Flourless Chocolate Rum Cake

In ancient Greece, Muses were beautiful goddesses who inspired great creativity in literature, painting, dance, and music. A visit from the Muses, along with their gifts of inspiration and genius, were coveted by every artist with a vision. Great poets lusted after the perfect words; artists dreamed of the right shades and subtle tones; and musicians yearned to hear lithe melodies and swelling harmonies. Inspiration was a gift the Muses bestowed upon you, often without warning. The Muses would visit as they pleased, blessing a sacred few with true beauty while ignoring the pleas of the struggling or desperate. The Muses were wild and untamed, never to be controlled or willed upon.

Nevertheless, many great poets would call upon the Muses in their work, hoping to be blessed with their gifts of wisdom and virtuoso as they put pen to paper.

"Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who traveled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy..." -Homer

After studying a great deal of Latin and, in turn, ancient Greece, I often find myself wishing for my own visit from the Muses. I imagine them lounging around above the clouds, holding in all the creativity, the genius, the beauty, that will ever be written, painted, or spoken. Shall we sweep down to Kristin and peer though her camera lens today? They will discuss among themselves. No? Perhaps tomorrow. I heard Adele is writing a new song...

Of all the gods and goddesses, the Muses were revered by the artists above all. In my own occasional pits of creative despair, I have no trouble believing this affirmation. Often my photography simply refuses to match the beautiful images I've conjured up in my mind. The beauty is lost in translation somewhere between my vision and the click of the camera's shutter.

Words escape my fingers when I sit down to write. Sometimes I imagine that if I can ever express something so succinctly, so accurately, I can hang up my apron and my work will be done. Yet, I feel the Muses grant no one that pleasure.

Even so, I feel the Muses heard Homer's call when he composed The Odyssey, blessing him with the expression "child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn." Years later, this simple phrase still sends a shiver through my mind—I could not write such a perfect description if I lived a thousand years.

Despite my personal struggles with the mythical Muses, I like to imagine they hold a real presence in this world. For anyone who pursues artistry, knowing the Muses are out there is like taking a collective sigh of relief. The Muses take away the responsibility of creativity or genius from ourselves. They bestow these gifts alone. If the words do not flow, I am not to blame. If another one of my recipes fails extraordinarily, the Muses must have certainly played a hand. And, if the photographs of this Flourless Chocolate Rum Cake don't quite measure up to the images swimming about my head, we can always blame the Muses.

Perhaps they have taken the day off.

This Flourless Chocolate Rum Cake melts in your mouth like a rich, chocolate truffle. The cake itself is flourless (this is for you, gluten-free friends!) and sets using eggs and a hint of cocoa powder. With a heavy shot of rum, this cake is not for the kids. The alcohol does not bake out of the cake and your nose may feel a little tingly after the first bite. Imagine a chocolate rum truffle, make it just a little bit lighter in texture, and you have this sinful cake.

If you want to eliminate the rum, simply substitute it with 1/3 cup water.

One Year Ago: Chocolate Chip Cookie Pops

Flourless Chocolate Rum Cake with Chocolate Rum Glaze

Yields 1 8-inch cake

Chocolate Rum Cake
6 ounces (1 cup) dark or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup dark or light rum

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease an 8-inch baking pan and set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt together chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, transfer to a mixing bowl, and mix in the sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing until smooth between each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and rum until well mixed.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out relatively clean with a few crumbs. Do not over-bake or the cake will become dry. Allow cake to cool in pan for 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.

Chocolate Rum Glaze
4 ounces (2/3 cup) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon rum

In a small saucepan, melt together chocolate and butter, mixing until smooth. Stir in the rum. Spread evenly over cooled cake.

Comments

[Caroline @ chocolate & carrots]

Wow, this looks so amazingly moist! :-D

[thelittleloaf]

Wow. So this is basically just a giant chocolate truffle in cake form? Yes please!

[SamCyn]

I've made rum cake before, but never with chocolate...gotta try this one for sure ;) Thanks for sharing!

[Rachel]

I am going to make this with whiskey for a whiskey tasting party my husband and I are going to tonight.

[Melinda @cookingalamel]

This cake looks absolutely delicious. I make chocolate pots de crème with rum, and I love flourless chocolate cake, so I'm sure this is outstanding.
I totally understand what you mean about photographs not living up to what you've envisioned, and I like the idea of blaming the Muses. Good plan, that. I love greek mythology - I love to see a fellow ancient Greece fan!

[Evan Thomas]

I'm so glad I clicked over from food gawker to read this post. I'm a Classics undergrad. I've never compared food blogging to the Odyssey. If anything I think Odysseus had it easy; he never had to learn how to code a website or use a DLSR. All he had to do was get out from Polyphemus' cave. :-)

[Becca - cookie jar treats]

Your posts arevalways so beautifully written and your pictures are never below stunning. It's hard to imagine that you don't think that the Muses come to you, I think you are constantly surrounded by them, or at least when it come to this blog.

This cake looks fantastic and densevand fudgy and just perfect. Thanks for giving an alternative to the rum in this cake. I never know what to use in place of alcohol when making desserts, so I try to stay away from alcohol based desserts.

[Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar]

MMmmmm what a cake!

[Medeja]

Awesome recipe! I was looking for something like this, cause I have like 1/2 bottle of rum that hasn't been used quite for some time.

[Becki]

would this world with another spirt like kirsh or irish cream do you think?

[Kristin Rosenau]

Melinda-- It's always nice to have someone else to blame for a lack of creativity, isn't it? :)

Evan-- Agreed, haha!

