I'm craving fall. I love its crisp, cool air, and I enjoy cooking and baking with its ingredients. Squash, pumpkins, apples, and warming, aromatic spices are a source of comfort and make the change in seasons a little easier. By the end of summer, I am eager for fall, my favorite season.

I adore fall, but I'm not a fan of winter. Dirty slush, frostbitten toes, dry cheeks, and cracking skin are just a few of the reasons I dislike winter. But since fall and winter come hand-in-hand, and you can't have one without the other, I guess I'll just have to accept winter as it comes.

The usual fall baking inevitably will contain apple or pumpkin, since that's what's growing, baked into spiced pies or cakes. And, though I love them all, I felt like making something a little different, so I made a pumpkin mousse with a splash of rum in it.

Mousses can be made from the simplest of ingredients: cream, sugar, gelatin, and, in this case, a purée of roasted pumpkin. Since I was pairing the pumpkin mousse with crumbled chocolate spice cookies, I decided to flavor the mousse with just some spiced rum and vanilla (as per this recipe). This mousse is light and cool. The spiced rum is a nice boozy complement to the pumpkin. And, even though the mousse base is strained through a fine sieve, the texture of the pumpkin is maintained.

This recipe comes directly from Laura Calder. I only slightly changed her method.

Pumpkin mousse with a splash of rum

    Serves 4

• 1 tbsp spiced rum
• 1 tsp powdered gelatin
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream (35% fat), divided
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups roasted pumpkin purée
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Chocolate spice cookies or some sweetened and spiced whipped cream (optional)

1. Sprinkle the gelatin over the rum in a small teacup. Set aside for 5 minutes while you continue with the recipe.
2. In a small saucepan, combine one third of the heavy cream and the sugar. Stir on medium-low heat to gently warm the cream and dissolve the sugar. You can tell when the sugar is dissolved by the sound and the feel of the spoon while stirring the bottom of the saucepan. When the sugar is dissolved, add the rum and gelatin mixture, and stir until the gelatin dissolves and disappears. Remove the mixture from the heat, add the pumpkin purée and the vanilla. Stir (or whisk gently if necessary) to combine, and be sure to get rid of any lumps. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. When the pumpkin mixture is cool, whip the rest of the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Fold the pumpkin mixture into the whipped cream, divide the mixture among 4 glasses or teacups. Refrigerate them to set, at least 3 or 4 hours before serving.
4. Serve the mousse with chocolate spice cookies, or crumble them over top before serving. You could also top each with a dollop of whipped cream.