Recipes Discovered

Mississippi Mud Cake Recipe

I have posted a lot of dessert recipes, but this cake is definitively sure to impress a crowd. It not only looks like a master piece, but it also tastes incredible. The original cake was supposed to be three layers – chocolate cake, pecan filling, and whipped cream. I made the cake into two layers – chocolate cake and pecan filling – for a couple reasons. The most obvious reason was that I didn’t have any whipping cream, but also because the cake kept a lot longer without the whipped cream. I think the cake worked well with two layers. It was very dense and moist, and had an intense chocolate flavor. >>

For the cakes, I first greased two 9 inch cake pans and dusted them with cocoa powder. Using cocoa powder instead of flour eliminates the possibility of any white residue on the outside of the cakes, and that’s important since the sides of the cake are not frosted. Next, I melted unsweetened chocolate, butter, sugar, coffee, and salt over low heat until the sugar dissolved. I thought 1 1/4 cups of coffee sounded like a lot, but you can’t taste it in the cake. I really just deepens the chocolate flavor. I omitted the alcohol from the recipe, so after letting the chocolate mixture cool slightly, I beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. When that was mixed, I slowly added the flour and baking powder, and then stirred in the coconut. I poured the cake batter into the prepared baking pans, and baked them in a 350 degree oven. I checked on them after 20 minutes, which was a really good idea, because the cakes were definitely done.

While the cakes cooled, I started on the pecan filling, which I turned into a walnut filling. In a saucepan over low heat, I stirred together evaporated milk, brown sugar, butter, semi-sweet chocolate, an egg yolk, and vanilla. After 10 minutes or so of constant stirring, the mixture thickened up. I removed the saucepan from the heat, and added mini marshmallows. When the marshmallows melted into the filling, I stirred in the walnuts and then refrigerated the filling for about a half hour.

To assemble the cake, I simple put down one layer of cake, topped it with half of the walnut filling, added the second layer of cake, and finished with the remaining walnut filling on top. The cake was sensational. It’s rich and chocolatey, with a really deep flavor and a crunch because of the nuts. It’s unique from other chocolate cakes, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. Something to do with the texture of the cake. In any case, it’s delicious and sure to please any chocolate lover.