Boozy Chocolate Rum Balls
It took me a while to figure out my holiday candy niche. My Mom is like an elf around Christmas, bustling around the kitchen with trays of candies and plates of cheesecake. She makes the same things each year: peanut butter & chocolate bars, Almond Roca, black walnut fudge, Russian cream and cheesecake. When I was little, she made only the Almond Roca. She got that recipe from one of the other emergency room nurses at a holiday potluck. It was an instant hit. Mom’s repertoire evolved as the years went on. The black walnut fudge started because it was my Grandpa Bill’s favorite. It keeps showing up because it reminds us of him (and it’s delicious). The Russian cream was my Grandma Joyce’s specialty. Mom took it over when Grandma Joyce couldn’t make it anymore. It’s so good that my Mom gets special requests for it all year long. The cheesecake is Grandma Joyce’s too. It’s the perfect cheesecake, creamy, tangy and not too sweet. It really only works when my Mom makes it, so she’s stuck with that too. I have no idea where Mom got the recipe for the peanut butter & chocolate bars, but that’s basically a tray of Reese’s peanut butter cups cut into thick chunks. Christmas decadence at its finest. So, I kind of had big shoes to fill. What in the world could I make to compete with all of that? No pressure, but Christmas treats have to be over-the-top delicious in our house for anyone to bother with them. I struggled for a while, feeling my way along.
Before my gluten allergy was diagnosed, I made apple pies. Yummy, but nobody is going to pass that recipe on to their kids. I still make those pies with a gluten free crust, but they are not quite flashy enough for Christmas dessert. I have two treats right now that are contenders for my legacy. The first is salted apple caramels, similar to these at King Arthur Flour but dusted with fleur de sel. Apples are a theme for me because my family and I live on a farm with over 20 apple trees. It’s a challenge to figure out what to do with them all. I first made these about 5 years ago, along with a bunch of other caramel experiments, including chocolate and coffee caramels. So far, the salted apple caramels are a keeper, sweet, rich and salty with just a twinge of apple goodness. It’s the perfect after-dinner treat with a steaming hot latte. My second offering is rum balls. There are a lot of variations on this particular dessert, from cookie-inspired confections like these from Taste of Home to “healthy” rum balls made with dates and coconut like these vegan rum balls from Running on Real Food. Mine are basically spiked chocolate truffles dipped in chocolate. For Christmas, they get dressed up with red and green sprinkles. The main ingredient, of course, is LOTS of spiced rum, enough that these are carefully labeled “Adults Only” at our Christmas Eve party. Now, when I arrive at the party, the first thing people ask is, “Where are the rum balls?” I think that’s a good sign.
Here is my legacy recipe for Boozy Chocolate Rum Balls. I’d love to hear about your signature holiday dessert. Drop me a line at happycabintahoe@gmail.com, or leave a comment. To visit Happy Cabin during your trip to North Lake Tahoe / Tahoe Vista / Kings Beach, click here.
Boozy Chocolate Rum Balls
INGREDIENTS
1 chocolate cake (gluten-free and/or from a cake mix is fine)
¼ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup spiced dark rum (like Kraken Black Spiced Rum)
2 cups powder sugar
1 bag chocolate chips or melting wafers (like Ghirardelli dark chocolate wafers)
shortening
sprinkles
PREPARATION
Bake the cake, and let it cool off completely before crumbling it into a big mixing bowl.
Add powder sugar, rum, and cocoa powder and mix well, using clean fingers to break everything up if needed. (My kids love this part…)
Roll the rum balls to about the size of a large gumball, and place them on a tray or baking sheet lined with wax paper.
Put the rum balls in the freezer while you prepare the chocolate coating.
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate, gently stirring as you go.
Stir the chocolate until it gets to the right consistency—silky and glossy so that it just drips off a spoon.
Take the rum balls out of the freezer and dip them in the chocolate. This part has been tricky for me over the years, involving lots of trial and error (especially error!). My current strategy is to balance the rum ball on a fork and dunk it in the chocolate. Once the rum ball is coated, I carefully remove it from the chocolate, and tap the fork against the side of the pot to remove the extra chocolate.
Gently slide the the chocolate-covered rum ball onto a pan lined with wax paper or parchment, and touch it up with a little chocolate if needed.
Add sprinkles while the chocolate is still glossy and wet.
Rinse and repeat.
Why shortening? Sometimes the chocolate gets goopy, when it should be silky, especially if you use chocolate chips instead of melting wafers. I’ve found that I can save the chocolate by adding a half-teaspoon or so of shortening and stirring gently. I often double this recipe around the holidays to make plenty of rum balls and use the extra chocolate to dunk caramels and marshmallows.
Enjoy!
To visit Happy Cabin during your trip to North Lake Tahoe / Tahoe Vista / Kings Beach, click here.
Food traditions abound on New Year’s Day. We look at global traditions, while sharing a few traditions of our own.