Coconut Lime Rum Cake

We have been home from Belize now for about 10 days. But as usual, as soon as we got home, I hit the ground running and was doing all kinds of things. We have already had people over for dinner twice in the short time we’ve been home too. It seems if I am not on vacation, I am always cooking.

When on our rum tasting quest Rum Tasting The Belizan Way, we bought a bottle of coconut rum. When we got home, I made a coconut lime rum cake for one of our dinners. I also used the lime chocolate I bought while in Cozumel for my chocolate ganache, so this was truly a Caribbean cake, through and through.

Since rum is so popular all throughout the Caribbean, and we had just returned from Belize, also in the Caribbean, it was only fitting to make a rum cake for dessert. Rum cakes have became a symbol of Caribbean culture, representing the fusion of European traditions with local ingredients and flavors. Rum cakes, particularly Jamaican black cake, have a rich history intertwined with the Caribbean’s colonial past and the traditions of enslaved people. The cake’s origins can be traced back to British colonists bringing fruit pudding recipes to the Caribbean in the 18th century. Local chefs and enslaved people then adapted these recipes, incorporating local ingredients like rum and spices, creating the unique Jamaican black cake we know today. Rum, a byproduct of sugar production, was used not only for flavor but also as a preservative, making the cake suitable for long-distance travel and celebrations, and helping to keep the cake moist. In the islands, rum cakes are traditionally served at Christmas for holidays, though they are available year round because they are so popular with tourists.

Coconut Lime Rum Cake

My recipe was inspired from a book I read on vacation, though you would never know it by the end result. My cake was NOTHING like the recipe I found in the book I read, but it was inspired by it, nonetheless. As usual, I made up my own recipe. 🙂

1 stick softened butter

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 cup coconut rum

1/2 tsp lime extract

1/2 tsp coconut extract or vanila

2 cups flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 tsp baking sooda

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

chocolate ganache

toasted coconut

green sprinkles, optional

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180*C.

Spray a 9″ cake pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Beat the sugar and butter together. Add the egg and milk, lime extract and coconut extract and beat again.

Add the flour mixture 1/2 at a time, mixing in between additions.

Evenly pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

When the cake has completely cooled, remove it from the pan and add the ganache. Typically, a ganache is equal parts melted chocolate to cream mixed together.

Toast the coconut to a light golden brown.

Once the ganache has been spread over the cake, add the toasted coconut and green sprinkles if you like, and enjoy.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.