I’ve been coming back to this recipe for years but never quite had the right occasion to make it until recently. Dan M and Paul S invited us to their new, very cool house for brunch. It was a rainy winter day and something tropical seemed to be the perfect antidote.
Having never been to the Caribbean, I wasn’t aware that Tortuga Rum Cakes are quite popular, particularly among cruise ship goers. What started out as a rum company to promote rums from the Cayman Islands in 1984 turned into a rum cake company, when the co-founder started baking cakes using her four-generation old family recipe. Now Tortuga Rum Cakes are the number one export from the Cayman Islands.
This variation comes by way of a bakery in Massachusetts – far from the Caribbean. It’s made with almond flour and a small amount of all-purpose flour. This flour was easily swapped for gluten-free flour (Cup4Cup is my go-to). Since it’s such a small amount it’s hard to tell this cake is gluten-free. Luckily rum is made from sugar cane so it’s naturally gluten-free. Myers’s Original Dark Rum (from Jamaica) has always been a favorite in my family so it’s on hand, but any dark rum will do. Be sure to pour the rum syrup over the cake right out of the oven. This cake is delightfully moist and has a nice rum flavor. It’s not like a traditional fruit cake where the alcohol can be overwhelming.
Baking this cake gave me an excuse to go through my collection of Bundt pans. Since I didn’t have one in the 6 to 8 cup range, I used my fiesta party pan (9 cup) which I’ve had for 20 years and it still looks brand new. I just didn’t fill the pan all the way up and it worked fine.
This cake is definitely a winner – I know I’ll be making it again. Don’t be scared off by the length of the recipe as nothing is hard nor takes very long. It’s about three hours start to finish.
Hopefully this brings a bit of warmth to those of you with the winter blues. And, in case you were wondering, ‘tortuga ‘ in Spanish translates to ‘tortoise.’ I think that means ‘enjoy a piece of this lovely cake and slow down a bit.’
| Tortuga Rum Cake (Gluten-Free) | | Print |
- 1-3/4 cups almond flour (see Notes)
- ½ cup gluten-free flour or all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (see Notes)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons dark rum
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon dark rum
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (see Notes)
- 1 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 6 to 8 cup Bundt pan (see Notes) with cooking spray and dust lightly with all-purpose flour.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, gluten-free or all-purpose flour, and salt. Set aside.
- Place butter in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes.
- Gradually add 1 cup granulated sugar, beating until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined after each addition. (Don’t worry if the batter looks slightly broken – do not overmix.)
- Reduce speed to medium-low, and add flour mixture to butter mixture, one-third at a time, beating for 15 seconds after each addition, stopping as necessary to scrape down sides of bowl to ensure all flour is incorporated.
- In a small bowl, place ½ cup batter and whisk in 2 tablespoons rum. Add rum batter back to remaining batter, and stir to combine. (Dough may not be completely smooth – do not overmix.)
- Spoon batter into prepared pan and tap pan against counter to distribute evenly.
- Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes.
- Make Rum Syrup: Just before cake is done, in a small sauce pan bring to a boil over medium heat ¼ cup sugar and ¼ cup water. Stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved.
- Remove from heat, and stir in 1 tablespoon rum. Return to very low heat, and keep warm until ready to use.
- When cake is done, place cake pan on a wire rack set inside a baking sheet. Pour 3 tablespoons rum simple syrup over cake. Cool cake for 10 minutes.
- Invert cake onto rack, and brush with remaining syrup. Let cool completely, about 1-1/2 hours.
- Make Vanilla Icing: When cake is cool, whisk together milk and vanilla bean paste in a small bowl.
- Place powdered sugar in a medium bowl and whisk in milk mixture until smooth. If it's not quite at a consistency for drizzling, add a bit more milk and whisk.
- Using the top of a whisk, drizzle vanilla icing in a back and forth motion over cake. Let stand until icing is set – about 30 minutes.
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.
* For almond flour, I recommend Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Natural Almond Flour.
* If you don’t have a 6 to 8 cup Bundt pan you can use a larger one and not fill it up the whole way.
* If you don't have vanilla bean paste, use the same amount of vanilla extract.
Source: Variation on recipe from Food & Wine
I made this cake. I followed the recipe and it was delicious and pretty as a picture!! Thank you.
Jean – Thank you for sharing. I’m so glad you liked it. Happy New Year!