Ghana

KubÉcake

Kubécake is a sweet sold by street hawkers throughout West Africa. It is not actually a cake as its name suggests; rather it is an explosion of two fiery forces, a combination of strong, dark rum and ginger, with the balancing sweetness of sugar. In fact, Kubécake is a version of what Europeans commonly call rum balls. .

Ingredients:

• 500 g(1 lbs) desiccated or finely grated, fresh coconut
• 200 g (6 1/2 oz) root ginger, grated (more or less to taste)
• Dark rum (approximately 200 mL. (6 1/2 fl oz.)  or according to taste)
• 315g (10 oz) cane or caster sugar

Preparation:

In a bowl, mix the coconut and ginger with a generous amount of rum. Keep it warm in a preheated but not hot oven.

Melt the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan on medium to low heat. When the sugar starts to go brown at the edges stir with a wooden spoon until smooth.

When the sugar is brown (not light brown and not dark brown but brown), quickly add the coconut/rum mixture. The timing here is critical. The mixture may bubble but ignore that and stir vigorously until the sugar is well blended with all the ingredients. Remove from the heat and cool for about 30 minutes.

Form into small balls about the size of a table tennis ball. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve later.

Note: The trickiest part in making this recipe is the timing of the sugar temperature during browning, so stay close and keep a critical eye on the process.

Serves 4 - 10 (depending on sweet tooths!)