Category Archives: perception

In Alice Hoffman’s The Rules of Magic, Aunt Isabelle’s chocolate tipsy cake has been handed down for generations.  The tipsy comes from rum; the magic comes from the baking.  You might want to try it for breakfast, as the aunts did in the book.

   Here’s the recipe:

Aunt Isabelle’s Chocolate Tipsy Cake

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting the pan
• 1 cup freshly brewed coffee
• 1/2 cup dark rum
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate Rum Icing

• 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons half and half
• 2 tablespoons dark rum (plus more as needed)

Preheat the oven to 325.  Grease a large Bundt pan;dust with cocoa powder. Warm coffee, dark rum, butter, and cocoa powder over medium heat and stir gently until the butter is melted.  Remove from heat and add sugar, stirring until dissolved.  Set aside to cool.  Combine dry ingredients.  In another bowl combine eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.  When the chocolate mixture is cool, stir in egg mixture.  Add flour mixture a little at a time until well combined.

Bake 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack.

Prepare the chocolate rum icing by melting chocolate, then adding butter and rum; simmer 5 minutes.  Add milk or rum to thin the sauce.  Cool slightly.  Drizzle over cooled cake.

Review of The Rules of Magic