Think Tank Momma: Chocolate

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Share A Spoon
CCCCCCCCCAAAAAAAKKKKKKEEEEE
is there anything better?

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This week's theme is brought to you by my lovely bloggy and Twitter friends @amberella87, @kimslittlelife and @TheBlueZoo. Apparently cake is pretty popular, or you Smackers are just a crazy bunch of baking machines!
I used to see myself as just a cook and not a baker. I mean I could bake, but there's all that measuring and perfection and yada yada yada. I thought there was too much precision involved and I am more of a fly by the seat of my pants kinda gal. I didn't have the patience for baking, or so I thought.
However, through the course of trial and error I have learned that mistakes are o.k. Sometimes mistakes are even better than the original idea. I started out experimenting in the savory kitchen. I decided if it's a train wreck I will just throw it out and start over. There's always take out in a pinch aka a travesty of epic proportions. Besides, this is my kitchen. Who says you have to follow a recipe?
Well, that experimenting bled into baking. At first it was more of a challenge to see if I could improve recipes that were sweet, the way I did changing things up on classic dishes. I had learned at that point to start measuring or approximating for my savory recipes to share with others. Recipe writing requires measurements. So when I started writing my own baking recipes I was already in the habit of ~~approximating~~ measuring.

When I decided to make this cake I struggled. Living in the South, I have had Mississippi Mud Cake several times over and recipe after recipe. My favorite recipe came from a lady that used to work with my mom. She made the best Mississippi Mud Cake I had ever tasted. She shared her recipe, but when others made it, it just wasn't as good. What's even weirder than that? The woman couldn't cook savory dishes to save her life, but she was a Master Baking Goddess.
Rather than make her recipe and have it fail miserably like so many others before me, I decided I would make my own. I worked this recipe over and over until it came out the way I wanted it. My recipe is different than Naomi's but it's just as tasty in my not so humble opinion.

Brandee's Mississippi Mud Cake

2 sticks butter softened

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cup flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup walnuts (I use the ice cream nut topping. It's chopped really fine, works really well!)

1 jar Jet Puff Marshmallow fluff

2 handfuls of mini marshmallows

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa and baking powder. Stir in salt. Set aside. Cream together butter and sugars. Add the extracts. Add eggs one at a time. Slowly incorporate the flour/cocoa mixture. Fold in the nuts.

Spread batter into a greased 13x9x2 baking pan. Cook for 35 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. (Or until the cake is set.)

Remove from the oven and let cool until for ten minutes. Spread one small container of marshmallow fluff over the cake and sprinkle 2 handfuls of mini marshmallows evenly over the cake (see what I mean about approximating?).

Return the cake to the oven and bake for 10 minutes (or until the marshmallow melts and toasts lightly.

Let cake cool completely.

Frosting:

1 stick butter softened to room temperature

3 cups of powdered sugar

1/3 cup of cocoa

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 cup chopped pecans

Cream butter, sugar, cocoa, vanilla and milk together. Beat until smooth and creamy. Takes a few minutes. Stir in chopped pecans. Top the cooled cake with the frosting.

This cake is simply put SINFUL. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Now, it's your turn. Share your favorite cake recipe this week! Link up below!
Happy Eating Smackers! Leave me some love and let me know what you want to see in the coming weeks on Share a Spoon. (You don't have to participate in order to pick a theme. If you are looking for recipes just let me know and I will do my best to help you!) We're coming up on our 1 Year Anniversary and I am super excited about that!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

It's time for an education lesson for you my loves. Chocolate. Mmmm.....sweet nectar of the Gods! History time. Who knows it's origin? I do, cause I'm smart like that. So here it is, I want my followers all edumacated and I can't have slackers. Well, at least about important shit like, chocolate, coffee, vampires....what? Oh, sorry. I got distracted.

So history of chocolate. Chocolate was first cultivated and consumed by The Mayans and The Aztecs. Yeah, and you all thought that North America was The Promised Land. Nope. By the year 1000 A.D. the cocoa beans were being used as currency. The Aztecs were a little screwed up though. They were drinking undiluted, unsweetened liquor from fermented cocoa beans. They believed it would bring them wisdom, energy and understanding, and it was reserved for their powerful. Can you say ick!?

So when Columbus arrived in 1492 he was given some beans. He took them back to Spain, but he didn't know how to cultivate or ferment them. Shortly thereafter, Cortez showed up in 1519 to conquer Montezuma. The Aztecs, silly as they were, believed he was some Q-something or other guy that was prophesied to return. Anyhoo, they tried to bribe him with chocolate. It didn't work, he settled their lands for Spain. But, he learned how to properly process those precious little cocoa beans. He took them and the knowledge of how to get that liquor ~~goodness~~ ick back to Spain.

But you just got to love those sexy Spainards. They make everything sexy. Including CHOCOLATE. They added sugar and honey to the bitter liquid goodness, and presto-chango, sweet nectar of the Gods. They, like those Aztec/Mayan stingy bastards only allowed the upper echelon to partake of the sexy brown liquor! The Spainards kept that secret at Court for 100 years.

So...now, are you all ready for all that candy on Saturday? Hmmm? Ready for chocolatey goodness that you are going to send your kiddos out whoring for? Oh, don't look at me with such indignation and those glaring eyes over glasses like I just said something so Gawd Awful that you can't believe it. You know that you end up going through their bags, taking all the pieces of your favorites, and telling them that one looks bad, or whatever other excuse you come up with to steal candy from babies. They are all lies. And why do we do it? I do cause that's what my Dad did. But hey, he always took us trick or treating. Nevermind, that when we said we were ready to quit he would make us keep going for say another 30 houses. Why? Because he was going to steal our candy!

I had worked out this masterful, and I do mean masterful plan with the kids this year. I end up throwing so much candy away every year, that when they were having trouble deciding what they wanted to be, I, in a momentary stroke of sheer genius, suggested that they could skip Trick or Treating if they wanted. Here was the offer: if you don't get costumes, I will take you to buy your favorite big bag of Halloween candy and then you won't have all the stuff you don't like. THEY. AGREED. I was so stoked! Yeah, that lasted about a week. They decided they need costumes because they have to dress up for school. Freaking Public Education. Damnit! I kid. Sort of.

Anyway, I did get out of costumes sort of. We found these great t-shirts at Wal-Mart. They come with a handkerchief for a mask. They had pirates, zombies, vampires, and a few others. The boys wanted the vampire ones. We have some makeup, fake blood/teeth and white hair spray, and I got it all for like $15. So, I guess they are going to trunk-or-treat at church and dress up for school. Happy Halloween you little boogers!

We have this local chocolatier here in North Florida called Peterbrooke Chocolatiers. They have the best chocolates. They even make chocolate covered popcorn. And it is to die for! I promise. They had a Spooktacular event this afternoon that Kooper and Kamden attended. It was awesome. They got to learn about the chocolate. Tour the facility, and best part. They got to dip cookies, pretzels, etc..in the warm liquid goodness and bring home their creations! They had a great time. See their smiling faces below.

Sitting outside before the chocolate dipping began: