Once upon a time...

Wow - where did the past few weeks go? I wasn't planning for a big break from my blog, but time has flown by and it's already March! I better get my tax forms in order!!

Anyhow, it's about bedtime, so let me tell you a story. Ages ago, I was a college freshman and I had an interesting roommate.
She liked keeping the room super hot, I liked the room cool.
She was vegan - I pretty much ate anything.
She was always studying...and I was..not...
Anyhow, you get the idea.

Although we rarely got along, there was one thing that always brought us together, Ethiopian food. That's right, Ethiopian food. Since she was vegan, there were few restaurants where we could both eat together and have a good selection of food. For a roommate bonding dinner early in the year, she suggested going to a nearby Ethiopian restaurant. I've tried lots of weird foods before, but I had never had Ethiopian food, or any food from Africa for that matter. As always, I couldn't wait to try it out.

WOW - am I SO glad I agreed to go. Ethiopian food is now one of my all-time favorite foods. I love taking people to try it, and I have converted many a people to Ethiopian food lovers.

If you haven't had it before, Ethiopian food is definitely different. The food is often served on a large metal platter covered with injera, a sourdough-ish tasting flat bread. The servers usually put dollops of whatever you ordered and then you proceed to eat that with your hands using injera to scoop up the food. The closest thing I can think of, is hummus. If you like hummus, you'll love Ethiopian food. The food is great for vegetarians and vegans, as the vegetarian dishes are exceptional and the flat bread is vegan-friendly. If you have the opportunity to try Ethiopian food, give it a try, you won't regret it. If you're new to it and are a New Yorker, or you're in town visiting, let me know! I'd love to introduce you to Ethiopian!

Anyhow, at this point you're probably wondering what that cake slice is all about. Anyhow, in one of my many return visits to the Ethiopian restaurant near my school, my friends and I noticed a rum cake in the dessert section. Since we decided to try everything, we ordered, not knowing what the expect. HOLY CRAP. The cake was out of this world. Very simple, a little on the dry side, but it more than made up for it with the rum soaking. After that visit, we always ordered the cake. It became an inside joke amongst my friends, as the rum cake was only sporadically at the restaurant or it would sell out while we were eating. When we got to the restaurant we'd immediately order the rum cake, before even ordering our food.

Anyhow, sadly, the Ethiopian restaurant near my school closed, but I still dream about the rum cake. Recently, I've been really craving the rum cake, so I decided to run some searches. I came upon this recipe for Chocolate Rum Cake by Marcus Samuelsson. (Recipe found on Culinary Adventures of Luke and Lynn). This cake wasn't the same as the cake at the Ethiopian restaurant, but it was delicious. It uses a disturbing amount of butter..but other than that..definitely a classic. It has just a hint of chocolate, but you wouldn't know it outright. This cake is also great that it isn't too sweet. It's a great cake that you could even eat for breakfast - although it may not be good smelling like rum at 9 in the morning. As an extra touch, I added about a 1 tsp of rum over the cake before eating to give it an extra kick. This cake keeps very well - I left it out on the counter for about a week covered well and the last slice was just as good as the first.

Chocolate Rum Cake
Adapted from Marcus Samuelsson, from his book Discovery of a Continent

Ingredients
4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 pound unsalted butter
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
1/4 cup rum
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
About 1-2 tbsp of cocoa powder to cover bundt pan

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and cover the inside of bundt pan with cocoa powder.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Stir frequently. Once melted, remove from heat and add the coffee, rum and sugar.

3. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add in the eggs one at a time.

4. Add in the flour, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder and baking soda.

5. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and mix.

6. Pour the mixture into the bundt pan. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream, cinnamon - or what I liked doing, an extra smidge of rum.