Rum cake

Of course J got his birthday cake as well. It was a bit thin, thinner than I expected, but I guess it is my fault I do not have a 7- or 8-inch cake pan, but a bigger one. I did changed the original recipe a bit, in order to fill my big cake pan, but it did not work. So I suggest you to use a small cake pan to get a nice and thick cake.

6 tbsp flaked coconut

125 g bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces

5 tbsp unsalted butter

3 tbsp light rum

4 large eggs

4 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp flour

0.25 tsp salt

# In a baking dish toast 4 tbsp coconut flakes in a middle of a preheated 180 degrees C oven until it just begins to colour (about 10 minutes). Transfer it to a small bowl and let it cool.

# In a heavy saucepan over a very low heat melt the butter with the chocolate, also add the rum. Stir until the mixture is smooth and remove from heat.

# Separate the eggs. In a bowl whisk together the yolks, 2 tbsp sugar, flour and salt. Stir in the chocolate mixture and the remaining 2 tbsp flaked coconut.

# In another bowl with an electric mixer beat the egg whites until stiff. Stir the whites gently but thoroughly into the mixture.

# Pour the mixture into a buttered 7-8-inch pan and bake at 180 degrees C for about 40-45 minutes. The top will puff up and crack, and it is ok.

# Let cool in the pan or on a rack. The cake will fall as it cools.

While the cake is in the oven, prepare the frosting:

4 tbsp (60 g) butter

1 tbsp light rum

0.25 tsp salt

10 tbsp confectioners’ sugar

 

# In a bowl with and electric mixer cream the butter, add rum, salt and confectioners’ sugar. Beat the frosting until it is light and fluffy.

# Cover cooled cake with frosting and top with toasted coconut flakes. I added some strawberries as well, I thought it made the cake a bit prettier and more like a birthday cake.

You can actually make the cake 1 day in advance and keep it covered and chilled until you frost it.

As I had some extra strawberries, I served the cake with some smashed strawberries - bit there is actually no need to serve it with a sauce because it is pretty moist already.