Almost Vegan Chocolate Rum Pudding Cake

I had a hankering for chocolate yesterday and a quick search among my favorite food blogs turned up this recipe. I had all the ingredients on had except for the soy milk, and because I wasn't looking for a vegan recipe I decided to just use the skim milk I had. I made a few minor adjustments which are noted below in the recipe.

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder, divided (I used regular cocoa powder)
1/2 cup plain soy milk (I used skim milk)
1/4 cup canola oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum extract (I used almond extract)
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup light rum (I used Parrot Bay Coconut Rum)

1. Boil some water in a teakettle, preheat oven to 350°F, and grease a 9-inch springform round cake pan. (I used 6 individual custard cups)

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 3/4 cup of the sugar, and 1/4 cup of the cocoa. Add the soy milk, oil, and extracts, and mix into a thick batter.

3. Spread batter into cake pan. Sprinkle the top with the remaining cocoa and sugar.

4. Pour the boiling water into a glass measuring cup, add the maple syrup and rum to the water, and pour this mixture on top of the cake batter.

5. Place cake on a cookie sheet in case of pudding overflow and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool just a bit; while the cake is still warm, place it on a large plate (your plate should have a slight edge to prevent spillage). (I put the custard cups in a baking dish to catch any spillage)

6. Throw on a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream if you like, and you’ve got yourself one impressive dessert.

Rating = So Good

I give this only a so good rating because, it was chocolate and it was gooey and it was good, but I was just a little disappointed in the outcome. I found it very messy and hard to eat, although we had friends over last night and I think Garth ate his in three bites all the while saying.."this is really good." So I guess it was just me who had a problem with it; CB didn't seem to have any problem with it and when I said I didn't know if I'd make it again he asked why, because it was so good. C'est la vie.