Chocolate Rum Cake Soaked in Buttery Rum Sauce

Brownie-like, this chocolate rum cake is dense and rich without being too sweet, and it is packed with rum! I served it with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce, but it’s delicious on its own too.

The cake is easy to make, and you get this perfect rectangle shape by putting another loaf pan on top and putting something heavy in it.

My recipe has, believe it or not, less rum than the original recipe. It was the dessert for our family Christmas dinner, and I thought some people might not appreciate quite so much booze in their dessert (no, the kids didn’t eat any!) Most of the rum cooks off, but the last 1/4 cup (1/2 cup in the original) it still potent.

Feel free to use different proportions of chocolate. The original recipe didn’t specify which type of chocolate to use. I settled on some semi-sweet and some bittersweet, but depending on how sweet you like your desserts, you could use all of one, or half and half.

Enjoy!

What you need for the cake:

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (110 grams)
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (55 grams)
• 125 mL butter (1/2 cup)
• 250 mL black rum (1 cup)
• 4 eggs
• 125 mL granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
• 125 mL brown sugar (1/2 cup)
• 250mL flour (1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (5mL)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (2.5 mL)
• 125mL cocoa (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt (2.5 mL)

What you need for the  rum sauce:

• 125mL butter (1/2 cup)
• 60mL black rum (1/4 cup)
• 60mL granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
• 60mL more black rum (1/4 cup)

What you do:

1. Butter and flour a large loaf pan (5&1/2 by 10 inches). Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Place the chocolate, butter and 1 cup of rum in the top of a double boiler, or in a large bowl that you can microwave. Heat in the double boiler on low, or microwave for 30 seconds, whisk, then repeat until melted.
3. Whisk the sugars into the butter mixture, then whisk in the eggs one at a time.
4. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa into another bowl.
5. Add half the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing completely. Now add the other half and mix again.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes (original recipe says 1 hour), or until an inserted toothpick comes out cleanish (just not wet).
7. While the cake is baking, place the remaining butter, 1/4 cup rum, and sugar in a small pot. Boil for a few minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the remaining 1/4 cup of rum.
8. When the cake comes out of the oven, keep it in the pan and poke it all over with a skewer or toothpick. Pour the rum sauce over top – it will all get absorbed into the cake. Place another loaf pan on top of the cake, and weigh it down with something heavy like a rum bottle.
9. When the cake has cooled completely, flip it onto a serving dish. Serve on its own, with a little whipping cream, or ice cream and hot fudge sauce!