Mississippi Mud

Tomorrow is Birthday Celebration Lunch for my coworkers. Each month the faculty brings something to eat and we say it’s for that month’s birthdays. Even if there is not a birthday that month we still celebrate and I love it. Everyone always brings such yummy things and sometimes I gain a new recipe. Tomorrow I’m bringing Mississippi Mud Cake. I decided to make this cake because it calls for buttermilk and I just so happen to have some that I used for Banana Nut Bread earlier this week. I also had a lot of the other ingredients on hand so I guess it was a lazy decision. Even though the name of this cake sounds unappetizing it really is delicious. This is one of my dad’s favorite cakes that I make. The first time that I made it for him I was afraid I had messed it up. He reassured me that if you have chocolate, marshmallows, and pecans you can't really go wrong. He was right.

Here’s what you need for the cake

· 1 box Devil’s Food Cake

1 stick of butter, melted

2 eggs

1 ½ cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

(7 oz) Marshmallow cream OR mini marshmallows (I use both because it makes it extra yummy)

Mix the cake mix, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk together until well combined. I also add a few chocolate chips because that’s how I roll (I always add choc chips to chocolate cakes & brownies) Pour batter into greased 9x13 cake pan and bake at 350 for 42-ish minutes.

Let cake cool slightly. Next either spread the marshmallow cream on top of the cake OR pour on marshmallows. I will spread the cream and then sprinkle some marshmallows on top of that.

Now for the icing…

1 stick of butter

1/3 c. milk

4 TBS cocoa

4 c. confectioner sugar, sifted

In a saucepan heat the butter, milk, and cocoa until just boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in sugar. While the icing is still warm, pour on top of the marshmallows and spread. If it hardens then put back on the stove for a bit. I sometime will make an extra half batch of icing to cover the cake completely. I find when I do this the cake stays more moist.

Then sprinkle the top of the cake with some pecans. You could mix the pecans with the icing but I like to put them on top so people can pick them off, if needed.

Here it is. And it’s ok that it doesn't look too good because it’s named after mud. It’s not supposed to be pretty.

Hopefully everyone will enjoy it at the birthday lunch. Speaking of birthdays tomorrow is my sweet mother-in-law’s bday. Happy Birthday, Jeanne! I can’t wait to see her and my bros & sisters-in-laws, and little Kate this weekend. I hope you have a happy weekend.