Bourbon-Infused Mississippi Mud Cake

  

A while back, I mentioned a friendly cooking competition created by a friend of mine.  Each month, several judges, tasters, and cooks meet at her apartment and compete in a themed cooking competition.  For March, the theme was "Oscar Movies" (the competition took place the night before Oscar Night) and my movie was "The Blind Side".

I was at a loss.  Do I make football food?  Thanksgiving food (thinking back to the Thanksgiving dinner scene in the movie)?  Tacos (the father owned hundreds of Taco Bell stores)?

Then, I thought, what if I make something that represents the town where he came from?  I wasn't sure I was going to go that route, but then I spoke with another good friend of mine (who actually is one of the esteemed judges) and she also suggested doing a regional dish.  I was sold.

So I chose Mississippi Mud Cake, since Michael Oher, the main character, chose to go to college and play for Ole Miss, keeping in his family's tradition.

I know, I should have said spoiler alert. But it's a true story.  That's like saying "(SPOILER ALERT), the Titanic doesn't make it."

Now, I had never tried Mississippi Mud Pie.  All I knew about it was that it was a very popular dessert, believed to be created after World War II made with simple ingredients that could be found at any supermarket. I scoured through tons of recipes before I found the King Arthur Flour recipe.  They rarely falter, so I knew I wanted to base my creation off of their recipe.

I wanted to make some changes.  I wanted to make this a "Rags to Riches" Mississippi Mud Pie, since Michael Oher went from being a foster child, running between homes, to an adopted child of a very wealthy family. So I decided to use Scharffen Berger Chocolate for the ganache and I wanted to freshly melt real marshmallows on top of the fluff. And I wanted to do one more thing. I wanted to add alcohol.

Shocker.

I wasn't sure if standard Mississippi Mud Pies ever included bourbon, so I tweeted my question:

Tradionally, does Mississippi Mud Pie ever include Bourbon?

I received lots of "no"s, "not traditionally"s, and "I've never had it with Bourbon"s.  But then Susan of Doughmesstic wrote to me, "If it doesn't, then you should MAKE it a tradition!"

HOLLA!

I was sold yet again. Bourbon it was.  So I got to work.  I baked my cake, infused it with a Bourbon simple syrup, toasted my pecans, created my chocolate ganache  that I also infused with bourbon that would be drizzled on the cake and packed up my marshamllows and fluff and hit the subway.

The competition at the event was tough. These were some very talented chefs.  The Judges dined on Profiterole "IED"s filled with olive oil ice cream and chocolate sauce representing "The Hurt Locker", an amazing Blueberry Basil sorbet topped with Blue Cheese and served with an apple slaw that maybe sounded a little out there but was one of the best things I have EVER EATEN for Avatar, and Chicken Mole served in wonton cups for UP (because they tried to capture the chicken using chocolate, brilliant idea!) among many others. When it was my turn to plate, I was all arms. Because I brought my creme brulee torch.  As I explained my concept, I went around to each plate, warning the judges to sit back as I torched their marshmallows.

Note to readers:  If you are ever trying to impress judges, bring a torch. Always fun. But only for food.  Not if it is a wood building contest.

Alas, I didn't win, but I did receive an honorable mention as the judges called this cake "Lick the plate good".  But it wasn't the most creative as the dishes I mentioned above were (and they were incredible creative.  All of those ideas were phenomenal), but it doesn't change the fact that this cake is INCREDIBLE. IN. CRE. DI. BLE.  Soft chocolate cake infused with a Bourbon simple syrup, drizzled with rich chocolate ganache, gooey marshmallow fluff, crunchy toasted pecans, and of course, torched marshmallows.

Rags to riches, indeed.

Bourbon Infused Mississippi Mud Cake (adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Cake
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) butter
1/3 cup (1 ounce) Dutch-process cocoa
1 cup (8 ounces) hot water
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 cups (14 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 cup (4 ounces) sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bourbon Simple Syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp bourbon (I used Jim Beam, keeping it real "down home")

Topping
2 cups (11 ounces) Marshmallow Fluff or marshmallow crème
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips or finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup (4 ounces) heavy cream
1 cup diced, toasted pecans
2 cups marshmallows

Equipment: Creme brulee torch (optional)

Cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" cake pan, or our 2-quart casserole pan.

