Candied Citrus and Chocolate Rum Cake is a dense, chocolatey, citrusy rum soaked cake that the adults are sure to love digging into this holiday season.

If I was to ask you what the one dessert that is most associated with Christmas, what would your answer be? Would it be the dreaded fruit cake or something a little more desirable? In my mind holiday time means the fruit cakes come out, that brick-like fruit, nut and spirit laden cake that will sit on the table untouched for days.

What if I told you there’s a much better option to fruit cake and it involves chocolate and rum?

When I started to brainstorm ideas for the Captains Table challenge I immediately knew I wanted to make a rum cake. I sampled every flavor available when I traveled to Bermuda over the summer and by far chocolate and the fruit flavored ones were the best available.

I had fruit, chocolate and rum and then the idea hit to create a more modern take on the fruit cake. Now there are no nuts, so I suppose technically I can’t even call this a fruit cake and I’m stretching the boundaries on traditional rum cake preparation as well.

My research took me all over the web to see two themes on rum cake using cake mix (or your own cake base) and pudding. That’s just not my style, it’s not how I work in the kitchen. I like to know where my food is coming from and I wasn’t even thrilled with making up DIY pudding mixes. A change here and there with my favorite sour cream coffee cake and this beauty was born.





Susan Palmer Candied Citrus and Chocolate Rum Cake #CaptainsTable Candied Citrus Peel Save Recipe Save Recipe Print Recipe My Recipes My Lists My Calendar Ingredients For the Chocolate Rum Cake: 3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

11/4 cups granulated white sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

1cup 2% Greek yogurt

1/2 cup Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum

1 cup candied orange and lemon peel, chopped 1/4 inch pieces (recipe to follow), plus 2 tablespoons extra for decoration

For the Buttered Rum Syrup: 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter melted

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum

For the Chocolate Rum Glaze: 1 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup reserved buttered rum syrup

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum

2 navel oranges

3 lemons

2 cups water

2 cups granulated sugar + 1/2 cup Instructions Heat your oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 10-12 cup bundt pan. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, soda and salt. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar until light and airy about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time until combined. Stir in the vanilla extract and melted chocolate. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the greek yogurt and rum. Mix in the flour in two parts, careful not to over mix. Lastly mix in the candied citrus. Scoop the batter into the prepared bundt pans, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. In the last 5 minutes of baking the cake start to prepare the syrup. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and whisk in the water and sugar. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir in the rum and cook for another 30 seconds. Transfer to a heat-proof measuring cup with a spout. When you remove the cake from the oven, pour about 1/3 cup of the rum syrup over the bottom (which is currently the top) of the hot cake. Let the syrup dissolve completely into the cake and cool in the pan. Once the cake is completely cool, carefully remove from the bundt pan and place on a rimmed baking sheet with lined with aluminum foil. Using a skewer or a chopstick poke holes about 1 inch apart around the cake, going halfway down. Very slowly start to pour the rum syrup into the holes, stopping after each go around to make sure the syrup has a chance to dissolve into the cake. This process will take about 10-15 minutes. Some of the syrup will pool at the bottom, you are welcome to collect it and pour it into the cake, it'll just take longer to get all the syrup into the cake. Once your cake is fully doused in a medium bowl, stir together the confectioners sugar, cocoa powder 1/4 cup reserved rum syrup, heavy cream and 2 tablespoons rum to make the glaze. This will be a very thick glaze. Pour the glaze over the cake and decorate with the remaining candied citrus peel. Serve the cake immediately or store in a cake container for a day or two prior to serving to let the rum syrup soak through. Remove 1/4 inch off the top and bottom of the oranges and lemons. Using a sharp knife carefully remove the peel, leaving the white pith on the fruit. Cut the peel into 1/2 inch strips and place in a medium pot and fill with cold water so it covers the peel. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Drain and repeat 1 more time. Doing this will eliminate some of the bitterness of the citrus peels. After boiling the peels twice, fill the pot with 2 cups water and 2 cups granulated white sugar and place on medium heat. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved, add the citrus peel, cover and reduce the heat to simmer. Simmer the peel for one hour. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in the center. With a slotted spoon remove the citrus peel and toss it in the sugar on the prepared baking sheet. Spread the peels out in a single layer and let dry uncovered overnight, depending on the humidity it could take up to 48 hours. Store in an airtight container. The remaining liquid can be saved and used in cocktails when a citrus simple syrup is called for. 6.6.16 https://girlinthelittleredkitchen.com/2013/12/candied-citrus-and-chocolate-rum-cake-captainstable/ Susan Palmer - Girl In The Little Red Kitchen

Let’s not forget that every time the #CaptainsTable hashtag is used over social media $1 will be donated to WhyHunger. So please share the love and submit some of your favorite Captain Morgan recipes too using the hashtag. Feel free to check out ideas on their Facebook and Pinterest pages.

Disclaimer: I was provide with 3 bottles of Captain Morgan Rum, plus a small stipend to cover the cost of ingredients.