliment the tinge of color in the glaze, rather than have the stark contrast of a paper doily that is white.
Thanks for the recipe and the inspiration, April. And wishes for a delicious and blessed holiday season to you and everyone.
April Harris says
Thank you! Good luck with the adaptations – I know adapting things can be tricky, but hopefully it will all work out deliciously 🙂 You could definitely use rum extract in the glaze instead of rum. The flavour will be slightly different, but if you want to avoid the alcohol it’s a good solution.
Wishing you a very happy holiday season full of blessings (and deliciousness!) too.