chocolate-rum cake

When it comes to baking, I don't mess around with recipes. Especially when baking cakes.

I can improvise on pretty much anything, but baking is trickier than a pasta or soup or meat dish.

If you don't do it just right, you can ruin a lot of great ingredients.

So when I find a good recipe, I honor it by not trying to get creative.

And this chocolate-rum cake recipe is not just good, it is freaking GREAT!

It is from a Bon Appetit special issue on the Caribbean from April of 2006.

When I make this, I serve it with homemade whipped cream (I like to add a hint of almond extract) and fresh berries.

This time I made a raspberry puree. The raspberries had a bit of tartness that worked well with the sweetness of the cake.

Chocolate-rum cake

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon dark rum

9 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

15 tablespoons butter (2 sticks minus 1 Tbs) cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar

6 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup chilled whipping cream

Preheat oven to 300.

Butter and flour 9-inch diameter springform pan.

Boil 1/2 cup of rum in heavy small saucepan until reduced to 2 tablespoons, around 3 minutes.

Cool.

Place chocolate and butter in a saucepan and melt over low heat, stirring constantly.

Cool slightly.

Whisk 1 1/2 cups sugar, egg yolks and reduced rum into chocolate mixture.

Using electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Fold 1/3 of egg white mixture into chocolate in saucepan, then fold that mixture into remaining egg whites.

Sprinkle flour over the batter and fold in until just blended (don't over mix) and then transfer batter into prepared pan.
Bake cake until top puffs and cracks and tester inserted comes out with very moist crumbs, around 45 minutes.

Cool completely in pan before trying to remove outer ring.

Can be made 1 day ahead, cool and store covered tightly at room temperature.

To serve, whip cream with 1 Tbs sugar and a bit of almond extract. I add a bit, tasting as I go until I get the right amount for my taste.

For the raspberry puree, I used an immersion blender to puree a small package of fresh berries and then strained out the seeds by pressing the puree through a fine mesh strainer. Once the seeds were removed, I stirred in about a tablespoon of sugar.

This is also great with any type of berry.