This mini rum carrot cake recipe may be the cutest thing you make all year. They are so cute and perfect for giving away to family and friends. They are also perfect for Valentine's Day.
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Happy New Year! 2017 is among us and it's time for me to come off my vacation and comply with all my New Year's resolutions. So for my first recipe for the new year, I decided to share this Mini Rum Carrot Cake Recipe. OK, I'm lying...I originally decided to share another recipe as the first recipe of the year and for some reason, I can't find where I wrote out the recipe. 2017 is off to a great start! No worries, I'm sure I will come across that recipe one of these days but for now, I think these mini rum carrot cakes are a great way to start the year.
One of my changes that I intend to make to the blog for this year is to incorporate more Caribbean and African recipes to the blog. I'm half Jamaican and half African (Sierra Leone) so it seems like something I should just do, right? Plus, hubby and daughter are asking for it so why not. This won't become a blog only dedicated to those kinds of recipes alone, at least I don't think it will, but I would love to recreate some dishes from my culture so you all can see some of the foods I grew up eating.
So what about that this lovely Rum Carrot Cake Recipe?!? Well...I asked my Jamaican grandmother for some recipes and she laughed at me. Thanks Granny! She wasn't one to write down her recipes and she sure didn't take photos and blog about them. However, she collected a few cookbooks and was happy to hand them over to me. One of those cookbooks was Caribbean Cookbook by Rita G. Springer, published in 1968. There was a Carrot Pudding with Rum Sauce Recipe that I had to try. So I ran to my kitchen, created the recipe, and it was not a pudding at all. Instead, the batter was more like a cake batter so I decided these would become mini rum carrot cakes. I decided to create a cream cheese rum glaze to cover these cakes because cream cheese glaze rocks. Like seriously, what other glaze is better?
I decided to make these mini because the batter is not enough for a full cake recipe. I didn't want to double it and felt that mini worked better for many reasons. First, these are great to give away around the Holidays and these are a perfect treat for Valentine's Day. I don't know about you all, but me and my hunny love boozy desserts for Valentine's Day. I think it's obvious why. Second, mini recipes are just the cutest!
Well there you have it. Full video demonstration on how I make these Mini Rum Carrot Cakes is below. Here's to a wonderful 2017!
Notes on Rum Carrot Cake
- I use a nice Jamaican dark rum for this recipe. It seems to create the best flavor for me.
- I grated my carrots by hand because I find grating soothing. I used the larger side of my grater as indicated in my video, resulting in larger pieces of carrot in my cake. Feel free to grate your carrots smaller.
- I used a good old fashioned zip lock bag to glaze the cake. Just place glaze in a ziplock bag, snip a corner, and glaze onto cake. Full demonstration is in video below.
Mini Rum Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups carrot grated
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon ground
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg ground
- ½ teaspoon salt
- .5 cup butter softened
- 1 egg
- ⅔ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup dark rum
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cups raisins
For the Cream Cheese Glaze
- 4 oz cream cheese
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon dark rum
- 2 Tablespoon milk (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Combine flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl and set aside.Cream butter in mixer until fluffy, about a minute. Add sugar until sugar and butter are fully combined. Add egg, vanilla, rum, and carrots and allow to mix in.Add flour mixture into butter mixture and mix until incorporated. Add raisins and stir in.Add batter to greased mini bundt pans. Place in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.Remove from oven and allow to cook on cooling rack.
Make Glaze
- While cake is baking, make glaze by creaming cream cheese in mixer until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and rum to mixture. Add milk if you want glaze to be thinner.
Place glaze in zip lock bag, snip a tiny piece of edge of zip lock bag, and glaze cake. Enjoy 🙂
Nutrition
Looking for more mini recipes for Valetine's Day? Try these Coffee Brownies for Two with Hazelnut Glaze
Looking for more Cake Recipes?
- Grapefruit Cake with Glaze
- The best Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Orange Poppyseed Cake
If you like this Caribbean recipe, you'll also like this Sweet Potato Pudding.
Pin Mini Rum Carrot Cakes for Pinterest
Tanya says
This is right up my alley. I could eat this and not feel guilty! Love it!
Margot says
You mini cakes look and sounds amazing!! To make things better they are healthy too.
Kimberly @ Berly's Kitchen says
These little cakes are super cute and look so delicious. Carrot cake is a classic and this is a great way to practice portion control.
Lynne Curry says
I love how you've decided to start sharing more recipes from your heritage. Also, any individual dessert is a winner in my book--especially with rum!
Tanya says
Thank you! My mother will be excited as well, I hope my readers will be too.
Kenya says
This sounds goooooood! Imma need to treat myself to this when i get back to making desserts!
Tanya says
Thank you! Yes, treat yoself!
Ayanna says
Yummy! This recipe spoke to Guyanese and African-American sides. I also love that it is mini, so I can try to control myself. 😉 Pinned!
Tanya says
Thank you!! I still always eat too many, lol
Donna Shana says
That cake looks amazing. My mom used to make rum balls and they were delicious! I might have to try this!
Tanya says
Thank you! I've never had rum balls. I might need to try that next.
Elizabeth says
These little cakes are so adorable! Perfect for portion control too for those of us trying to cut back in this New Year. 🙂
Tanya says
Thank you. Yes, perfect dessert size.
Keisha says
Omgeeeeee this looks and sounds so good! I think I could even make this from Korea. I love rum cake but never thought of having it as a carrot cake with rum. Thanks for sharing!
Tanya says
Thank you!!
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
This carrot cake sounds delicious. The addition of rum would certainly increase the flavour.
Tanya says
Thank you! Yes, rum is a great flavor enhancer.
Katrin says
I love carrot cake and I can imagine that rum will taste great in it. They look adorable!
Tanya says
Thank you! Carrot cake is one of my favorites too.
April says
Carrot cake is my FAVORITE! They look so cute. I could pop one after another lol! Saving it to my caribbean board! Yummy!
Tanya says
Thank you! I'm a huge fan of mini desserts just for that reason, lol.
Fred Nonterah says
This looks sooo yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Tanya says
No problem and thank you!
Sarah says
I've never been much of a fan of carrot cake but I do love rum cake. I will have to give this a shot!
Tanya says
Thanks. Carrot and rum make for a good mix.
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Hmmm...don't think I've ever had a carrot cake with rum in it! I need to change that, stat!
Tanya says
Yes, change it...you won't be dissapointed.