The Culinary Adventures of Luke and Lynn

One of the great things about being grown up is that you can decide to eat dessert first. So, in honor of that, The Culinary Adventures of Luke and Lynn will begin with a dessert. As will be true with most of my recipes, I did not create them, and so cannot take credit for the sheer brilliance behind most of them.

This one is from Marcus Samuelsson’s amazing cookbook Discovery of a Continent, a book full of unusual and wonderful African food. This was the first cake Luke and I ever made together, and it turned out beautifully! We immediately took it over to my parents’ and ate dessert with them one Sunday night. That’s when cooking becomes fun - when you can share it with others! So, I give you chocolate rum cake.

• 4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 pound unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
• 1/4 cup rum
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two 8-inch round cake pans and set aside.

Combine the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler and stir frequently until melted. Remove from the heat. Stir in the coffee, rum and sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Transfer to a large bowl and beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the flour, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder and baking soda. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and mix until well combined and slightly thickened.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let it cool, then top with whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon.

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Notes from Lynn:

Most Indonesian and Latin American coffees lack the sweet florals and fruitiness of African coffees.   We used Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo for the brewed coffee, but any African coffee will add just the right amount of sweetness for this cake. I would highly recommend Starbucks’ Arabian Mocha Sanani.
Instead of the two round cake pans, we used a bundt pan out of necessity and complete lack of desire to go to Bed Bath and Beyond.  It turned out great in the bundt, plus I think it looks prettier and more festive that way.