Rum substitute

Best substitute

Rum extract plus water or juice

Half a teaspoon of rum extract plus enough water or apple juice to reach 1 tablespoon

Best for rum cake

Close match

The most direct answer for baking, because extract is concentrated rum flavour without the alcohol.

Other rum substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Bourbon or whiskey
Different taste
Use the same amount
The most likely bottle already in the house, and a genuinely good stand-in wherever rum is a background flavour.
What changes
Best for
bread pudding, bananas foster, pecan pie, barbecue glazes, bundt cakes, tiramisu, cocktails
Bourbon brings oak, vanilla and a little charred sweetness instead of rum's molasses and tropical fruit, so a banana dessert made with it tastes woodier and slightly drier, less like brown sugar. In bananas foster it is excellent. Avoid peated Scotch here, which turns a dessert medicinal.
3Brandy or cognac
Different taste
Use the same amount
The traditional European choice for exactly the same jobs, and closer than whiskey in texture and sweetness.
What changes
Best for
fruitcake, mincemeat, tiramisu, flambe dishes, cherries jubilee, custards, soaking cakes
Brandy is grape-based, so the flavour tilts toward dried apricot and raisin rather than molasses. A soaked fruitcake made with brandy tastes brighter and more perfumed; a rum one tastes darker and sweeter. Both age and preserve the cake equally well.
4White rum swapped for dark, corrected with molasses
Close match
Use the same amount plus 1 teaspoon molasses or dark brown sugar per quarter cup
For when the recipe says dark or aged rum and the bottle in the cupboard is clear.
What changes
Best for
rum cake, glazes, jerk marinades, barbecue sauce, puddings, caramel sauces
White rum is clean and slightly grassy, with none of the barrel-aged caramel depth, so a rum glaze made with it tastes thin and boozy rather than rich. The molasses fixes both the colour and the flavour. Do the reverse swap freely: dark rum in a mojito or daiquiri simply makes a heavier, browner drink.
5Cachaca or blanco tequila (for cocktails)
Different taste
Use the same amount
Cachaca is also made from sugarcane, which makes it the closest relative to white rum on any back bar.
What changes
Best for
mojitos, daiquiris, punches, highballs, mixed drinks
Cachaca is made from fresh cane juice rather than molasses, so it is grassier and more vegetal, and a mojito made with it tastes sharper and more herbal, which many people prefer. Blanco tequila brings a peppery mineral edge and turns a daiquiri into what is essentially a margarita without the orange. Either way the drink is a cousin, not a copy.
6Pineapple or apple juice with vanilla (no alcohol)
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume, plus a quarter teaspoon vanilla extract and a few drops molasses per quarter cup
The alcohol-free option, aimed at rum's tropical-fruit and caramel notes rather than its heat.
What changes
Best for
alcohol-free baking, soaking syrups, glazes, family desserts, marinades
This tastes sweet, fruity and pleasant but not really of rum, since the sharp barrel-aged edge is missing. Cut other sugar in the recipe to compensate for the juice. For tiramisu, strong cold espresso plus a quarter teaspoon of rum extract per quarter cup does a much better job than juice.

What is Rum?

Rum is Rum is a spirit distilled from sugarcane molasses or fresh cane juice, sold as clear white rum, mellow gold, deep dark or aged rum, and heavily sweetened spiced rum, with the darker styles carrying strong notes of molasses, caramel, vanilla and dried fruit.

Cooking tips

Rum is doing three separate things in a rum cake: flavouring the crumb, providing liquid, and preserving the cake as it sits. If you swap in an extract, keep the liquid volume the same and treat the cake as a fresh bake rather than something to wrap and age.
Rum extract is strong. Half a teaspoon replaces a full tablespoon of rum, so measuring by eye is a mistake. Too much reads as artificial and slightly soapy.
For a rum soaking syrup, brush it on while the cake is still warm and the syrup is warm too, in a few thin coats rather than one flood. A warm crumb absorbs; a cold one sits in a puddle and goes gummy on the base.
Only a spirit near 40 percent alcohol will light for a flambe, so overproof or standard dark rum works and rum extract, juice or a low-alcohol wine absolutely will not. Warm the rum briefly first, take the pan off the heat before adding it, and stand back.
Spiced rum is already sweetened and dosed with vanilla and cinnamon, so it is not a neutral swap for plain rum. If a recipe wants dark rum and you use spiced, reduce the sugar slightly and go easy on any cinnamon or nutmeg the recipe adds.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the rum out?

In a batter where rum is a tablespoon or two, yes, and few people would notice. Replace it with the same volume of milk, water or juice so the batter's consistency stays right. In a rum cake, a rum glaze or a soaked fruitcake, rum is a headline flavour, so leaving it out gives a plain cake rather than a slightly weaker version. Use extract plus liquid instead.

How much rum extract equals rum?

Roughly half a teaspoon of extract per tablespoon of rum, or 2 teaspoons of extract per quarter cup, with the remaining volume made up with water, milk or juice. Extract varies in strength between brands, so taste the batter or syrup and adjust upward slowly.

Does the alcohol bake off completely?

No. A baked cake retains a small amount, and an unbaked soaking glaze retains a lot. If you are baking for children, someone pregnant or anyone avoiding alcohol entirely, use rum extract or the juice option rather than counting on evaporation.

Which rum is best for baking?

A dark or aged rum, because the molasses, caramel and vanilla notes are what read as rum flavour after baking. White rum mostly contributes alcohol and disappears. Spiced rum works but brings its own vanilla and spice, which you should account for in the recipe.

Can I use vanilla extract instead of rum?

For small amounts in baking, yes. Use 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract plus 2 teaspoons of water to replace a tablespoon of rum. It will taste of vanilla rather than rum, which is fine in a cake or cookie and unconvincing in a rum glaze where rum is the whole point.

Related substitutes

More liquor substitutes

Rum substitute

Other rum substitutes

2Bourbon or whiskey

3Brandy or cognac

4White rum swapped for dark, corrected with molasses

5Cachaca or blanco tequila (for cocktails)

6Pineapple or apple juice with vanilla (no alcohol)