Rum, chocolate and cake. We can’t imagine a more heavenly trio of ingredients…

Food waste is a difficult thing to digest. But when it comes to throwing away cake? Well, that’s just a bitter pill to swallow, especially if you’ve put thought into finding the perfect store-bought slice or whipping up your own baked delight in the kitchen. That’s why we think rum balls are a genius invention.

Rum balls (or romkugler) are a great way to turn your leftover cake into something entirely new. Impress friends and family by treating them to your very own Danish rum balls. No one even has to know that they’re made from leftovers…

What is romkugler?

Invented by the Danes, romkugler are indulgent, rich and a little bit tipsy The three main ingredients are chocolate, cake and, of course, rum! This means they lie somewhere in between a cake pop and a chocolate truffle, making them the perfect after-dinner snack. In fact, they’re a little like Brazil’s Brigadeiros with an added element of alcohol.

The trick behind making delicious rum balls lies in the quality of ingredients you use. By using the best cacao available, you’re ensuring that your rum balls are sumptuous and decadent. These little spheres pack a lot of flavour considering their size. High-quality cacao means that one will be more than enough. After all, you want these to last — at least until the end of the day.

What is the origin of the Danish rum ball?

Danish rum balls came to be after Danish bakers realised they had a slight problem when it came to selling their cakes. Though there was nothing wrong with their cakes, they just couldn’t sell enough. They ended up with a surplus amount at the end of the day. And, being the professional bakers that they were, this meant the cake was no longer fresh enough to be sold.

Still, as savvy thinkers, the bakers decided that their leftover cake could be reborn in a different way. Instead of throwing the old cake out they decided to give it a little makeover. And the result was a triumph!

They crumbled the cakes alongside cacao powder and rum, forming a sweet, sticky dough. After rolling the dough into balls and decorating them with desiccated coconut flake, the bakers would sell the bites the next day for a lower price. The innovation was a win-win situation for bakers and customers.

How to make Danish rum balls

Cacao, rum and cake form the base of these rum balls. There is, however, an additional ingredient that works surprisingly well in these tempting treats; raspberry jam.

Ingredients

• 500g leftover cake
• 3bsp good quality raspberry jam
• 3tsp rum
• 2tbsp cacao powder
• Coconut flakes or chocolate flakes

Method

• Gently pulse the leftover cake in a food processor until it has a crumble-like texture. If you don’t own a food processor, you can crumble the cake in a bowl using your hands
• Add the jam, rum and cacao powder into your food processor or bowl and mix until the dough has an even, smooth texture that you can mould into balls
• Once you’ve shaped your rum balls (this mixture makes about eight), roll in your coconut or chocolate flakes
• Place them in the fridge until they have firmed up, then serve and enjoy
• Alternatively, if you want to save them for a later date, place them in an airtight container and freeze. Do not refreeze after defrosting.

Can I alter the ingredients?

If you’re a traditionalist then you might not want to stray too far away from the original recipe. However, culinary creators might be tempted to put their own spin in this Danish classic.

It’s also worth noting that you don’t have to stick to cacao powder for your chocolate component: 100g melted chocolate also works well in these indulgent rum balls.

We suggest going for a chocolate with a high cacao percentage to bring out the most in these Danish rum balls. Chocolate with 70% cacao or higher is a great place to start. Our Batons and Slabs showcase a range of cacao levels so that you can pick the right taste for you. 70% dark captures the delicate notes of the cacao bean, leaving a rich and developed taste on the tongue, whilst our 90% Dark Chocolate Slab gives a punchier finish, although it’s still surprisingly mellow.

Want to melt your chocolate like a true maitre chocolatier? Read our blog on everything you need to know about cooking with chocolate to make sure your chocolate melts smoothly and evenly.

Flavour variations for rum balls

Because the ingredients in rum balls are fairly basic, you have lots of inventive freedom to mix and match different tastes and textures. It’s good to be flexible with the flavour of the cake itself. If you’re using a lemon leftover cake, for instance, then you might find lighter chocolate and a citrusy rum is a better alternative. On the other hand, if your leftover cake recipe is rich in dried fruits and crunchy nuts then it may be better suited to darker, more intense flavours.

Here are our favourite flavour combinations, although feel free to mix and match!

• Chocolate cake, 70% dark chocolate, raspberry jam, dark rum
• Vanilla sponge, 40% milk chocolate, strawberry jam, aged rum
• Orange and pistachio cake, 40% milk chocolate, marmalade, cachaça rum
• Fruit cake, 90% dark chocolate, blackcurrant jam, dark rum
• Banana bread, 70% dark chocolate, raspberry jam, French Caribbean rum
• Almond cake, 40% cocoa butter white chocolate, apricot jam, white rum
• Coffee cake, 70% dark chocolate, blueberry jam, aged rum

Do chocolate and rum go together?

Alcohol and chocolate is a match made in heaven. And when it comes to rum and chocolate, this marriage works particularly well. The oaky, developed notes of a good quality rum work harmoniously with the intricate taste of cacao. In fact, the two even coax out more subtle flavours from one another. To experience these flavours in their finest form, we suggest trying some of our Rum Chocolates. 

We hope you love these slightly sinful rum balls as much as we do! If you do attempt these then feel free to tweet us @HotelChocolat so we can peruse your kitchen creations.