Mississippi Mud Cake With Espresso-Bourbon Glaze- A Mocha and Chocolate Lover's Dream!

As much as I enjoy sharing savory recipes with y'all, I love to bake desserts.  I give them away as fast as I can, so that I'm not too tempted to eat them all.  Such was the case with this rich Mississippi Mud Cake with Espresso-Bourbon Glaze.  I was inspired to make this cake for two reasons-- I had all the ingredients, and I was looking for an easy and quick dessert to make. You see, Craig and I were invited to dinner our friends' home.  "Larry" happens to be from the South... as in Atlanta, Georgia.  I offered to bring dessert, which Larry's wife accepted. Larry loves sweets as much as I do.  He loved the Coconut Cake that I had previously made for him, in his Southern honor.  So, what could top that, I wondered?

 

I had forgotten about a cookbook that I had ordered on Amazon, many moons ago, called "Cake Keeper Cakes" by Lauren Chattman.  I stopped at page 120 and saw "Mississippi Mud Cake". Hmmm, bundt cakes are what I have dubbed as "Cheater Cakes", because I don't have to spend time slicing layers and frosting them.  (It's also self-preservation that I don't often make layer cakes.  If I did, my love of  layer cakes, being  my Achilles heel, would aggravate my diabetes glucose levels...which have been stable and normal, thank goodness.)  Well, that sounds Southern to me!  I noted the ingredients: chocolate, espresso powder, coffee, pecans, bourbon... perfect!  I made one adaption in that I used Cappuccino Chips that my friend Monica (from Lick the Bowl Good) had given me, when we were roommates at the November 2010 Foodbuzz Blogger Convention.

... otherwise, you can use mini-chocolate chips.

Making the glaze, first, is what I recommend to anyone who ventures to make this recipe.  The glaze...oh, the glaze!  It's so good, that it could be used to drizzle on vanilla ice cream.  The glaze needs more than ten minutes to set.  I'd recommend at least an hour or two-- or, make it a day ahead of time.  It needs to become very thick.  I discovered this, the first time I poured on the glaze, which absorbed right into the cake.   So, let me show you how to make this glorious glaze.  You need unsalted butter, light brown sugar,  instant espresso powder, heavy cream, confectioner's sugar and bourbon.  (You can leave out the bourbon if you wish.) 

Those of you who are new to my blog, you will find a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.)

Stir the butter, brown sugar, and espresso powder* together in a small saucepan over medium heat until the butter is melted. Whisk in the cream and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 minute, remove from the heat, and whisk in the confectioner's sugar until sooth. *I buy my espresso powder online at King Arthur Flour. 

Mix in the bourbon (I used half the amount). NOTE: I noticed that the sugar wasn't smooth, so I strained it. Problem solved! Let cool for at least an hour, so it will thicken. 

To make the cake:

This is optional, but adding a cup of chopped pecans is a good thing. What Southerner doesn't love PEA-KANS?  (Or is PE-CONS?

Your dry ingredients are unbleached all-purpose flour, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt.

For the chocolatey goodness, you need 6 ounces of finely chopped chococolate, 2 sticks of unsalted butter, 1/2 cup of brewed espresso (I used Extra-Dark bold coffee, since that's what I drink), sugar and 1/2 cup of bourbon (I used 1/4 cup of bourbon).  Combine the butter, chocolate, and espresso in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium, stirring, until the butter and chocolate are melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the granulated sugar and bourbon.

Place the eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low to break up the eggs. Beat in the chocolate mixture. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. 

Stir in the pecans (if using) and chocolate chips (or cappuccino chips). Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the came comes out clean, about 45 minutes. (NOTE: My cake was fully baked in 39 minutes, so keep a close on it!) Let the cake cook in the pan for 5 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.  

Now, get ready to drool...

 

Place the cake, still on the wire rack, over a baking sheet. Slowly drizzle the glaze over the cake, letting it run down the sides of the cake and covering as much of the cake as possible.  NOTE: The glaze absorbed into the cake. I decided to "speed cool" the remaining glaze in the fridge.  That solved the problem, as I wanted a thicker glaze.  

