So sneaky! This cake is nothing but sneaky. It may not have the looks of a world class chocolate cake, but please don’t underestimate me when I tell you that this is one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever experiences.
If this chocolate cake were your blind date, you might think to yourself, well…. he’s not as tall as guys I usually date, and he’s a little dorky. But by the end of the night, you’re both laughing hysterically, he’s taken off his glasses to reveal quite a handsome man, and you’re already thinking about the cute pair of flats you’re going to buy so you’re not taller than him.
This is that cake. It’ll surprise you. It might seem a little short, and a little dorky, but trust me when I say it’s worth the leap of faith.
With the flavors of chocolate, coffee and rum, this cake tastes like it’s loaded with all the good things in the world. I topped mine with a simple rum glaze, but if served slightly warm, I think lightly sweetened whipped cream would be divine.
This Mocha Rum Cake is impossibly moist, and dense without being heavy. Let yourself be surprised by this little gem.
Mocha Rum Cake
adapted from Gourmet, January 1994
cocoa powder for dusting
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup dark rum
1 1/3 cups strong brewed coffee
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
confectioners’ sugar for dusting
lightly sweetened whipped cream
Preheat oven to 300°F. Butter a 4 1/2-inch-deep (12-cup) Kugelhupf or bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder, knocking out excess.
In a bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Remove chocolate from heat and stir in rum, coffee, and granulated sugar. With an electric mixer beat in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down side, and beat in eggs and vanilla until batter is combined well. The batter may seem very loose. That’s perfect! Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake cake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, about 1 hour and 50 minutes. Let cake cool completely in pan on a rack and turn it out onto rack. Cake may be made 3 days in advance and kept wrapped well and chilled.
Dust cake with confectioners’ sugar and serve with whipped cream.
I made a simple rum glaze with 2 cups powdered sugar and 2-3 Tablespoons of rum.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:17 pm
This looks delicious! I love your description too. Your blog is always fun to read.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Gorgeous cake!! I love the flavors too - I’ll have to try this one!
July 31st, 2008 at 10:30 pm
This looks so divine and I was thinking how to marry chocolate with something other than khalua. Thank you for the recipe. I will try it out. Since I am new to baking, a few questions. If I can’t find the rum that you shown here, will any rum do or must it be dark rum? Is there dark or light rum? Sorry, I don’t drink alcohol. 2nd question: I only have a tube pan. Will it work?
I love how you describe this cake in the posting.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:39 pm
This looks delicious! It has some of my very favorite flavors. Your glaze looks so pretty!
July 31st, 2008 at 11:29 pm
All I need now is a tall glass of milk! (and a slice of the cake - if u will be so kind as to fedex it to moi)
August 1st, 2008 at 1:26 am
Look at that moist slice! I loved that you compared it to a blind date! But hey who needs dates with this kind of cake arround?
August 1st, 2008 at 6:15 am
Good morning Joy…I have been reading your blog for a few months now and it is outstanding. I love every single thing you bake and I have made a few things so far that have always been the talk of the party. I have a problem though whenever I bake a bundt cake. When I put the glaze on it, it doesnt ever look right. Definitely doesn’t look anywhere close to yours! Do you wait a few hours before you put the glaze on? And should the glaze be super thick?
August 1st, 2008 at 6:59 am
Hi Yogi- The recipe calls for dark rum but I didn’t have that on hand. Go ahead and use any rum, dark or light, that you have around. And a tube pan would be fine. Just make sure it’s large enough to hold all the batter- a 12 cup pan.
Hi Rachel- Definitely cool the Bundt cake for a few hours before you pyt a glaze on. Make sure the cake is completely cool or the glaze will just run off. I always use a pretty thick glaze because gravity always pulls it down the cake and thins it out. Happy baking!
Thanks for everyone’s comments! I always love to hear from you!
August 1st, 2008 at 7:32 am
this sounds (and looks) wonderful–and your description is hysterical!
August 1st, 2008 at 7:34 am
This seems like the kind of secret cake that you never knew had the potential to make you want to eat the entire thing, but then you look back at the cake the next day and voila! it’s gone
ps. those slightly dorky guys that aren’t the hunks are my FAVORITE.
August 1st, 2008 at 7:50 am
Hehehe..I giggled for five minutes when I read this. It looks delicious! Funny girl.
August 1st, 2008 at 8:35 am
Mmm, I love these pictures…so moist and delicious looking!! Perfect description, too!
P.S. That blind date guy you described?….I’m married to him!! Hahaha! Geeks make the best husbands!
August 1st, 2008 at 8:45 am
The first picture of this cake makes me want to lounge in the middle of it and get sticky with all of the drippy icing, I love it!
I have a question though. Do you think using a flavored rum would work just as well with this? I just thought maybe it could add another level of flavor perhaps?
Thank you.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:13 am
Joy,
Question…if I make this cake for our Movie Night extravaganza in Bryant Park, do you think I would be the most popular girl at the party? Chrissy says you have to tell me…
-Sarah
August 1st, 2008 at 10:16 am
Also, are you concerned I’ll die of heat stroke if I bake this is my tiny-ass apartment in Queens this weekend?
-Sarah
August 1st, 2008 at 10:17 am
Sara- I might stay away from the rum flavoring for this cake. You really won’t need it with a whole cup of the real stuff
Sarah Jackson- You will definitely be the most popular girl at the party with this Rum Cake. Also try a low cut top. Those help too
August 1st, 2008 at 10:50 am
Looks like yet another winner that I’ll have to try!