Becca-- Thank you so much! You are much too kind. :) I know people have kids and or don't drink alcohol and it would be such a shame for them to miss out on something just because of it!

Becki-- No reason it shouldn't!

[Erica]

I made this for my friend's birthday last night... oh my goodness, to die for!! Thank you so much for this recipe! It's definitely a repeat!

[Mai]

I'm going to make this for my mother in law birthday. Beautiful photos!

[Jenny]

I have allways that line from Homer, and think abouth it every time I see a beautifull sunrice :-)

[Judie Ashford]

Can you think of any reason not to use amoretto in place of the rum? I don't care for the taste of most alcohol-based foods, but my husband adores amoretto, and I would make it like that for him. Thanks.

[Kristin Rosenau]

Judie-- Amaretto would work just fine. I hope your husband enjoys it! :)

[Laura]

I'm not an expert about alcohol, would frangelico work in this or is that too sweet? Excited to make it :)

[Tracie]

I found this post on Pinterest yesterday -couldn't get it out of my head, so I made it today. I swear, this was one of the best cakes I've ever made -fantastic! Thank you!

[Quin]

Question: I don't know a lot about alcohol but is there a huge difference between light/dark rum and coconut rum? Because I would love to try this with some coconut rum and make an almond joy/mounds mini cake!

[Kristin Rosenau]

Quin-- Light, dark, or coconut rum would work for this. Go wild!

[nora kelly]

I tried this and love it but why did my cake sink in the middle? The glaze also was too runny I wonder if I should have stirred it up longer than I did?

[Alyce]

I made this cake yesterday with spiced rum & decorated the glaze with strawberries. Easily the best chocolate cake I have ever made! I'm now following you on Bloglovin :-)

[Sharon]

If you don't use rum, maybe you could sub in 1/3 cup of strong black coffee.

[Jennifer]

Would you recommend using dutch or natural cocoa powder?

[Kristin Rosenau]

Jennifer-- I would recommend a dutch processed cocoa powder. The cocoa is a little less bitter and often smoother, which complements the dessert well.

[Cat]

I made this today. Had trouble, as always, turning the cake out of the pan, so it's a bit lumpy under the glaze. But it tastes AWESOME. Thank you!

[yovinia]

Hey, I have a question so you used a mixer when preparing the batter or did you just stir it until its well mixed?

[Kristin Rosenau]

Yovinia-- You could do it either way! If you use a mixture, just beat until the egg is fully incorporated. If you do it by hand it may take a little more muscle with a whisk, but you will dirty less dishes. It's really up to your personal preferences here.

[Joss]

Hello,

Is there a specific kind of cocoa powder that you can recommend?

[Kristin Rosenau]

Joss-- I suggest a high quality cocoa powder. Generally, the darker the powder, the higher quality it is, but you could also go with a personal favorite if you have a particular brand that you enjoy.

[lulu]

absolutely delicious! surprised someone for their 30th so I made two of these cakes and then layered them with chocolate butter cream and rum balls. The cake was lovely, very moist and rich

[Dahlia Salama]

It's a very tasty & rich one!! Made it once at a birthday, was almost finished!

[Avid Baker]

I was inspired by your photos, so I made this for dinner guests. I used bourbon, because that's what I had in the cupboard, and it was delish! It looked AMAZING, too, with raspberries and some Devonshire cream. My guests were totally impressed. And it tasted even better the next day, when the chocolate and bourbon flavours had melded nicely. Thanks for the recipe!

[Amanda]

Any recommendations for a 9-inch pan? I would love to bake this rum cake today and realized that I only have a 9-inch round pan. Would you recommend any recipe tweaks so the cake is still a bit thicker? Thank you so much and this rum cake looks amazing!

[Kristin Rosenau]

Amanda-- Unfortunately, there are no easy tweaks to make it thicker. It sets a bit like a custard would. You could certainly make it in a 9-inch pan, but it would be on the thinner side.

[AJ]

This is amazing! Made it a couple of times and it always turns out (almost) perfect, except for one thing, it seems to bubble up while baking but settles right back in when being cooled. Except after it settle, there is a hollow space under the bubble. Why do you think this happens? Thanks!

[Vanessa]

This looks amazing! :)

[Lynn Wood]

I LOVE THIS BLOG ..BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS
I made this yesterday but wanted a larger cake to fit into my 10 inch springform.
So I X .50 all the ingredients and used a full 10oz bag of bittersweet chips I wanted to experiment with using coconut oil so i substituted half the butter with coconut oil
I have my own chickens so I used 2 lovely brown eggs 2 lovely white eggs and one very beautiful blue egg
I also used half coco powder and half almond meal since I used the bittersweet choc I thought it best to use less coco
I sprinkled sliced almonds and sugar on top before baking and served with homemade ice cream

It was WoW delicious...so good

[Elia]

I know this post is quite old now, but this cake just looks so delicious! And since I can't have wheat, flour less cakes (magical in their own right) are the perfect option for me. Do you think ⅓ cup of coffee could be substituted for the rum? I usually add coffee to me devil's food cake and was wondering if you think the flavours would work here too?

Thank you for this absolutely beautiful and simple recipe.

[Kristin Rosenau]

Elia-- Absolutely. I think that would make for a wonderful substitution.

[Lisa]

This was so easy to make and so fabulously delicious. I love that it is gluten free! Definitely worthy of serving to company.

[Angela]

I made this tonight and it was a hit! The only changes I made was to omit the rum and add chili powder to the glaze- just the right mix of sweet and spicy!