When most people have bad days, they reach for a bottle of Vodka hidden in the back of their freezer. Me, I reach for a Rum Ball. But that’s maybe just because I know exactly how much Rum is in one of these beauties. As described by my mother for over 30 years, our Rum Balls are made with a moist chocolate cake “well doused with Rum”. And it’s not an exaggeration. Well, we exaggerate with the Rum…

Back in the day (17+ years ago) when we were located in Cherokee Plaza, my father had a Pastry Chef working with him from Ethiopia. We’ll call him “G”. G wasn’t a pastry chef when he applied for a job. But after working with my father, that’s what he became, as did most people who worked with my father. Anyway, G, who had the biggest and brightest smile I remember growing up, was not allowed to drink alcohol because of his chosen religion. But somehow, he was the one who always made the Rum Balls. Nothing is measured when we make our Rum Balls. We take cake scraps and Buttercream, mix them all up until soft and creamy, add more chocolate butter cream and melted chocolate. Then add the Rum “to taste”. But G couldn’t come near alcohol. So in went the Rum. And then in went some more. And then more. And so you get the picture. Maybe G would just go by smell? We never knew. But we hardly ever got a complaint from a customer about a Rum Ball. They would normally take a bite and smile just as brightly as G.

Lately, thanks to all of the word of mouth from all of you wonderful people, some of the customers my parents had when we were in Cherokee Plaza have been finding us again. And one of the first questions that ravenously comes from most mouths is, “are you making the Rum Balls again?” I am happy to say, “yes, indeed we are.”