Image is for illustrative purposes only.
This is a dark, glossy soaking syrup built on coffee, cocoa and compound chocolate, with just enough rum to lift it. It is thin enough to brush or sprinkle straight onto a sponge, but it carries far more flavour than a plain sugar syrup, and it darkens the crumb slightly wherever it soaks in.
I use a syrup like this for chocolate layer cakes, mocha gateaux and anything built with a dark or chocolate sponge, where the layers need moisture and a little extra depth before the filling goes on. It keeps well in the fridge in a clean bottle, so it is worth making a batch and having it ready whenever you assemble a cake.
Ingredients
The weights in the recipe table below will yield the following 'weight per unit' and 'number of units'. If you would like to change the recipe to cater to a different 'weight per unit' and/or 'number of units',
you can use the Recipe Calculator Tool below the ingredients table.
Note: The Recipe Calculator Tool is available to subscribers.
Weight Per Unit: 1515
Number of Units: 1
Unit Size: about 1.5 litres of syrup, enough to soak roughly six 20 cm sponge layers
|
|
|
WEIGHT
(grams)
|
ALTERNATIVE METRIC
|
INGREDIENT
|
IMAGE
|
CONDITION
|
|
A
|
1000 |
4.2 cups
|
Water
|
|
|
|
B
|
250 |
8.8 ounces
|
Sugar
Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
|
|
|
|
C
|
100 |
3.5 ounces
|
Brown Sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content (natural brown sugar), or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white sugar (commercial brown sugar).
|
|
|
|
D
|
5 |
|
Instant Coffee
Instant coffee, also called soluble coffee, coffee crystals and coffee powder, is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans. Instant coffee is commercially prepared by either freeze-drying or spray drying, after which it can be rehydrated. Instant coffee in a concentrated liquid form is also manufactured.
granules or powder
|
|
|
|
E
|
100 |
3.5 ounces
|
Dark Chocolate (Compound)
Compound chocolate is a product made from a combination of cocoa, vegetable fat, and sweeteners. It is used as a lower-cost alternative to true chocolate, as it uses less-expensive hard vegetable fats such as coconut oil or palm kernel oil in place of the more expensive cocoa butter. It may also be known as 'compound coating' or 'chocolatey coating' when used as a coating for candy.
|
|
chopped |
|
F
|
30 |
1 fluid ounce
|
Rum
|
|
|
|
G
|
30 |
1.1 ounce
|
Cocoa Powder
Cocoa Powder (cocoa solids) is a mixture of many substances remaining after cocoa butter is extracted from cacao beans. When sold as an end product, it may also be called cocoa, and cacao. In contrast, the fatty component of chocolate is cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is 50% to 57% of the weight of cocoa beans and gives chocolate its characteristic melting properties.
Cocoa solids are one of the richest sources of flavanol antioxidants. They are a key ingredient of chocolate, chocolate syrup, and chocolate confections.
|
|
sifted |
|
|
1515
|
|
|
|
|
Recipe Calculator Tool
Using this tool, you can alter this recipe for your own requirements. Use the two fields below to generate new weights for the ingredients above.
STEP 1. Enter your Custom Weight Per Unit
The 'Custom Weight Per Unit' is already loaded with the weight per unit for this recipe but can be changed if required. If all you wish to do is change the number of units (or servings), just leave the current weight per unit.
STEP 2. Enter your Custom Number of Units
This is the number of units (or servings) you want this recipe to yield.
STEP 3. Click Calculate
The new weights for your adjusted recipe will be displayed in the table above.
Method
|
STEP
|
ACTION
|
DETAIL
|
CONDITION
|
|
1 |
Prepare |
Chop E (compound chocolate) into small pieces and sift G (cocoa powder) so it will not lump. Have a clean bottle or jar ready. |
Chocolate in small even pieces so it melts quickly |
|
2 |
Heat |
Put A, B and C (water, caster sugar and brown sugar) in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugars dissolve. |
Clear syrup, no sugar crystals on the base of the pan |
|
3 |
Dissolve |
Take the pan off the heat and stir in D (instant coffee). |
Coffee fully dissolved, syrup dark and clear |
|
4 |
Melt |
Add E (compound chocolate) to the hot syrup and stir until it has completely melted through. |
Smooth and glossy, no specks of unmelted chocolate |
|
5 |
Whisk |
Whisk in G (cocoa powder) a little at a time until the syrup is smooth. |
No lumps of cocoa floating on the surface |
|
6 |
Cool |
Let the syrup cool to lukewarm, then stir in F (rum). |
Cooled enough that the rum aroma is not boiled away |
|
7 |
Store |
Pour into a clean bottle or jar and keep in the fridge. Shake or stir before use, as the cocoa settles. |
Cold, pourable and dark; use within about two weeks |
|
8 |
Use |
Brush or sprinkle over sponge layers before filling and assembling the cake. |
Sponge moist and darkened but not soaked through or soggy |
Important Notes
This batch makes about 1.5 litres of syrup, enough to soak roughly six 20 cm sponge layers, depending on how generous you are. It suits dark, chocolate and mocha sponges best, where the colour and coffee flavour belong. Store it in a clean sealed bottle in the fridge and stir or shake before each use, because the cocoa settles to the bottom. Serve it at room temperature or cold, never hot, or the sponge will collapse where you brush it. If you prefer a syrup without alcohol, leave out the rum; the syrup will be slightly thinner in flavour but still works well.
Tools & Arrangements
Saucepan, whisk, fine sieve for the cocoa, heatproof spatula, measuring jug, kitchen scales, clean bottle or jar with a lid, pastry brush or small ladle for soaking.
