fireball cake

A fireball is apparently Stockholm's favourite shooter.  I'm not sure how or why I know this having never been to Stockholm and being the kind of person who sips a shot of  vodka.  It is, some googling reveals to me, a mixture of rum and cinnamon schnapps with a dash of tobasco. 

Obviously a real picture of the drink would have a bottle of cinnamon schnapps rather than some ground cinnamon from my cupboard but hey, you get the idea.  Also look how empty my bottle of rum is.  This saddens me greatly. 

I'm not convinced that I'd ever actually order the drink in a bar but, having made this ginger cake at the weekend, I started to think about the possibilities of using the flavours in something a bit more palatable.  And lo, the fireball cake was born. 

It follows the same basic principle as the ginger cake (and, as such, credit must go to Constance Spry who has now achieved some sort of legendary status in my head.  I find myself inventing little stories about her and her cakes) but is more complex in flavour and texture. 

Fireball cake (serves 6)

120g butter
120g light brown soft sugar (demerara sugar)
2 tbs water
300g black treacle (molasses)
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 shot (25ml) of dark rum
2 - 3 drops of tobasco sauce (or more if you're feeling brave)
180g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
60g ground almonds

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 150°C and grease a baking tin; I used two small 15cm tins. 
2.  As before, melt the butter, sugar, treacle and water in a saucepan until it comes to the boil.  Boil for about 5 minutes before setting aside to cool.
3.  Once cool, beat in the cinnamon, eggs, rum and a couple of drops of tobasco.  You can taste and add more of any of them at this point.  I think I added a touch more rum because I like rum. 
4.  Sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground almonds and fold into the mixture.
5.  Place in the baking tin and bake for 50-60 minutes (NB my little tins only needed 20 minutes). 
6.  Turn onto a wire rack to cool. 

Because of the rum, this version is slightly more unstable than the ginger cake but it still holds together fine.  The rum and tobasco didn't detract from the cinnamon at all as I feared but completely enhanced the flavour.  The cake is spicy but not overpoweringly so and the flavour is deep and warm.  It's incredibly moist and almost sticky, especially after a day or two.  Definitely way better than the cocktail.