Double Take: Mississippi Mud Cake

Mel and I have not made many desserts from this book for multiple reasons. 1) Limited supply options for Mel in Germany. 2) Limited desire to make certain things that were actually options to prepare. 3) I make a fair amount of desserts already. (Although this blog doesn't accurately reflect this fact, I'm working on that. Prepare yourself for drooling coming soon.) Either way, this cake sounded tasty. It also had a pretty short time committment and Mel could get the ingredients. I decided to make it for my friend Jon's birthday. Mel planned to make it for some dinner party guests. Sometimes the best laid plans don't work out as planned though. Mel had a major shift to her plans so the post was delayed. I did make the cake for Jon's birthday though.

Mississippi Mud Cake ( as listed by the All New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook and available on the web here)

Ingredients

• 1  cup  butter, melted
• 2  cups  sugar
• 1/2  cup  unsweetened cocoa
• 4  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 1 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2  cups  coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
• 1  (10.5-ounce) bag miniature marshmallows
• Chocolate Frosting

Preparation

Whisk together melted butter and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in flour and chopped pecans. Pour batter into a greased and floured 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan.

Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; top warm cake evenly with marshmallows. Return to oven, and bake 5 minutes. Drizzle Chocolate Frosting over warm cake. Cool completely.

Note: 2 (19.5-ounce) packages brownie mix, prepared according to package directions, may be substituted for first 7 ingredients. Stir in chopped pecans. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Proceed with marshmallows and frosting as directed.

Southern Living's Chocolate Frosting

Yield: Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

• 1  (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2  cup  milk
• 1/4  cup  butter, softened
• 1/3  cup  unsweetened cocoa

Preparation

Beat all ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

Comments on the recipe: There's no way this chocolate frosting will drizzle. While the marshmallows are hot, drop blobs around the top of the cake. Gently smooth the chocolate frosting to cover the top of the cake. Don't panic, it will smooth out and taste good. Total time commitment for this cake is about 1 hour.

Reaction: Jon: I hate marshmallows. Me: Oh no, I had no idea. Jon: Huh, doesn't taste like marshmallows but a bit too rich for my taste. Others: Wow, this is super rich, like eating fudge. Only a couple of us that night really enjoyed it and the others felt it was quite rich. I was admittedly a bit bummed by this. However, I knew who would like it. Mary, my coworker, loves rich desserts. She was certainly underwhelmed by the entremet but was sure to be pleased with this cake made the same week. (I told you I made a lot of desserts. This was more than normal though.) I thought others in the lab would like it too. 


I placed it in a humble wrapping of aluminum foil and set it out on the breakroom table. The responses were in line with what I'd hoped to hear the night before, Yay! It was devoured. Mary came to let me know that "this was more like it Tabs". Folks went back for multiple pieces and a daugher of one co-worker asked if I'd teach her how to make it. She's in 7th grade and her mom doesn't make desserts very often. Its not part of their culture. I was pleased. I told her sure and when people were asking the next day if any was left, I knew this was an unquestionable winner of a recipe. Warning: This is not for crowds which don't enjoy eating pieces of fudgelike richness. In other words, this is great for most groups and would be a major hit for a family reunion. Jon said he preferred my blueberry pie. I'll try to get that one up soon.

Final assessment: At least 15 people thought this was fabulous and went back for more. 5 people felt it was a bit rich. I thought it was delicious but best eaten in small quantities. Enjoy!

Make sure to stop by Mel's blog to see what she thought of it.