This Hot Buttered Rum Crumb Cake has a butter rum cake, buttery crumb topping, all covered in a spiced butter rum glaze.
We are in that weird time.
Where it’s still winter (heck…that just started a few weeks ago) but most people are over holiday flavors.
For the record I am not. 🙂
But I do understand that others are.
So I search for flavors that are wintery and cozy but not holiday.
Enter Hot Buttered Rum Crumb Cake.
Hot buttered rum to me, like hot chocolate, is a winter treat.
Heck, I drink hot chocolate year round…but I’m weird. 😀
As always, I made these be mini loaves.
I just have more consistent success with small loaves. Plus I love sharing them.
Ingredient Highlights:
- Cake flour – I use cake flour in my crumb cake recipes. You can use all-purpose flour for the cake batter (though I still recommend cake flour) but I HIGHLY suggest you use cake flour for the crumb topping.
- Butter Rum Lifesavers: If you are here for the recipe, I’m assuming you or someone you know likes hot buttered rum. I used Butter Rum Lifesavers. If you can’t find them, the butterscotch discs that Brach’s makes can also work.
- Milk: You need to use whole milk for this recipe.
- Butter: I use both salted and unsalted butter in the recipe so be sure to check what kind you are using in each step.
- Fresh Ground Nutmeg: If you have not gotten yourself a nutmeg grinder yet, you totally need one. I use mine all the time as nutmeg is my go to spice.
- Eggs – Use a large egg, at room temperature.
- Sour Cream – Use full fat sour cream, at room temperature. If you don’t have that you can use full fat Greek yogurt or full fat buttermilk.
- Ground Cinnamon: I used a Ceylon cinnamon which is a milder cinnamon. If you want a stronger cinnamon feel free to use it.
- Spiced Rum: Any spiced rum will do. You can use regular rum but I find spiced works best for this recipe.
Tips for a Successful Crumb Cake:
- Make sure to measure your flour correctly and level off using a knife. Crumb cake has a tendency to get dry so you want to make sure you are using the exact amount of flour.
- Do not over mix the crumb topping, or it may become paste-like in texture. You want there to be some crumbly texture to the topping.
- Ensure that the baking soda and baking powder are fresh and haven’t expired. One of the main reasons that cakes don’t rise and become dense is because the baking soda and powder have expired.
- Bring all the ingredients to room temperature so they mix quickly and easily.
- I like to do the bigger pieces of crumb on the outer rim of the cakes and sprinkle the smaller crumb towards the center. Since the center usually bakes up last I don’t want to weigh it down with bigger crumb pieces.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Do I have to use cake flour? Yes. To get the desired texture you really do need the cake flour.
Can I omit the spiced rum from the icing? Yep. If you are not using the spiced rum then simply use 6 TBSP of the butter rum infused milk instead of 3 TBSP.
Do I have to buy the Butter Rum extract? No, but your cake will have less butter rum flavor.
What size mini pans do you use? I used 5-3/4 by 3-1/4 by 2-1/4-Inch.
Can I make this a full size loaf? Yes, but the time it takes to bake will increase by 10-15 minutes. I would start checking for doneness around the 40 minute mark.
Can I freeze the loaves? Yes. But if you are freezing them you will not want to put the icing on until you go to eat them.
P.S. It’s a great day to buy my cookbook Holy Sweet!
Want More Crumb Cake Recipes?
Strawberry Lemonade Crumb Cake
Hot Buttered Rum Crumb Cake
Ingredients
- For the Butter Rum Infused Milk:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3 TBSP salted butter
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 10 Butter Rum Lifesavers (or butter rum hard candy)
- For the Crumb Topping:
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 8 TBSP unsalted butter, melted and then slightly cooled
- 1 ¾ cup cake flour
- For the Cake:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup Butter Rum Infused Milk:
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp. butter rum extract
- 2 ½ cups cake flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- For the Icing:
- 3 TBSP Butter Rum Infused Milk
- 3 TBSP Spiced Rum
- 2 TBSP melted butter
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- For the Infused Butter Rum Milk:
- Using a medium saucepan heat the milk, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and Butter Rum Lifesavers together.
- Bring to a boil and then take off of heat.
- The Butter Rum Lifesavers should dissolve.
- If the Lifesavers do not dissolve place over heat and stir until it does. Set aside.
- Let cool to room temperature.
- For the Crumb Topping:
- In a medium sized bowl, put sugars and salt and stir until combined.
- Add the melted butter and then cake flour and mix (hands work best for this). Set aside.
- For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Spray baking spray 4 mini loaf pans and set them aside.
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- In a separate bowl add the Butter Rum infused milk, sour cream, butter rum extract, and eggs and whisk until fully combined.
- In another bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Alternate adding dry ingredients, then wet, then dry, then wet, and finish with dry.
- Mix on low until fully combined. Be careful to not over-mix.
- Using a regular size ice cream scoop, scoop three scoops per pan. Even out with a spatula.
- Evenly divide crumb topping (as evenly as you can) into pieces over top of the batter.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes depending on your oven.
- Check by using a wooden skewer or knife to see if it comes out clean.
- Let cool on wire rack.
- While cooling make icing.
- For the Icing:
- Simply whisk together the butter rum infused milk, spiced rum, butter, and powdered sugar in a medium bowl.
- When cakes are cool pour glaze over the top of them.
- Let glaze firm up.
MARY L GLENN says
Hello and thank you for your time. I am wanting to try this recipe but I am a bit confused.
1. In the instructions – #14 – it states ….add Darigold Heat N/Serve….. I do not know what this is and it isn’t listed in the list of cake ingredients.
2. Vanilla bean paste is listed in the cake instructions but not as an ingredient.
3. 1 cup Butter Rum Infused Milk is listed in the cake ingredients but not in the instructions (unless you are meaning that the butter infused milk is the wet ingredient mentioned in #16.)
4. 1 tsp butter rum extract is listed in the ingredient list of the cake but it is not mentioned in the cake instructions.
Please advise and thank you. It looks like a great recipe. Thanks for sharing it.
Peabody says
Not sure about the heat n serve, it’s Butter Rum Infused Milk.
Sorry about that vanilla bean paste is not used, this is where the Rum extract goes in