Mocha Rum Bundt Cake

Last night as I was going through my drafts folder trying to decide what to blog about today, I realized I was down to just 3 sweet recipes (make that 2 after today). Meanwhile, the savory folder was completely overflowing. I didn’t think I’d ever see the day when that happened! As you guys know, I love to bake and sweets tend to be about 75% of what appears on the blog. When I thought about it though, it made sense. I’ve made a few batches of ice cream in the past week or two, but otherwise, have had very little motivation to bake. I think it’s because (a) we’ve been busier than usual so there’s been less time for baking, and (b) we’re in that weird in between the seasons phase – I’m not quite ready to bake with apples and pumpkin (though I will confess to having done so once already) but the summer produce either doesn’t excite me anymore, or just looks terrible when I’m at the store shopping.

Fortunately, chocolate knows no season in my book, so it’s always a good option 🙂 I actually baked this bundt cake last month in honor of National Rum Day. I rarely drink rum, but I love the smell – it always brings back memories of the Caribbean cruises we’ve taken. The coffee and rum flavors in the cake aren’t distinct once it’s baked, they really just make the chocolate taste more complex. If you want a stronger rum flavor, some of the reviewers noted that they decreased the coffee to 1 1/3 cups and increased the rum to 1 full cup. Some even used coffee liqueur in place of the coffee so there are definitely options for playing around here. The chocolate cake is unbelievably moist, and even better (at least in my opinion) after a day in the fridge. I shipped this one off to work with Shane and he returned with an empty plate so I’d say it was a hit.

Mocha Rum Bundt Cake
from Gourmet, January 1994 (via Epicurious)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup dark rum
2 cups strong brewed coffee
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 F. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour.

Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the chocolate and butter to the metal bowl of your stand mixer and set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and attach to the mixer, which should be fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix in the rum, coffee and sugar, beating until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture, a little at a time, then beat in the eggs and vanilla until the batter is well combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 50 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool completely before turning it out. Store the cake, well wrapped, in the refrigerator.

I made the glaze from this recipe for the cake (not sure why it looks so different on the two cakes) but you can simply dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar to make life easier.