August 1st, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Wait…I didn’t think this cake was dorky looking at all. On the contrary, I thought it was quite a handsome cake. Does that mean I have odd taste in cakes and men?!
August 1st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
No, not a rum flavoring, but a flavored Rum like Malibu? Sorry, If I am a bit confused lol
August 1st, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Looks so moist! Delicious!
August 1st, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I was wondering - we aren’t big coffee/mocha fans in my family, but I don’t want to skip out on a valuable moistening agent if that’s what the coffee turns out to be. That said, do you have any ideas of what to substitute for the coffee and how much?
But, wow, that thing looks delicious!!
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:16 am
…mmm! Sounds good. I’ll be visiting my mom soon and these are the types of cakes she loves. And it just so happens her birthday is right around the corner.
Thanks for a great recipe Joy!;)
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 am
wow, what an awesome recipe! I love sneaky recipes!!!! I love your recipes and site and keep ‘em comin’!!!!!
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:09 am
i LOVE your blog.
love the writing and everything looks fantastic.
just one thing.
i’m not too keen on the taste of rum.
do you think theres anything i can replace it with?
looks yummy!
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:14 pm
This cake looks to die for! So moist and tempting! Loved your post, it made me smile, as you always do
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
It looks super moist!
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Would this work in a regular springform cake tin? I’ve got no bundt pan
lol @ your description, although my geek is taller than me yay!
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Ah Joy….been reading the blog for a while and every time I think you’ve said or done it all, you whack me with a new one! Now I have to go out tomorrow and buy some rum and make this cake. Keep up the great thinking girl, you are the QUEEN!!
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Hi Joy, I made this cake today. I only made used of what bittersweet chocolate I have so it’s not high quality. The crust came out real hard and dry after 1hr 50 mins. My tube-pan is slightly gray (not completely dark) so I guess I should have lowered the temp or check the cake at 1 hr 30 mins or so. I had to saw off the crust (top & sides) so it’s not the best looking cake in the world right now.
But inside, the cake is moist and one word my kids used to describe it, “Yummy!!” Since I don’t like glaze, I made a simple chocolate buttercream for it. It goes pretty well together.
If you have any suggestions so that the cake won’t have a hard crust anymore, I would love to try this recipe again. Thank you for sharing this.
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:09 am
That cake is spectacular. You’re making my mouth water.
Great blog too btw
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:43 pm
That looks so moist and chocolaty and good!
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Rum, chocolate, vanilla? Oh yeah, now we’re talking. It looks like it tastes delish. Whenever I make bundt cakes I hate to photograph them because, they are so, well, hard to photograph and not really camera friendly, but they taste sooo divine. But I have to admit your angle of photographing it worked really well.
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I just bought bottle of dark rum, and was wondering what to do with it. I love coffee, so this looks great.
August 4th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Rum cakes is one of my most loved things in the world. Add chocolate and I’m so sold!
August 4th, 2008 at 8:26 am
sounds and looks like a delicious cake. great post!
August 5th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Wow, look out tortuga! I will try this one, for sure.
August 5th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Wow, if this is better than your chocolate-orange bundt cake (currently my favorite non-layer cake), I’ll be very impressed! Think I could substitute Kahlua for the Rum? Thanks!
August 5th, 2008 at 6:32 am
this looks really moist and delicious. magnificent photos too.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:24 am
That cake looks gorgeous. With those flavours together you really can’t go wrong!
August 6th, 2008 at 1:05 am
[...] the holiday’s my Mother makes a delicious rum cake that disappears after a day. When I saw this recipe, I thought what could be better than this sinfully delicious treat? Who needs a holiday to make [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Ohhhhh yes… and is he single? Because if so, I’m bringing him back to my place
Mmmmmm!
August 7th, 2008 at 1:33 am
I’d like to have that for breakfast or any time really! Rum and cake were made for each other!
August 17th, 2008 at 1:03 am
I made the cake yesterday and it was a real hit! Super moist and the rum showed up nicely, great for anytime of the day! I halved the recipe and baked it in a loaf pan though, skipped the glaze too, as we don’t like our cake too sweet. Thanks for such a delicious post!
August 24th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I finally got around to making this delectable little creature and am I glad I did! It’s fantastic!! The only change I made was to add about 1/2 tsp of mexican vanilla to the glaze…YUM!!
If interested, pics will be on my blog sometime tomorrow.
Joy - Thank you, yet again, for another winner. You really are becoming my ‘go to’ blog for ALL things yummy.
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
[...] know why I don’t have her in my links section… That has now been fixed! Anyway…her Mocha Rum cake recipe (adapted from Gourmet) had been dwelling in my bookmarks for a while before I finally mustered [...]
November 3rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Thanks again for posting this fantastic recipe!
It really is an amazingly velvety rich cake, even when you make it with Tia Maria!
Also, if I could vote in the American elections I’d vote for Obama too
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:32 pm
My first try at this cake is in the oven as I type this, fingers crossed. I wanted to thank you for the recipe and the laughs
We all need more friends like you!
February 20th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
This cake is a huge win! It’s like a top-notch version of a moist, dense, chocolatey brownie. In mine, both the coffee and rum flavors are pretty subtle; next time I’ll break out the dark rum instead of the golden, and stronger coffee. Plus, it’s enormous, and a sliver is plenty for even the heartiest dessert lover. Thank you!
May 8th, 2009 at 9:39 am
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June 22nd, 2009 at 3:13 pm
i made this cake today, it is divine.but, i wasn’t sure about how to make the glaze.you said 2 cups powdered sugar and 2-3 tbsp rum. should i add water?