We take our rum balls and bourbon balls seriously in this household as they are Mr Magpie’s favourite treat. Which also means that I leave the rum ball making up to him during the holidays! These rum balls are nut free, melt in your mouth, fudgy delights!
How to Make Rum Balls
Making rum balls in my house is SO EASY. First, I ask Mr Magpie to make them. And second, he makes them! Magic! But honestly, here are the super quick and easy steps to making rum balls.
- Prepare your cake. You can make a chocolate cake mix or you can bake up my Crazy Cake or Wacky Cake Recipe. It’s so easy you don’t really need a cake mix to be honest.
- Break up the cake and place it into a large bowl.
- Add in rum or bourbon and condensed milk.
- Make the rum balls, roll them in sprinkles and let sit.
We prefer the rum balls or bourbon balls to be chewy and fudge-like, not dried out like the rum ball recipes that use nuts. Consider these to be rum brownie balls, even, to understand the texture that I am talking about. Take a peek at the photo below, you can tell that these are truly spectacular rum balls! That photo was taken right after I made them, so they are now sitting in my freezer with the flavours melding together until Christmas. The consistency will be the same as shown in the photos.
Tips & Tricks for Making Bourbon Balls or Rum Balls
- Use a good quality rum or bourbon, a dark rum for sure but you could also try spiced!
- These rum balls freeze exceptionally well and are better after sitting for a while in a container. I make these a few weeks before Christmas and then freeze them until the big day.
- Once you try my version of rum balls, you aren’t ever going back to those nut filled dry versions but you could add in some walnuts or favourite nut into the mixture if you wanted to. You can really adapt these to your liking!
- Refrigerate the dough before rolling and wet your hands when you go to form the balls. These are sticky and your hands will get a bit messy making them, so make sure you have everything ready to go before you make them!
Happy baking everyone! I’m sitting here thinking of these babies that are in the freezer and wondering if I can sneak one…
Love,
Karlynn
Chocolate Rum Balls Recipe
Ingredients
- one 9×13 baked chocolate cake use a mix or my cake recipe
- 1/2 cup dark or spiced rum or bourbon
- 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1/3 cup chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
- Crumble up the baked cake into a medium mixing bowl.
- Add in the rum and the condensed milk. Mix together until all of the ingredients are combined and the cake is now a dough that can be rolled into balls.
- Roll the mixture into one inch balls, then roll the balls into the chocolate sprinkles, covering them completely.
- Place the rum balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze them individually first, then transfer to a sealed container to keep frozen.
- These are best if left to sit a few days in the refrigerator if you are eating them soon, or keep them in the freezer until you are ready to eat.
Notes
Nutrition
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Linda Bartlett says
I soaked the rum in some raisins and processed them with cake and condensed milk, tired out great!
Linda says
Should of read soaked the raisins in rum and it turned out great
Cindy Foreman says
How long did you soak your raisins?
Kay says
Super disappointed that I wasted 3 cups of sugar, 6 eggs, and 1 1/2 cups of cocoa. The mixture is gooey and lumpy. I followed the instructions, cake was slightly underdone but even if it was drier, I don’t see how the mixture wouldn’t be lumpy, as the top of the cake is harder than the middle. Won’t be making this again, and frankly, if I can’t trust that the recipes will turn out, the cookbook is done for me.
Dawn Bermingham says
Hi
I use to get my favorite rum balls at Eaton’s.
Yours sounds so good.
I would like to try it. But instead of using rum can I use rum flavouring. But that would mean limiting the liquid. Any suggestions
Thank you.
Happy holidays
Kyle says
Sorry but I made this today and I will say it is horrible. Way to much alcohol in it, it’s all you can taste. It actually made me sick eating it. Thanks but no thanks, I will not ever make this again.
Lynda says
Hi, I do NOT like chocolate! I know I am weird. That being said, can I use a white cake mix or another flavor. If so will the results still taste as good? Maybe I should use chocolate, then I won’t eat any.:-))Thanks so much. Merry Christmas!
Linda says
Yes you can, I’ve made it before with vanilla cake
Susan T. says
I used the linked Wacky Cake recipe (my longtime go-to recipe for chocolate cake) and it worked out perfectly – did not have to add extra rum or condensed milk and the sprinkles adhered to the balls. I believe the secret is to not over-bake the cake. It’s also not necessary to fully cool the cake – in fact, I think that when it’s slightly warm, it forms a better, stickier dough. I refrigerated the dough for about an hour before forming the balls.
I’ve had mixed results with other chocolate rum ball recipes – they’re often too dry. Last year, we couldn’t find vanilla wafer or crumbs so I tried a recipe without them and the result was balls of chocolate icing – too sweet! I really like this recipe because it’s easy, moist, chocolatey and not too sweet!
Marta Roberts says
For the chocolate cake you suggest a 9 x 13 cake from a mix or your chocolate cake. Your cake is 9 x 9. Will your cake be enough?
Karlynn Johnston says
The wacky cake is a 9×13 cake, it will work!
Margaret says
These are so very yummy! Definitely a Christmas favourite. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Jenn says
I just made this recipe & they are delicious. I have an issue with them being wet on the outside though. The sprinkles and the outside of the ball are wet, but the inside is fine. I did wet my hands when rolling them, could that be what caused this? Thanks!
Jill says
Rolled some of mine in coconut!
Bryan says
My Beloved’s been making these for years — she lets me pour the rum. Today I’ll be making them all on my own — this weekend’s 3-dozen house guests mean that my Beloved’s got bigger things to do.
I hate sprinkles, I expect my rum balls to be smooth and amorphous. Solid when frozen, firm as they thaw, soft & gooey when they meet your tongue. So I roll them in unsweetened crushed coconut; it’s a powder, so it makes a gorgeous snow. I intend to add just a hint of cardamom to it tonight, for that gentle floral scent.
Last year, a first-time party guest came to me with the words: “release the kraken!”. He knew the rum from his first bite. If you’ve been dilly-dallying around with random rums, you gotta go kraken. Deep, dark, and twangy; it offsets the condensed milk perfectly, and pairs with the tough of coffee in the chocolate cake.
And yeah, mine’s a long pour. If you think rum balls are too alcoholic, it’s because you want to eat balls. Maybe check out a recipe for cake-pop on a stick. These are rumballs; if they don’t rumble, they ain’t rum! I’ve done the math. I wind up with 1/3oz of rum per ball; so three are a shot. Not rum-“flavoured” balls; rum-balls.
This is why I got the full-size upright freezer. I do three cakes at a time — because that’s the biggest mixing bowl I have!
Amie Korn says
How many balls will this make?