Dark Chocolate Spiced Rum Cake with Caramel Rum Frosting

Rum + Frosting + Chocolate in a dessert. This is what I was requested to make for a recent dinner party. We were so excited that a few of our good college friends were coming to visit our new house. So what did I do? Planned a dinner party, of course! This is the yummy dessert I came up with and served to our wonderful friendy friends.

With LOVE from Texas,
The Pint-Sized Mayo

Dark Chocolate Spiced Rum Cake with Caramel Rum Frosting

Yields 1 (12 cup/10-inch) Bundt Pan Cake

Ingredients for the cake:

• 1.5 cups (12 ounces) strong brewed coffee
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
• zest of one large orange
• 1 cup Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
• 1.75 cups (3.5 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2  cups white granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup spiced rum (I used Captain Morgan’s)
• 2 large eggs
• 1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for the frosting:

• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup light coconut milk
• 3/4 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons spiced rum (I used Captain Morgan’s)
• 2 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)

Directions:

First brew the coffee and allow it to come to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and orange zest. Set aside for later.

Preheat oven to 300°F. Spray the bundt pan with nonstick baking spray. (It usually contains oil and flour. If you are old school, you can cover the pan in butter and then dust it with cocoa powder.)

Once the coffee has cooled, add the cocoa powder to it. Mix until everything is combined.

Melt butter and chocolate chips in a double boiler (in a pan over hot boiling water, but not touching the boiling water – I used my large stand mixer stainless steel bowl). Whisk to combine.

Once completely mixed, remove from heat, and add the coffee mixture and 3/4 cup rum. Combine well. Add the sugar and whisk until everything is combined and smooth.

Whisk in flour mixture slowly (I do mine in thirds) into the liquid until all the flour mix has been incorporated fully.

Next, whisk in one egg at a time, and then finally the vanilla extract.

Pour batter in the prepared cake pan, and place in the oven.

Bake for about 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a bamboo skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow cake to cool completely in the bundt pan.

As you can see, my cake baked out of the pan a little. This is the time for quality control! Level it with a knife and have a little taste test. 😉

To make the frosting, start by making a caramel liquid. In a small saucepan over medium heat, slowly melt the sugar. Be sure to stir it continuously to melt evenly and avoid sticking.

When the sugar turns a dark caramel color, remove heat, and slowly pour in the heavy cream while continuing to stir. (It is ok if the mixture clumps a bit.) Return the pan to the burner and turn it on to a medium heat. Stir the mixture until everything is completely combined. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 2 minutes longer, while still stirring.

Pour the burnt caramel mixture into a heatproof liquid measuring cup (I used my Pyrex one.). Add in the coconut milk to make a total of 2/3 cup of liquid. Add the lemon juice, and whisk to combine.

Put the caramel mixture, butter, and rum, in a large bowl. (I used my stand mixer bowl with paddle attachment.) Beat with handheld mixer or paddle attachment until mixed.

Slowly add  (to avoid making a mess) the confectioners’ sugar until the frosting is well combined, shiny, and smooth.

Flip the bundt cake pan over on what you want to serve it on (in my case it was a cake board so I could put it on my cake pedestal with dome). If you greased the pan correctly and let the cake cool completely, the cake should slide out very easily!

Finally, drizzle the frosting over the top of the bundt cake. Allow the frosting set before serving.

Enjoy!!

“Maria Portokalos: What is it?
Harriet Miller: It’s a bundt.
Maria Portokalos: A bun?
Harriet Miller: A bundT.
Maria Portokalos: A bondt?
Harriet Miller: BUNDT BUUNDT!!
Maria Portokalos: It’s a cake! I know! Thank you! Thank you very, very much.
[whispering to Aunt Freida]
Maria Portokalos: There’s a hole in this cake! ”
– My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Bite-sized Rolo Brownies

Chocolate and caramel…a winning combo for enticing desserts. Although you could make this in a square pan, I feel like it’s more fun to make them miniature. Plus mini things are cuter, right? 😀

With LOVE from Texas,
The Pint-Sized Mayo

Bite-sized Rolo Brownies

Yields about 4.5 dozen mini cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white granulated sugar, sifted
• 1 cup brown sugar, sifted
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 1.25 cups cocoa, sifted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 (12 ounces) bag Rolo candy
• 5 ounces Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, straight out of the fridge

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300°F, and spray a mini cupcake/muffin pan with non-stick spray. You can also use liners if you prefer (which I did – mostly because I was excited to use my new ones).

Sift the sugars in a medium sized bowl and set aside.

In a stand mixer bowl (or can use a large bowl and hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer), place the eggs and use whisk attachment. Beat them until they are light yellow and fluffy. Next add both sifted sugars and combine fully.

Add the butter, cocoa, vanilla, flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly.

Pour the batter into the prepared mini cupcake pan, and place a Rolo in the center and bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a mini cupcake comes out clean.

Allow the pan to cool for 5 minutes before removing them. (It’s ok if they deflate some…that’s to be expected.)

While you are cooking and cooling the brownie bites, you can make the chocolate topping. Place the chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Melt it in 30 second increments at 50% power until it is all melted and mixing in between the microwave heating sessions.

Spoon about 1 teaspoon over each mini cupcake brownie.

Serve along side a glass of milk or nice glass of red wine!

Enjoy!!

“What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.” – Katherine Hepburn