Chocolate-Rum Spiced Cake

CHOCOLATE-RUM 

SPICED CAKE

The thought of making my very first chocolate cake preoccupied my mind for the last two weeks. In the past, I rarely succeeded at baking, and taking on this challenge had a special meaning. I had to do it and prove to myself and others shy about their culinary skills that absolutely everything can be learned. All that is needed is common sense and determination. Besides, I thought to myself, if some 19-year-old apprentice at the bake shop can do it, so can I.

I jumped to my laptop to look for inspiration. The undertaking of this magnitude required vivid visual stimulation and a few photos of this mouthwatering dessert were expected to do the trick. The very first web page that caught my attention was that of Robyn's. Confidently, she promised to deliver The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe {Ever}. Inspired by her experience treating guests to what must have been a heavenly pastry, I decided to adopt her recipe as the foundation for a creation of my own. 

Carefully monitoring Marcus for signs of afternoon sleepiness, I was elated to see him rub his eyes within minutes of identifying the theme of tonight's blog post. He was ready for a nap and I looked forward to commencing the creative process in my new kitchen. Having halved Robyn's ingredients for the batter and icing- there was absolutely no point in baking for 12- I arranged the ingredients and began whisking them into a fragrant, smooth concoction. 

Batter Ingredients:

MEASUREMENT	INGREDIENT
1 cup	Unbleached all-purpose flour
250 g	Chocolate honey by Nixon
½ cup	Raw cocoa powder
1 tbsp	Baking soda
½ tsp	Sea salt
144 g	Callebaut baking chocolate
½ cup	1% milk
¼ cup	Organic extra-virgin coconut oil (melted)
1	Egg
1 tsp	Vanilla extract
1 tsp	Rum extract
½ tsp	Freshly ground cinnamon
½ tsp	Freshly ground nutmeg
½ cup	Freshly brewed coffee
½ tsp	Maca powder
¼ tsp	Ground chipotle chili pepper

*Highlighted ingredients indicate changes to Robyn's original recipe. 

Realizing that featuring a chocolate cake in my health-oriented blog might create some controversy, I made every effort to replace the known junk ingredients with healthier alternatives. Vegetable oil was replaced by organic extra-virgin coconut oil, white sugar gave way to raw, unpasteurized honey and organic coconut palm sugar and store-bought cocoa was succeeded by home-made raw cocoa powder with high ORAC* value. I also added several freshly ground spices (hence, spiced cake) and essences to add to the complexity of flavour.

Once thoroughly mixed, the batter was ready to be transferred into a round baking form and tossed in the oven (by then, pre-heated to 350°). Almost immediately, the aromas of chocolate, rum and coffee filled the house and, in due time, turned into a symphony of flavours, still detectable long after I was done baking. Stepping over the curious and always hungry pug shamelessly meddling in my business, I sat the timer for 25 minutes and started working on the icing. 

MEASUREMENT	INGREDIENT
½ cup	Butter
½ cup	Raw cocoa powder
½ cup	1% milk
70 g	Callebaut white baking chocolate
2/3 cup	Organic coconut palm sugar

The icing recipe too endured several modifications, including a significant reduction in sugar content. While Robyn's recipe called for 5 cups of sugar (!), my half would have been 2.5 cups. Instead, I only used 2/3 of a cup of coconut palm sugar and the result was still too darn sweet! I must be becoming intolerant of sugar, as I replaced pastries, white bread and chocolate for fresh and dried fruit and small amounts of honey for sweetening the morning coffee and an occasional hot chocolate.

Once fully baked, the cake had to cool. During that time, the icing should be put away in the fridge, lest it liquefies at high full-blown-baking temperatures. I then halved the cake and put the top half in the fridge for future use. The bottom half was quartered, so pieces could be stacked for a smaller cake. A word of caution: the cake is very soft and fluffy and needs to be handled with utmost care. The photo below shows some breakage, but it is easily assembled back together. Who is to see?

In my opinion, having 4 layers instead of 2 is superior, as they are thinner and contain more icing in between, making the cake more moist and flavourful. Before I stacked my quarters, I sprinkled them with original Jamaican rum to add a little je ne sais quoi to my recipe, then spread the icing between all layers and over the entire sculpture. To distinguish the cake a little further from Robyn's, I sprinkled white chocolate shavings on top and put it away in the fridge to cool. 

My very first chocolate cake was ready! And what a cake it was... Having served myself a thin slice, I died for the time it took to devour this piece of heaven over freshly brewed chamomile tea. The cake was good and I bathed in the sense of pride and accomplishment. ANYONE could do this, I thought to myself. And if everyone did, they too would feel able, grande and complete. 

*ORAC or Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity is a measurement of antioxidant activity in biological substances. The higher the ORAC level, the more antioxidants are in a particular food.