Mississippi Mud Cake

I love the name (Mississippi Mud Cake) for the most part. Never had, heard or seen  one. So I read on it when I read the choice of this cake for this month on the Cake Slice Bakes. According to what I have been reading on the internet, the mud cake was derived from the ever popular dessert, the mud pie. This messy pie is nothing but a chocolate pie with a crusty top that resembles mud of the Mississippi river! The mud cake is said to be a more delicious form of the pie. The crust in the pie is replaced in the cake with a fudgy brownie of pecans or walnuts.It is topped with icecream and frozen. This is again topped with cream and chocolate sauce. Now who could resist that whether they resemble mud or not. I could never. The cake slice version of the mud cake is where the brownie is topped with marshmallows followed by a rich sweet chocolate sauce.

What you need for this are:

 Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott

Makes one 13 x 9 inch sheet cake

For the Cake:

226g unsalted butter, cut into biug chunks

½ cup cocoa powder

4 eggs, beaten well

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sugar 

1½ cups all purpose flour

¼ tsp salt

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used roasted walnuts )

For the Mississippi Mud Frosting:

3¼ cups confectioners sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

113g unsalted butter, melted

½ cup milk or evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups mini marshmallows or 3 cups large marshmallows quartered

Method for the Cake:

1) Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan. In a medium saucepan combine the butter and cocoa powder and cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, until the butter is melted and the mixture is well blended, about 3 – 4 minutes. Stir in the beaten eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour, salt and pecans and beat until the batter is well combined and the flour has disappeared.

2) Quickly pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cake springs back when touched gently in the centre and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.

3) While the cake bakes, prepare the frosting so it is ready to pour over the hot cake.

Method for the Mud Frosting:

1) In a medium bowl combine the confectioners sugar and the cocoa powder and stir to mix well. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla and beat everything together well. Set aside until the cake is done.

To Serve:

1) Remove the cake from the oven, scatter the marshmallows over the top and then return the cake to the hot oven for about 3 minutes to soften the marshmallows.

2) Place the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack. Pour the frosting all over the marshmallow dotted cake and eat straight away or allow to cool to room temperature. Cut the cake into squares and serve.

 I halved the recipe and cut down on the amount of sugar in both the cake and the frosting after having read about it being sweet in the reviews. A fudgy delight is what I would term this. The topping of marshmallow chocolatey goodness is amazingly good. And yes, if  you want to indulge yourself in ooey-gooey chocolate bountiness, this is the recipe for you!