I had a tough time naming this chocolate mousse rum cake. Imagine dark chocolate rum cake topped with dark chocolate rum mousse. This is a great adult dessert for the holidays and a chance to win gifts from World Vision.

I can’t believe Halloween is tomorrow. This means Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. If you’re like me, you’re already shopping for gifts for the special people in your life. And, there are some folks on your list who really don’t need or want “things” but you still want to give something.

Last year, around this time, I posted about the wonderful work World Vision does. They work all over the world (including the US) to alleviate poverty.

When I was in college I sponsored a child in Africa through World Vision. It didn’t cost much for me but enabled her to go to school. Since that time, World Vision has broadened ways for people to help. You can buy an animal, or mosquito nets, or medicines, or a well, or basic necessities. These donations are great gifts for those on your list that already have everything they want.

World Vision also sells handicrafts with purpose. A significant portion of the price goes towards World Vision programs so you can give your family and friends beautiful gifts while supporting efforts to change the world. I’d say that’s a win-win for everyone!

This year, World Vision is sponsoring a giveaway for Chocolate, Chocolate and More fans living in the United States. You can win a box with an upscaled basket, organic coffee, hand carved serving spoons, salad servers and reversible placemats – $455 value!

If you’re like me, you’ll find it hard to give away the items in your basket. Last year, I gave my all my gift basket items away. It was hard but everyone who received the gifts really enjoyed them.

Now for the rum cake. A few years ago I made some mini chocolate rum cakes that were dense and moist. A friend requested something similar for a party. I only have one mini-bundt pan here so it was easier to make a single cake.

I used a decorative 12 cup cake pan for this cake. A flat-topped bundt pan will also work well.  Chocolate mousse rum cake starts with chocolate rum cake . That will need to cool and soak before you top it with mousse so start a day ahead. This is one cake that gets better with age so you can make it up to a week ahead.

My chocolate rum mousse is actually a no-bake cheesecake and it’s dead simple with only 4 ingredients. The key is to refrigerate it a bit before you decorate the cake. I don’t have pastry bags so I cut a small hole (about 3/4 inch in diameter) in a gallon size ziplock bag and put my decorating tip in the hole. Then I put my mousse into the bag. I turned up the corner with the decorating tip in it to seal it off and sealed the top of the bag before refrigerating. Just before serving the cake, I pulled the bag of mousse out of the fridge and decorated the top and bottom with the mousse. You can just spoon this one the top if you don’t have decorating tips.

If you’re not much into the rum flavoring, you can leave the rum out of the mousse. You can also substitute coffee for the rum in both the mousse and the cake.

Chocolate Mousse Rum Cake

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Ingredients

Chocolate Rum Cake

• 1 ½ cups flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3.4 ounce box pudding mix
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup rum
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Rum Soaking Syrup

• ½ cup butter
• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup rum

Chocolate Rum Mousse

• 2 cups mascarpone cheese
• 200 grams (2 bars) dark chocolate, melted
• ¼ cup rum
• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

Instructions

Cake

1. Grease and lightly flour a 12 cup bundt pan (pecan flour works really nicely for this).
2. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
3. Cream butter and sugar together. Add the rest of the ingredients except chocolate chips and blend for 2 minutes on medium speed.
4. Fill Bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour (this depends on the shape of your bundt pan). A toothpick inserted into the cake should come out clean. Cool in pan.
5. Use a spaghetti noodle or thin skewer to poke holes in the cake (make lots of holes so the syrup can soak in).
6. Drizzle soaking syrup over the cake and cover with saran wrap. Let soak over night.
7. Remove cake from pan and top with chocolate rum mousse just before serving.
8. If you have trouble removing the cake from the pan, put it in a cool oven and turn the heat to 350°F. Let bake for about 10 minutes to loosen the cake and then try again.
9. Top with Chocolate Rum Mousse or serve the mousse on the side (like whipped cream).

Soaking syrup

1. In a small saucepan combine the butter, water and sugar. Bring it to a boil and then cook for about 5 minutes until the syrup thickens slightly. Remove from heat and let cool until lukewarm. Add rum and mix well.

Chocolate Rum mousse

1. Add gelatin to rum and set aside.
2. Melt chocolate and mix in the mascarpone cheese and rum/gelatin mixture until well mixed. Refrigerate until ready to top the cake.