Rum and Chocolate Cake in a Jar

Desserts like this one, while look fancy, are easy to make and the taste – well let’s just say the jars will be squeaky clean!  The key to making this cake scrumptious is to use good-quality ingredients and that means using chocolate that contains 70% cocoa.  Do not use milk chocolate in this recipe as it is less suitable for baking.

Chocolate comes from yellow pods that hang from the cocoa tree.  If you’ve never had the opportunity to see a cocoa pod, they’re huge!  Last year my daughter and I visited Mast Brothers Chocolate in Brooklyn.

 

The pods weigh about a pound and contain 40 to 60 beans. When the pods are ripe, they are gathered and opened to reveal the cocoa beans within. These cocoa beans are then dried in the sun and allowed to ferment. This helps to develop the rich flavor of chocolate.

After drying, the beans are washed, dried, cured, roasted, and eventually crushed to remove the shells of the bean (nibs)…this process reminds me a bit of how coffee beans are handled minus the crushing.  The nibs are further roasted and crushed to get a paste which is known as cocoa mass. This is the essence from which all chocolate is made.

Serves 4 
by Sweet Paul

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
9 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1⁄2 cup sugar
1⁄2 cup light brown sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons dark rum
3 tablespoons very strong coffee
whipped cream for serving

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Place butter and chocolate in a double boiler and melt together.  Pour the mixture into a large bowl with sugars and mix until dissolved.  Add eggs, baking powder, rum, and coffee. Stir well until smooth.  Pour into 4 well-greased pint jars and bake for 30 minutes. They will rise up and fall again— they are supposed to fall. Let them cool slightly and serve with whipped cream.

espresso for the cake

The Culinary Chase’s Note: OH MY GOSH!  I was craving chocolate and this satisfied every ounce of that craving and more! I will most definitely be making this one again – very soon!  I’m not a big fan of dark rum but do like the Brazilian white rum, Leblon.  I used jam jars but you can use whatever jar that grabs your fancy.   Enjoy!

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