Saturday, February 20, 2010

Cake Slice - Mississipi Mud Cake (or cupcakes)


The Cake Slice Bakers have struck again! This time the monthly recipe was Mississipi Mudcake from the book Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott. I wanted to make something that was easy for Mat to take along to his first day at his new job, so I decided to make cupcakes instead of one big cake. As you can see that had some interesting effects on the marshmallow topping. In fact most of the cupcakes had marshmallow oozing down the sides of the paper cases - a huge sticky, delicious mess!

The cake has a Brownie like texture, not muddy like I expected - but it still tasted great. I loved having sweet fluffy melty marshmallows on the top, but that frosting was a bit too sweet for me - and that is saying something, I have a major sweet tooth!


Mississipi Mud Cake (from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)
Makes 17 cupcakes

250g unsalted butter
½ cup cocoa powder
4 eggs, beaten well
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups caster sugar
1½ cups plain flour
¼ tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I omitted these)

For the Frosting: (I would halve the amount next time)
3 1/4 cups icing sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
125g unsalted butter, melted
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups mini marshmallows (I used one packet of large marshmallows)
  1. Heat the oven to 180C. Line 2 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake cases. 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 muffin trays and bake for 20 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched gently in the center.
  3. While the cupcakes bake, prepare the frosting so it is ready to pour over the hot cupcakes. (I wouldn't do this until the cupcakes are ready, as the frosting goes hard very quickly!)
  4. In a medium bowl combine the powdered 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.
  5. Remove the cupcakes from the oven, scatter the marshmallows over the top and then return the cupcakes to the hot oven for about 2 minutes to soften the marshmallows. (I did mine for a bit too long and they melted too much - so keep an eye on them!)
  6. Place the cupcakes on a wire rack. Pour the frosting all over the marshmallows and eat right away or allow to cool to room temperature.

18 comments:

Gala said...

Those marshmallows give an interesting look!
Although I can imagine all this together would be very sweet.

Anonymous said...

Jim-49 said
Well Alicia,you are talking,my kind of state,"Southern Mississippi,that is"!!These look very nice!!! Hope you enjoyed the family,and good to see your back!!We,laugh and joke about your family going swimming at Christmas.We know the winter here,and it been a bad one,and your in summer.we really don't think about these things,until we see pictures!! Love the site!!

cookies and cups said...

they look pretty yummy!

the shoppe owner said...

they look beautiful! what a nice treat for your husband to get to take to his first day on a new job. congratulations to your family :)

symphonious sweets said...

oozey marshmellows are a good thing!

apparentlyjessy said...

Mississippi mud cake cupcakes, sounds delicious, I would love to see an inside shot of these cupcakes!
I think there must be something about marshmallows that is just too sweet, even for the sweetest of sweet tooths, cause I can never eat much either!
Well done on baking in this heat! I can't bring myself to do it!

Katie said...

Wow I never even thought of cupcakes what a grreat idea. I bet they went down a hit at his first day at work - they'll be expecting yummy treats every week now.

Love the pink tinge to your marshamllow, so pretty

Rachel said...

Marshmallows give it a pretty lacy edge...

Amanda said...

A cupcake! It's been a while... I missed you. :)

Paris Pastry said...

I've never had a Mississipi Mud Cake, let alone a cupcake-version! I wonder if the texture would have been muddy if you made a cake instead... Something to try out for me!

Jo said...

Great way to tweak this recipe into a cupcake. I think you're probably the only one who had thought of it. But nice ... I like the pink melted marshmallow on the top - very cute.

Leslie Harris said...

Cupcakes! What a great idea! :D And the pink marshmallows are too cute! :D

emma wallace said...

That looks like perfection. Like it would taste the way a cupcake should taste! I have to try this recipe.

iamemmamusic.blogspot.com

Jelli said...

Odd topping and all, I'd be happy to shove one of these into my mouth. Looks great. Thanks for sharing!

Xiaolu said...

Ooh. I've never mud cake before, but it sounds delectable and it's rare for me to meet a chocolate treat I don't like.

Monica H said...

I LOVE that you made thes einto cupcakes and even more so tht you used pink one. so pretty!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

They're very cool looking with the marshmallow all melty and the frosting puddled in the middle.
~ingrid

Michelle said...

MMMM!