Christmas-Spiced Chocolate Rum Cake with White Chocolate Ganache

Method

Generously grease and lightly dust a 9-10inch bundt pan with a mix of flour and cocoa powder. Preheat the oven to 180C/160Cfan.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the salt and spices.

In a separate bowl use a hand whisk or stand mixer to cream the sugars and butter until fluffy. Add the oil and mix well. Gradually add the eggs and egg yolks beating well after each addition. Gently whisk in the rum, vanilla extract, orange juice and zest (don’t worry if it looks slightly curdled). Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, folding until fully incorporated, but don’t overmix. Pour in the buttermilk and add the chocolate chips. Fold to combine.

Pour/spoon the batter into the bundt tin and bake for 40-50 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Meanwhile, make the butter rum syrup. In a saucepan set over a medium-high heat, combine the butter, water, sugar and salt and cook, whisking, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened, whisking occasionally. If the butter has separated, whisk well to emulsify. Remove from the heat and slowly stir in the rum and vanilla (if using). Set aside and keep warm.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the tin for 5-10 minutes. Loosen the cake slightly – invert it onto a plate until you hear it loosen then tip back into the tin. While the cake is warm, poke several holes into the bottom of the cake with a skewer to help the syrup seep in, then slowly pour 100-120ml of the warm rum syrup over the cake. Let it stand for 15 minutes, then invert the cake out onto a cooling rack (with a tray underneath to catch the syrup drips) and slowly pour 100-120ml of the remaining syrup over the top of the cake (you may not need it all). Brush the cake with some of the remaining syrup. Leave to cool and soak up the syrup.

For the white chocolate ganache, put the finely chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over a low-medium heat until it is just simmering, and steam appears. Pour over the chocolate, ensuring it is all covered and leave for 5 minutes (Alternatively add the white chocolate and double cream to a bowl, and microwave until smooth). Gently whisk or stir from the centre out, until smooth.  If you have lumps, zap in the microwave for short bursts then stir. Gently stir in the zest and food colouring (if using). Use a tablespoon to pour/drip over the cooled cake. Once set, dust with icing sugar if you like and decorate with candied orange slices, holly and cinnamon sticks.