Monday 17 November 2008

Mississippi Mud Cake


I bought 'Southern cakes by Nancy McDermott some time ago but up until now I hadn't made anything from it. I love the southern cooking so rich and totally unhealthy. Following a healthy diet is a normal day to day thing but sometimes a little of this stuff is just what the doctor ordered. Definitely a chocolate feel good factor to cheer up the winter days so that must be good for you mustn't it? The author states that she doesn't know how the list of ingredients transforms into such a tasty cake. I am here to tell you it certainly does. I have to confess I scratched my head a little while reading the recipe. Enjoy this delicious fudgey chocolate delight.

Cake

225gms/8oz butter cut into big chunks
62gms/2 1/2 ozs cocoa poder
4 eggs well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
400gms/14 oz sugar
250gms /9oz plain flour
pinch salt
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts ( I didn't use these)

Frosting

450gms/1lb icing sugar
62gms/ 2 1/2 oz cocoa powder
100gms/ 40z butter
125mls milk or evaporated milk
1 teasp vanilla extract
4 cups mini marshmallows or 3 cups marshmallows quartered ( I have no idea how to convert this to metric or imperial).

To Make The Cake

Pre-heat the ovem to 18o.C/350.F/Gas 4

Grease and flour 13 x 9 " / 13cm x 20cms tin

In a medium saucepan melt the butter and the cocoa over a medium heat stirring now an dagain until the butter is melted and the mixture is well combined about 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the beaten egg, vanilla sugar, flour, salt and nuts.

Beat with a wooden spoon until the batter is well combined and smooth

Quickly pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 - 25 mins until the top is springy to touch and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan

Frosting

Prepare this while the cake is baking so you will be ready to pour it over the hot cake.

In a medium bowl sieve the icing sugar and coca powder and combine well.

Add the melted butter milk and vanilla.

Mix well

Set aside until the cake is done.

Remove the cake from the oven and scatter the marshmallows on top.

Return the cake to the oven for a few minutes to soften the marshmallows

Pour the frosting al over the hot cake and leave to cool

Cut into small squares.

Notes

I made the cake in a 23 cm x 23 cm/9" x 9" tin. This gave me squares 1" thick. If made in the bigger pan I think they would be very thin.
Make half the amount of frosting if using this size of tin as there is a huge amount.
I didn't have enough marshmallows so the photo is not quite a true representation.

As a Post Script these actually taste even better after a couple of days. They get fudgier.

28 comments:

Vicky said...

Looks gorgeous Brenda. O/h would love this recipe so much.
xxx

Anonymous said...

Just when I think I really must go on a diet you put this up, you little temptress, you!!!! It looks divine but I'll try and hold off until I'm having company or it'll all go on MY hips! Jeannette.

Anna's kitchen table said...

I have this book, but have not made anything from it yet.
I love Southern cooking too! Have you heard of Paula Deen? I think you would enjoy her books, especially the cakes and desserts one.
xx

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Wow, so beautiful! An incredibly scrumptious treat!

Cheers,

Rosa

Nickki said...

This sounds just gorgeous Granny! I'm sure my kids would really love this as a treat. I'll bookmark the recipe :)

Maria♥ said...

Wow Granny, this looks so good!! I have the book too and still not made anything from it.

Maria
x

Semlan said...

Like Jeanette said; Temtress, that´s the word!! ;)

RecipeGirl said...

I would have used a smaller pan too- those thicker pieces are so much nicer! It looks delicious!

Rachel@fairycakeheaven said...

oooooooo yum, this look divine!!!

Anonymous said...

This cake would do a great job of cheering me up, this looks so delectable and chocolatey!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I'm feeling cheerier just looking at this!

Rosie said...

Oh Granny this cake looks gorgeous!! I also have this book and as yet not made anything from it eek!

Rosie x

Cynthia said...

I'm not a chocolate lover but this is so tempting!

Deb said...

Oh my gosh, I know why it is such a tasty cake. Look at the lashings of butter! lol I know I would love this.

Anonymous said...

Brenda that sounds so good, yum!! You've an award waiting over at my blog: http://culinarytravelsofakitchengoddess.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/awarding-behaviour-a-milestone/

Anonymous said...

That looks so delicious Brenda. Very chocolatey and tempting :) I will have to try it very soon!

Rhyleysgranny said...

It is an extremely calorific rich cake. It should carry a health warning. Thank you all for your comments.

Rosie I miss your blog:(

Thinking About Food said...

That looks out of this world GORGEOUS Granny!!! Would love to try it!!:)

Kelly-Jane said...

I must make this it just looks so fantastic!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Yum, I printed this out and am going to give it a try! Thanks!
~ingrid

Unknown said...

Wow! That looks amazingly delicious!

Anonymous said...

i never actually had this before but i hear only good things about it. and your photos are convincing-i've gotta try this!!

Anonymous said...

Dear Rhyleysgranny,
I have just found your blog after seeing your link for it on your nigella.com profile. I have just made the mississippi mud cake for my sister-in-law's baby shower and it is GORGEOUS!!! I'm so glad I found the recipe here. I also love the look of the toffee apple pork chops which I will be trying very soon!
Lovely blog.
Best wishes
Tootsievalentine (from nigella.com)
xx

Rhyleysgranny said...

Hey Toots. Thank you so much for your nice comments. I'm glad you popped in. So nice to meet old friends again :)

Anonymous said...

Delicious! I can't imagine anything more heavenly right now, I'll definitely be craving this for awhile :D.

Clabby said...

Granny, I've been browsing your blog looking for something to bring to my church's Day Camp. It needs to appeal to children, be able to be made ahead and turn out a lot of portions. I reckon I could cut these small and they would be perfect. Would you recommend them for this purpose?

Rhyleysgranny said...

@Clabby. These are very very rich nd I am not sure they would appeal to children. What about these. They would transport a lot easier. Kids adults everyone loves them and they are so easy to put together. :)

http://teandwheatenbread.blogspot.com/2009/03/rocky-road-crunch-bars.html

Unknown said...

I'm currently making these, I couldn't take them out of the oven until they'd been in for 40 minutes. Before then the top was still jiggly, no pulling away from the sides. The cake (brownies?) barely pull away from the sides now. It smells delicious, and since I sampled each part before using it (of course), I know it's wonderful.