Melt the butter, then stir in the cocoa and hot water. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, soda, salt, and espresso powder. Pour the cocoa mixture over the dry ingredients, stirring to blend; the mixture will be a bit lumpy. Add the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla, beating till nearly smooth; a few small lumps may remain.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 30 to 45 minutes (longer for the casserole pan), or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven. Immediately poke holes throughout the cake with a fork and brush the bourbon simple syrup onto the cake.(I actually did not do this next step. When I made the cake, I melted the fluff in the microwave and spooned it onto the cake before serving) Wait 1 minute, then spoon on the marshmallow; wait another 2 minutes, and gently spread the marshmallow over the surface of the cake. Allow it to cool to lukewarm, at least 1 hour.

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Bring heavy cream to a boil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Immediately pour over chopped chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds.  With a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, stir until the chocolate has just melted and the mixture becomes smooth (do not over mix).  Top with the diced nuts and marshmallows.  If desired, toast marshmallows.  Yield: 1 rich cake, about 3 dozen servings.

Comments

[Jessie]

that looks amazingly yummy, I'm loving the topping too

[Tangled Noodle]

What an incredibly fun event and the entries sound so creative! However, I would still have given you the win because - well, just look at this! Look at all that melty marshmallow and chocolate and anything that has Bourbon already in it just take the whole cake! And the Oscar goes to . . . 8-D

[Nicole]

I love how you put booze in everything, I'm so with you on that :) I made Mississippi Mud Cookies this weekend that were amazing. What a fun way to celebrate the Oscars.

[lisaiscooking]

All the themed dished sound so creative, and your cake was a fantastic idea! The bourbon in it is inspired.

[Sara Tea]

stop. this looks TOO good. adding booze is always the way to be, for baked goods at least haha. i cannot wait to try this out.

[Miranda]

wow. wow. wow. saved. bookmarked.
this look mouthwatering!!!

[Lauryn]

this looks amaaaazing! I would have voted for you for sure!! Thats sounds like an awesome competition!

[Phyllis]

OMIGOD. This looks unbelievable! I love Mississippi Mud pies. But I'm really impressed at all the creative dishes your friends came up with for the Oscar party. And funny how you said that torches are just for food, when I was a kid the pyromaniac in me asked my parents for a woodburning kit and against their better judgement they got me one (they took it away from me after my first 'project' LOL)

[Rebecca]

First of all yumminess. Second, thanks for visiting our blog. I posted the answer to your question there about Passover -- the Torta is fine.

[jenn (Bread + Butter)]

I'm drool right over my keyboard. I need to try making something with bourbon. I can imagine the taste of it in the syrup with the cake.

[5 Star Foodie]

This cake sounds absolutely fabulous with the addition of bourbon!

[grace]

this is just inspired. i love how you've related it to the film, and let's be honest--the bourbon infusion is nothing short of phenomenal.

[Tracey]

That event with your friends sounds like SO much fun! I wish I had more friends who were into cooking and/or baking so we could do things like that :)

Great job on the cake - it looks awesome!!

[DailyChef]

That picture is simply amazing.

[msmeanie]

This sounds so yummy. You would have totally won if I was a judge! I LOVE that you spiked it too -- great addition!

[Jill]

"Lick the plate good" is a pretty good endorsement!

[Ashley]

Oh wow love this!! I'm never really interested when I see mud pie on a menu but I would definitely order it if it looked like this!

[Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction]

I shouldn't be reading this so late at night because I am now getting hungry! Looks *incredible*

[Erica]

Wow! I am drooling here!This looks delicious!

[nfl jerseys]

All the themed dished sound so creative, and your cake was a fantastic idea! The bourbon in it is inspired.