Mississippi Mud Cake

A rich chocolate cake topped with mini marshmallows and a warm chocolate fudge frosting.

Ingredients

2 cups	480 ml	Flour
2 cups	480 ml	Granulated sugar
½ cup	120 ml	Unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons	10 ml	Baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons	7.5 ml	Baking soda
½ teaspoon	2.5 ml	Salt
½ cup	120 ml	Oil, vegetable or canola
2		Eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon	5 ml	Vanilla extract
½ cup	120 ml	Whole milk
¼ cup	60 ml	Sour cream
1 cup	240 ml	Boiling water
10 oz	285 g	Mini marshmallows
½ cup	120 ml	Salted butter, softened (frosting)
6 tablespoons	90 ml	Heavy cream (frosting)
3 tablespoons	45 ml	Cocoa powder (frosting)
1 teaspoon	5 ml	Vanilla extract (frosting)
2-3 cups	480–720 ml	Powdered sugar (frosting)
—		Walnuts for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, combine oil, eggs, vanilla, milk, and sour cream until mixed completely. Be careful not to over mix. Over mixing creates a more elastic batter resulting in a dense, chewy cake.
On low speed, carefully add the boiling water. Beat on high speed for 1 minute to allow air bubbles to form. Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients, and mix until fully combined.
Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 30 minutes. Toothpick test to see if cake is done. If toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.
Remove cake from oven and cover top with mini marshmallows and return to oven for 2 minutes or until the marshmallows are slightly melted. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
In a small saucepan, melt butter. Using a wooden spoon, gradually add heavy cream and cocoa powder. Cook about 2 minutes stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and add vanilla and powdered sugar using an electric mixer. Beat until smooth. Immediately drizzle over cooled cake. Refrigerate for 25-30 minutes until frosting has set.

Tips & Notes:

If you don't have a sifter, use a strainer with very small holes. Sifting is important because it helps the dry ingredients to combine better. It is especially important in this recipe because cocoa powder tends to have clumps.
When using marshmallow fluff, allow the cake to cool first for about 5 minutes. Then top the cake with the fluff and let it sit for about 5 minutes before attempting to spread it. The heat from the freshly baked cake will soften the fluff making it spreadable. And then you can proceed with making the chocolate fudge sauce.
Hate marshmallows? Then leave it OUT completely OR check the RECIPE VARIATIONS part of the blog post above for other suggestions.
Keep cake in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.