This is the tale of a well-guarded secret family recipe that’s turned into an extraordinary business success—The famous Cayman Islands’ Tortuga Rum Cake. It’s roots go back to the islands’ maritime days when the men come home from the sea with barrels of rum. Of course, the men swigged it, but the women discovered that the spirits could be used to make delicious, moist and tasty rum soaked cakes. The tradition continues today.
As was the custom, the Jackson family of Savannah, Grand Cayman had a particular ancestral recipe for rum cakes handed down through the generations. Carlene Jackson cashed in on it. Using the century-old recipe that she refined over the years, Carlene started baking rum cakes out of her apartment. Soon, local businesses and restaurants became interested and began selling the cake by the slice. A small but scrumptious venture was born.
Today, the business is a flourishing company with a modern bakery. It produces hundreds of regular size Tortuga Rum Cakes miniature ones daily, which are sold as individual portions at supermarkets, restaurants, and gift shops. The rum blend used for the cakes is as secret. The taste and moistness of the cakes comes from a special rum used to make them. This exclusive rum is not available to the public and is stored in aging oak barrels, which are tapped to let the golden liquor flow directly into the cake mixture.
The name, Tortuga was derived from the original name given to the Cayman Islands, Las Tortugas, which means “the turtles”.
News of Cayman’s famous Tortuga rum cake has spread worldwide. Islanders are especially fond to the cakes and resident Europeans love to send them to friends and family back home. The company also produces some of the best West Indian rums, a unique fruit punch, a coconut rum, rum cream and rum liqueur. The business has also developed several collectable decanters for the rum.
The Tortuga Rum Company is pleased with all the attention the cakes have generated, seeing it as positive publicity for the Cayman Islands and its tourism industry. The company has included a display of artifacts from the Caribbean’s rum and sugar industry at their headquarters. Visitors can get a look at the history of sugar and the process of rum making in the Caribbean and a free sample of the famous rum cake and fruit punch. According to The Tortuga Rum Company, their facility is able to produce between 5,000 and 6,000 Tortuga Rum Cakes each day in three sizes.
Visitors to the island should not pass up a trip to the bakery located at Rum Cake Lane and Tortuga Rum Avenue where they can sample trays of freshly baked rum cake and observe Tortuga Rum Cakes being baked, hand glazed, and packaged.
The copyright of the article The Tortuga Rum Cake Story in Latin Am/Caribbean Travel is owned by Melissa Rodriguez. Permission to republish The Tortuga Rum Cake Story in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
BACARDI’S FAMOUS RUM CAKE Recipe
 American Cakes Ingredients: 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts 1 18 1/2 oz. package yellow cake mix 1 3 3/4 oz. pkg. Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding and Pie filling. (Even if pudding is already in the cake mix.) 4 eggs 1/2 cup cold water 1/2 cup Wesson oil 1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum GLAZE: 1/4 pound butter(cube) 1/4 cup water 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan, or 12 cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter over nuts. Bake 1 hour. Cool. Invert cake onto a serving plate. FOR GLAZE: melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the water and sugar. Boil five minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in the rum. Prick all over the top of the cake. Drizzle and smooth glaze evenly over top and sides. Allow the cake to absorb the glaze completely. Repeat until glaze is used up. Have waxed paper underneath and continue to scoop up the glaze and add it until the cake is saturated. This is a rich, moist cake. A dollop of whipped cream can be added for a special touch.