The glaze is my favorite part.  I would make this glaze for other desserts.  Trust me, it's a rockin' good recipe!

Larry understands that I have a food blog, so I cut into the cake before packing it to transport. It was very moist to the touch, which is a good sign.  I recommend checking the cake early, as mine was baked about six minutes sooner than the recommended time.

Have extra glaze waiting, and maybe a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle more glaze on this (notes for next time I make this....)

With minutes to spare before we had to drive to our dinner date, I took one bite of this test slice. 

Rich, dark chocolate.  Very rich chocolate.  Fortunate, for me, I like chocolate but I'm not crazy about a lot of chocolate.  This is good, because I could refrain from eating too much cake.  How did Larry like it?

He happily took my offering of the rest of the cake.   How did I like this recipe?  It's easy to make, and did I mention how much I love the glaze?  I'd like to play around with using either oil or sour cream to add even more moisture-- like my all-time favorite chocolate cake recipe.  I'm glad that I used Cappuccino chips, and I need to find more of these.  Overall, this is a very good recipe.  I've bookmarked a few more of Lauren Chattman's recipes in this nice little book.  

This weekend, I'm going to visit as many blogs as I can. I've been MIA far too long, and I miss my blogger friends!

Here's the recipe:

Nanaimo Bars - Quick to make (in theory) and a brief blogging hiatus

I belong to an amazing church!  We also have an amazing pastor, whose wife is one of the kindest and sweetest ladies I've ever met.  When Susie asked me if I'd be willing to make Christmas cookie for her, for a cookie exchange-- I agreed to do it.  Truth be told, I have never done any kind of cooking or baking for hire.  I figured that bar cookies would be a slam dunk-- and I remembered that, years ago, I used to make Nanaimo Bars at Christmas Time.  If you've never heard of Nanaimo Bars, then let me tell you-- these are incredibly good and a very popular dessert treat that has origins from a town in Canada-- Nanaimo, British Columbia, to be specific..

The most common version has three layers-- the bottom layer is a graham cracker and Dutch chocolate crust, glued together by butter, egg and walnuts (or pecans) and coconut.  I have never added the coconut, because coconut is a love/hate kind of ingredient that I don't want to take chances on.  I love coconut, but some of my family members don't. The middle layer-- ah, that's my favorite part. It's a buttercream.  I've seen recipes that call for vanilla pudding mix, but I only use Bird's Eye Custard-- it's a must.   (Please take note of the Bird's Eye Container -- which was unopened-- that claims "Easy to Open".)

I would like to write a letter to the person who designed this packaging!  I had a custard explosion (the lid flew off! that set the tone for the rest of this cookie making adventure... oh, let me tell you!  It began with my wanting to quadruple the recipe. I couldn't find my original recipe, so I searched the internet for a recipe hat I could print. I found one from  Sunset Magaziine's website, and read the ingredients. Everything looked just as I remembered-- yep, I was ready. I had my four professional size cookie sheets ready to go. I was all set up for the assembly line:

I love my Cuisinart food processor!  Let's see-- I start with graham crackers (turned to crumbs) and then walnuts, finely chopped-- pecan work, too.

I obediently followed the directions-- beat the eggs, add sugar, coco powder and then I paused.... bake the cookie crust?  This didn't sound right!   But, how could Sunset be wrong? So, I baked the first batch, and it came out wrong-- like really wrong-- crumbly, falling apart no-way-is-this-going-to-hold-together wrong.

The crust tasted bitter (too much cocoa and not enough sugar) so it went into the garbage-- and I do not like wasting food! So, I searched the internet again-- sure enough, the butter, egg, sugar and Dutch Cocoa should have been cooked over a double boiler (which thickens it) and then it's combined to the graham crackers and nuts.  The last photograph in the collage (above) shows the right consistency of the bottom crust.  I don't have photos to show you, of the double boiler process--because I was in a grumpy mood and I had to start all over again.  Sunset Magazine will get a comment from me, telling them that their recipe is so, so ... not authentic! But, I need to practice forgiveness!  I forged on, and made the buttercream.

