What better way to end this week-long obsession with Voodoo than with dessert?  And not just any dessert, a rich chocolatey mess with some genuine alcoholic flavoring.  There is no better way!

Enter the Voodoo Cake.

This cake has nothing to do with Voodoo, unless you consider the fact that there are many variations of both the religion and le gâteau.  I searched through hundreds of recipes.  Some were a bit extreme, some a little too cutesy for my taste; nearly all shared two common ingredients–chocolate and alcohol.  Sounds like a winning combination to me.

I decided to try out this recipe from In Good Taste in Portland, Oregon.  I pretty much followed the recipe to the letter, except for the alcohol.  I couldn’t find any dark rum around here for less than $25.  I’m not a big liquor drinker so I couldn’t justify spending that much money for two tablespoons of spirits.  I found a smaller and cheaper bottle of spiced rum and used that instead.

I also might have added a splash or two of rum to the cake batter.  Why not?  And, I didn’t think two tablespoons was enough for the ganache.  I added a third and it still needed more.  Added a fourth and well….I should have stopped at three. 

Assembly according to the recipe was pretty easy.  It does leave a very large serving for one person.  It needed some scaling down. I like to indulge from time to time but not quite that much.

Final product?  A very rich, very stout, and very tasty bit of “Voodoo” magick.