Eggless Rum Balls

It’s Christmas season and how can we not think about the delicious rum balls?!

I was quite fascinated when I had my first rum ball! Just like every one, I also wondered what would it taste like? Just so you know, it does not have too much rum!!

Traditionally, rum balls are made using vanilla cookie wafers, pecans, walnuts, rum, icing sugar, cocoa powder and corn syrup. However, we have modified the version into much accepted taste by our palate.

These cute little balls are made of chocolate sponge, crushed and mixed with rum and smooth chocolate ganache. Finally, they are turned into ball shape and coated in different types of layers like cocoa powder, or melted chocolate!

Eggless Rum Balls Recipe Video Tutorial

Taste and texture of the dessert

With rum present in the dessert, it may taste a little dark and bitter. but this is all balanced by the sweetness of ganache.

Having dipped in chocolate, the outside will have a crunch and the inside will be soft and a little mushy.

Key ingredients used for the recipe and their relevance

It’s true that simple and few ingredients can make for a great dessert! So as this recipe.

Chocolate sponge– rum balls require a soft chocolate sponge. Now, you can bake fresh cake. Else it’s a good way to use any leftover sponge and convert it into this decadent dessert.

Ganache—using the right consistency of ganache is important for the balls to have structure. I recommend using 2 parts chocolate and 1 part cream ratio for the ganache. This truffle ganache is more stable and can hold the shape well.

Rum– and of course we have the special ingredient, ie. Rum. I mostly use and recommend dark rum as it provides a better flavor. In case you do not prefer rum, you can also use bourbon. Remember quantity is the key, too much of it will make the dessert bitter and too less will leave you tasting just chocolate ball.

It’s time we check out the recipe. Hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!

All Ingredient List for Making Rum Balls

Ingredients for chocolate sponge

Ingredients for Chocolate Sponge Quantity
All-purpose flour
63 g
Castor Sugar
63 g
Cocoa Powder
6 g
Baking Soda
1 g
Apple Cider Vinegar
1 g
Milk
66 ml
Vanilla Essence
1 g
Salt
1 g
Refined Oil
36 g

Ingredients for chocolate ganache

Ingredients for Chocolate Ganache Quantity
Fresh Cream
50 g
Dark Couverture Chocolate
100 g

For Assembly:

Ingredients for assembly Quantity
Tempered Dark Couverture (for dipping)
250 g
Dark rum
2 tbsp
White and Dark Compound Chocolate
As required
Gold flakes
As required

All equipment needed for the recipe

  • Measuring cups and spoons
  • Digital kitchen weighing scale
  • Bowls and spoons
  • Spatula
  • Fork
  • Sieve 
  • Baking Tray
  • 6-inch round aluminum tin
  • Silicone mat
  • Oven/OTG
  • Microwave 
  • Toothpick
  • Piping bags

Steps to prepare eggless rum balls

For Sponge:

  1. Preheat the oven at 180˚C (OTG Mode: upper rod + lower rod + fan). Grease and line a 6 inch round tin.
  2. In a bowl, sieve all dry ingredients i.e. flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Give this a good mix.
  3. In another bowl, mix all wet ingredients- milk, apple cider vinegar, oil and vanilla essence.
  4. Now add dry ingredients into the wet ones and make a smooth batter.
  5. Pour the batter into the lined tin and bake at 180C (OTG mode: lower rod only) for 20 minutes.

Method for Chocolate Ganache:

  1. Melt dark chocolate and warm the cream.
  2. Mix the two until a homogeneous ganache is formed.

ASSEMBLY

  1. Crumble the sponge with fork. Add ganache and 2 tbsp dark rum to it. Mix well.
  2. Now, make balls of 20gm each.
  3. Insert toothpick in each ball and freeze them for 30-40 minutes.
  4. Now hold the balls using toothpick and dip to coat them in chocolate. Place them back on lined tray for the chocolate to set.
  5. Remove the toothpicks gently.
  6. Decorate the balls by drizzling dark and white chocolate using a piping bag. Garnish with some gold flakes.

Chef's Tip And Key Points

  1. Add appropriate quantity of rum. Adding more will make the balls too wet and might taste more bitter.
  2. Use good brand of rum/ bourbon.
  3. Prefer using couverture chocolate over compound to get best taste.
  4. You can add crushed walnuts, pecans or raisins if you like.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let me try and clear out some of your doubts through this Faq section

Q1. What rum is used in making rum balls? 

Ans. I recommend using good brand dark rum. You can use white rum or even dark bourbon if rum is something you don’t want to use.

Q2. Do rum balls get you drunk? 

Ans. No, it is very unlikely for anyone to get drunk eating rum balls. The quantity is pretty low which also mixed with other ingredients. So the amount of rum you get in few rum balls is very low.

Q3. What is the shelf life of rum balls?

Ans. They can last up to a week in refrigerator. At room temperature, try consuming them within 3 days.

Q4. How can we make kids friendly rum balls?

Ans. Rum balls is of course a dessert to be consumed by adults only. In case you want to make some for kids, just skip adding rum and replace it with orange or cranberry juice. Rest of the ingredients remain same which cake and ganache.

Q5. Can we make any other variation in rum balls?

Ans. There are number of different flavors you can make with rum balls.

You can use desiccated coconut for coconut flavor, add any type of nuts and dried berries you like. Add some caramel if you like, coat them in different type of sprinkles and chocolate. There are endless ways to add flavors in a rum ball.