This is absolutely delicious! So good!  For the love of Pete, please find Bird's Eye Custard Powder. It's so much better than instant vanilla pudding. Trust me!

It was getting late, and I had lost my natural lighting-- so these photos are not up to the quality I strive for. After the bottom layer has set (in the refrigerator), you add the layer of butter cream. That has to set (about 30 minutes) and then you melt the chocolate.  I admit, that I tempered my chocolate with both butter and cream.  You have to work fast-- and if the chocolate is super hot, it will melt the buttercream.  Now, let the bars chill until the chocolate is almost "set"-- but not completely ice cold. Why? You  risk cracking the bars-- I am speaking from experience.

Trimming the bars was a challenge, though I was glad that I made these on parchment paper. That way, you can lift them out and cut these on a solid surface.  Susie, this is the mess that you didn't see!

This piece had my husband's name on it. I didn't want to look at at Nanaimo bar, after this fiasco! Truth be told, I like chocolate but only in very small doses.

What a nightmare of cleanup!  My husband helped me out, assuring me that they were delicious.  In the end, I was happy that I got the job done. I refused to take money for my time. Considering my "Murphy's Law" experience, I wasn't going to charge for my time!   Luckily, I'm posting this recipe the right way-- and it shouldn't take long at all, should you choose to accept this mission.  I was happy to do a favor for Susie.  She was so thankful and that made it all worthwhile. I would definitely make these again, now that I have the correct recipe. They are truly a delectable cookie bar-- though very, very rich!

I haven't baked one single dessert for my Christmas Eve dinner. My family has whittled down to be very small-- like a total of five people.  I'm thankful to be on vacation, so that I can do things that bloggers have been posting for weeks-- Christmas decorations and all kinds of cookies.  I doubt I'll make many cookies, but I can assure any of you folks who haven't baked a thing-- Nanaimo bars are easy and very delicious. Just be sure to keep them refrigerated-- or freeze them to enjoy for weeks! 

I will be taking a blogging break for a few days. I'll be posting a recipe on Christmas Day. Until then--

Wishing all of you safe travels and a

blessed Christmas!

Ina Garten's "Beatty's Cake" for the Barefoot Bloggers

This is a very true story. Many years (maybe decades) ago, I was a full-fledged chocoholic. A friend of mine, who is a hypnotherapist, said that she could help me to control of  my insatiable appetite for any kind of chocolate. I won't get into the details of my session, nor the suggestion she gave my subconscious mind that would create an aversion to chocolate (you don't want to know...). All I can tell you is that, since then, I only have an occasional craving for chocolate! Even then, a bag of chocolate can last for months and months, untouched, in my cupboard. Crazier, still, is that I'd rather eat a Cadbury Fruit & Nuts bar or See's chocolates, in lieu of Godiva Belgian chocolate-- it's just too rich for me! 

So, here I was faced with a Barefoot Bloggers challenge of baking another Ina Garten cake recipe as the second of this month's chosen recipes! Mary of Passionate Perseverance  chose "Beatty's Cake" (found in Barefoot Contessa at Home) --a rich chocolate cake with chocolate frosting... a combination that I'm not particularly wild about (I like chocolate and white frosting).  However, my husband likes it and I was sure that I could find some takers once I had finished this cake. I just enjoy baking, so I was up for trying Mary's choice.

I liked the idea of using oil and buttermilk, instead of butter, which  I presumed would give the cake a lot of moisture. Besides, the frosting consisted of two sticks of butter!  I also like the idea of using coffee to enhance the taste of chocolate. I was going to be a good sport, despite my lukewarm love of chocolate cake and chocolate frosting-- so I decided to make Ina's recipe exactly as is,since this recipe has stellar reviews. Like Ina, I try my best to buy the best quality ingredients:

One of my golden rules in baking is to measure and prepare all of my ingredients. Baking is science, so it can ruin the whole recipe if you discover you're missing a vital ingredient.  I make a point of bringing my eggs and butter to room temp. Depending on the weather, that can take 30 minutes, to an hour.

