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.