Last month, I turned 29! Not so long ago, when I turned 24, I made the terrible mistake of not celebrating my birthday. I didn’t have a party, nor a cake, and I told myself I didn’t need any of those things…and I really didn’t, but it wasn’t very fun. I would never make that mistake again!

So here this introvert was, on the brink of turning 29, not really knowing what to do to celebrate, but I knew I couldn’t do NOTHING….

So I decided to have my girlfriends over for cake and drinks and I AM SO GLAD I DID! It was relaxed and fun, I didn’t have to go anywhere, and my sweet hubby watched and put the baby down for me. 😉

I decided for the first time ever, that I was going to make my own birthday cake. The idea of a rum cake popped into my head and I decided to go for it. I looked through several recipes online and came across one that The Pioneer Woman used that looked simple and decadent, but there was one problem. Most Rum Cakes are not that special looking. They look more like a holiday dessert than a birthday cake. So I set out to make a a rum cake that had all of the magic of a birthday cake.

What you need: funfetti cake mix, canola oil, butter, eggs, dark rum, vanilla instant pudding, sugar, a bundt pan, and baking spray. Oh and don’t forget the sprinkles to decorate!

I just love funfetti cake mix! It always reminds me of elementary school birthday parties.

I started out by dumping the box mix into a bowl.

Add the instant pudding mix!

Then add the wet ingredients! Put the 4 eggs, 1/2 cup of cold water, 1/2 cup of canola oil, and 1/2 cup of dark rum in!

Whisk all the ingredients together!

Once your batter looks all smooth and creamy, its time to get your bundt pan ready.

Really spray the whole thing well with baking spray. The last thing you want is your cake to stick to the pan!

Pour in the batter.

Use a spatula to smooth out the batter evenly.

Bake your cake for 1 hour at 325 degrees.

While your cake is baking, prepare the rum glaze! Melt 1 1/2 sticks of butter in a sauce pan. Add 1/4 cup of water and 1 1/2 cups of sugar and boil for 4-5 minutes. Make sure to give it a good stir once and a while too!

Then, turn off the flame, and pour in the rum.

Stir and reheat the glaze for 30 more seconds.

Take out the cake and pour 1/3 of the rum glaze evenly over the top (really the bottom) of the cake and let stand for 5 minutes.

Carefully flip the cake over onto a cake plate and lift up the pan.

Then use a fork to poke holes all over the cake!

And I really do mean ALL OVER! The more holes, the more that rum glaze will seep into the cake to make it nice an moist.

Then spoon the glaze all over the cake. I would spoon some, let it soak in, and then repeat until the glaze was all gone.

Here is the rum soaked cake!

While the glaze was still sticky, I decided to decorate with a variety of sprinkles.

I used a combination of rainbow sprinkles, gold sprinkles, and star sprinkles.

Doesn’t it look so festive?

Everyone LOVED this cake! It was very delicious, moist, and full of rum!  I think this cake would be great for a 21st birthday too! 😉

I hope you enjoyed this version of rum cake!