Sometimes, I'm lazy and I don't sift my dry ingredients. This time, I made a point of it...

...because Dutch Cocoa can clump up.  I was also reminded that kosher salt doesn't sift well...duh!

One of my blogger buddies, Muneeba, just got a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer for her birthday. She's in for a treat! Mixing the batter, for this recipe, didn't even make me break a sweat. I simply mixed in the wet with the dry and the batter was ready in no time at all.

I make a point of  checking my cake about 5 minutes sooner than the recipe calls for, to reduce the risk of it being over-baked and dry. Ina's instructions say to bake this recipe between 30-40 minutes.  I used 2 9-inch pans and these were ready in 25 minutes!  Heed my warning, because my oven is calibrated to be pretty accurate! I allowed the cakes to cool for 30 minutes, per the instructions, and then put them on a cooling rack.

It's time to make the frosting-- I can finally use the espresso powder that I order from King Arthur. It's pretty cool stuff.  I like how fine the powder is, compared to instant coffee.  I've never made a buttercream frosting with an egg yolk, so I bravely went ahead--wondering if a raw egg would freak out anyone. I decided not to say anything.

The butter is whipped for about 3 minutes-- there's lots of air going in this!

Ina calls for 6 ounces of "good semi-sweet chocolate".  Well, Ina,  Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips is as good as it's gonna get!  I started to do the double boiler thing...then I thought, heck-- what are microwaves for? 90 seconds later... perfectly melted chocolate. Easy, eh?

 The only reason I'm publishing the photo of the egg yolk that is being added to the frosting is that I love the color. You cannot compare farm fresh free-range egg yolks with the commercial variety. I just love these eggs!

In goes the powdered sugar and then the melted and cooled chocolate.  I took a taste. Not bad! I do like chocolate chip cookies, so I do like semi-sweet chocolate.

So, what happened here?  The unspeakable-- some of the cake did not release. I plead the fifth.

The beauty of icing is that it's like putty-- you can fill in mistakes and nobody will be the wiser. Except for you, but it's our little secret. I have to say, this frosting is very silky and very easy to work with.

So, here's the big "TA DA".  Nothing exciting to look at, its it?  I pondered how to jazz it up... more chocolate fru-fru candies? No!  Roses from my garden? Nah.... It's a cake and I made it from scratch! That's good enough for me.

Craig eagerly waited for a slice of this cake, by eating a smaller portion of dinner. He prompty set aside a slice to take to work, and one for his co-worker who also has a sweet tooth for chocolate.

Does this make you chocoholics quiver with longing?

You can tell me to stop anytime...look away!  I admit, tthis is an excellent chocolate cake. You cannot taste the coffee-- in fact, the coffee really brings out the chocolate flavor loud and clear. The frosting is very creamy, and delicious.  I ate one small slice with vanilla ice cream-- to me, that softens the chocolate for my taste buds.I would definitely make this cake for someone who adores chocolate. It's very easy to make.

HOWEVER... my Chocolate Bliss Cake with a lighter chocolate filling and Fluffy White Frosting is still my favorite cake-- and it's pretty close to Ina's recipe. . I adore a white frosting anytime of the day. I doubt hypnosis will ever cure me of my love of white cake and white frosting. I can't resist it-- and I've had a hankering to make Ina's Coconut Cake.

If you'd like to join the Barefoot Bloggers in making Ina Garten's recipes, twice a month, please visit their website.  Psssssssssssst.... the next person to choose a recipe.... would you choose something that is chocolate free? No more cakes? Well, maybe Ina's Coconut cake? Then again, I'm ready for something with vegetables. My bathroom scale will thank you.

Mary, thanks for choosing this recipe. I love your blog-- what a touching story you have!

NOTE; If you are subscribing to my blog, via Feedburner, please JUMP to my blog to view or print the recipe(s) below.

Happy Baking!