Rum Balls / Romkugler / Rum Truffles

Ever end up with just too much cake in the house? No, it doesn't happen to me often either! However, not that long ago I went on a bit of a cupcake making spree and had far too left overs filling up the freezer. It seems wrong to me to throw anything away that still has use so I looked around to find something different to do with all this left over cake. This recipe is my version of a rum ball. Many countries have their own versions, mine is more influenced by the scandinavian approach and in particular the Danish romkugler. I know I ate these somewhere when I was younger but they just don't seem to be around anywhere at the moment. I do urge you to try this recipe. It's a proper blast from the past and delicious. I think they would also make an excellent gift. I certainly wouldn't object if someone turned up at my house with a plate of these to share 

This recipe is intended to use up any regular chocolate cake, however I used my left over salted caramel chocolate cupcakes and some of the cherry filled version. As a consequence I didn't need any additional jam, just from blitzing the left over cupcakes I ended up with a fairly gloopy paste, especially after I added the rum. To thicken it up a little I added in a couple of handfuls of rolled oats and blitzed them up a bit too. This was inspired by the Swedish chokladboll. You may need to adjust the quantities depending on the moistness of the cake you're using. The most important thing is that you achieve the right consistency of a thick paste.

Ingredients
around 800g left over cake bits
70g cocoa
3 - 4 tbsp jam (apricot or dark cherry work particularly well)
1/2 cup dark rum (or more to taste)
rolled oats if needed
150-180g dark chocolate vermicelli/desicated coconut/roasted, flaked almonds/chopped hazlenuts for coating

1. Put the cake and cocoa in the food processor and blitz until all the cake is pulzerised to fine crumbs. You can do this by hand in a large bowl and using a fork. It is time consuming but will give you good results.
2. Add the jam then pulse or stir until thoroughly combined.
3. Pour in the rum and mix for 20 seconds or so.
4. At this stage, if the mix is too runny add in the oats and blitz. Don't get carried away by adding too much in one go. Add a little at a time and mix thoroughly after each addition until achieve a thick paste.
5. Remove the mix from the bowl and place in another container to firm up in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
6. Once the mixture has chilled and firmed up remove a spoonful at a time and roll in your chosen coating. Place in paper cases for added glam and serve.

If you have enjoyed this recipe please check out my blog http://eating-properly.blogspot.co.uk/