Martha Stewart’s Rum Butter Bundt Cake

RECIPE: Excerpted from Martha: The Cookbook by Martha Stewart. Copyright © 2024 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia LP. Photographs copyright © 2024 by Dana Gallagher. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

Photo: Dana Gallagher

November 11, 2024

A decadent recipe from a baking icon.

For her 100th cookbook, Martha: The Cookbook, icon Martha Stewart pulled together her most treasured recipes, such as this rum butter Bundt cake. A decadent rum butter glaze tops this rum cake, which is a rich mix of vanilla and buttermilk. “The texture of this cake is like a fine French pound cake, a quatre quart, but the flavor is quite different,” writes Stewart, “and the glaze is a game-changer.”

Ingredients

Yield:10-12

For the Cake
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. rum
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup buttermilk
___________________________________
For the Glaze
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/4 cup rum
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

Tools:10- to 15-cup Bundt cake pan, large bowl, stand mixer with paddle attachment, small saucepan, medium bowl, whisk
Garnish:whipped cream for serving (optional)

Preparation

CakePreheat the oven to 325°F, with a rack set in the center. Butter and lightly flour a 10- to 15-cup Bundt pan. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Add the vanilla, rum, and zest. Reduce speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour.
GlazeIn a small saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat until boiling. Remove from the heat and carefully add the rum; the mixture will bubble. When the bubbling subsides, stir in the sugar and vanilla. Return to medium- low heat and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

When the cake is done, transfer the pan to a wire rack set on a baking sheet or a piece of parchment, and pierce the cake 30 times with a bamboo skewer. Brush the surface with half the glaze and allow to cool for 1 hour. Turn the cake out onto the wire rack and brush with the remaining glaze. Let cool before serving with whipped cream, if desired.
TipPrepare the pan before pouring in the batter. “I use a soft bristle brush to get softened unsalted butter into every nook and cranny of the pan,” writes Stewart. “A very, very light dusting of flour can also aid in releasing any cake from this type of pan.”
Whipped Cream(Makes 2 cups) In a chilled medium bowl, whisk 1 cup of cold heavy cream with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp. of confectioners’ sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes more.