Step 1

Preheat the Oven to 350˚F. .

Step 2

Butter a 9" springform mold and line the bottom with parchment paper (note: you can use two 9" cake pans, but keep in mind 2 pans will take less time to bake). Sift your flour

Step 3

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add 6 eggs and beat on high speed for 1 min. With the mixer on, add the sugar in a steady stream and continue to beat on the highest speed for 8 min. The egg mixture should be thick, pale yellow and tripled in volume.

Step 4

Add 1 tsp vanilla and sift the flour into your batter. Fold the flour in with a spatula just until all of the flour is incorporated. Scrape from the bottom of the bowl to make sure you don't have pockets of flour trapped on the bottom. Be careful not to over-mix since you are relying on the fluffiness of the eggs for volume. Transfer the batter to your prepared pans.

Step 5

Bake 30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool down 10 minutes, then remove cake from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Once the cake is at room temperature, you can cut it in half to make two cake layers then remove the parchment paper. It should peel back easily.

Step 6

Beat 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream on high speed until stiff (mine took about 2 minutes). Don't over-beat it or it will be buttery.

Step 7

Transfer whipped cream to a medium bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Step 8

In the same bowl (no need to do the dishes yet), beat softened cream cheese and sugar on medium/high speed until smooth and creamy, scraping down the bowl as necessary to prevent rebel clumps of cream cheese.

Step 9

Use a spatula to fold whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until well blended and refrigerate the frosting until ready to use. Fold until you no longer see streaks of cream cheese.

Step 10

Mix 1 1/2 cups strong coffee with 2 Tbsp sugar and stir until sugar dissolves. Stir in the rum.

Step 11

Place one of the cakes on a cake platter (note: use the prettiest, flattest side for the top of the cake)

Step 12

Brush half of the coffee syrup over the bottom layer (a brush provides for the most even distribution of syrup).

Step 13

Spread 1/3 of the frosting over the first cake layer. At this point, you can sift 1 Tbsp cocoa powder over the frosting

Step 14

Center the second cake layer over the frosting and brush the remaining half of the syrup over the second cake layer.

Step 15

Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake.

Step 16

Decorate to your hearts delight. I used the Wilton Open Star 1M frosting tip for the remaining forsting and piped little designs all over the top then dusted generously with a good quality unsweetened cocoa. You could just dust the top with cocoa powder and add chocolate shavings. Chocolate coffee beans would be amazing as well.