Tag Archives: vanilla

Recipes - Desserts

Mississippi Mud Cake

Perhaps it was watching our beloved St. Louis Cardinals slugging it out in the mud last night at Busch Stadium (only to lose the game) but I woke this morning with a Mississippi Mud Cake on my mind. Whether the State of Mississippi or the mighty Mississippi River as it flows beside the city of St. Louis, I will leave to my readers!

This well-known Southern favorite is rich with melted butter, cocoa, sugar, and eggs.  Make it in a jelly roll pan and cut in squares.  The chocolate cake layer is the perfect complement to a sweet-crunchy topping made of mini-marshmallows and chopped pecans.  Allow the marshmallows to soften for five minutes after returning to the oven. When they begin to brown on top, take the cake out and drizzle the chocolate frosting over the top.  Yum Yum GOOD!  The chocolate frosting recipe makes 2 cups; I saved half of it for another purpose.

A great cake for sharing as it serves 15-18 easily, and a great ball game today: Cards win it 3-1!

Mississippi Mud Cake

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1 (10.5-ounce) bag miniature marshmallows
Chocolate Frosting

Directions Whisk together melted butter and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in flour and chopped pecans. Pour batter into a greased and floured 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan. Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; top warm cake evenly with marshmallows. Return to oven, and bake 5 minutes. Drizzle Chocolate Frosting over warm cake. Cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients

1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup milk $
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Beat all at medium speed until smooth. Drizzle over warm cake. Store leftover frosting in fridge to be used for frosting cookies.

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Recipes - Desserts

Buttermilk Pie

There didn’t seem any better day to bake a Buttermilk Pie than April 1st (and no April Fool’s indeed!).  A spanking new calendar page, spring daffodils already in bloom, and the sweet tang of buttermilk are a perfect way to greet this beautiful month!

This pie will remind you of a southern Chess Pie with the same creamy texture.  Today I used a heaping 3 T. of flour to be sure that there was enough flour to thicken the liquids in the batter.  The buttermilk is the most distinctive taste in this pie; just a hint of tartness with the sugar complementing the buttermilk tang.

You really must make your own crust for this pie; using a store-bought crust will not give you anywhere close to the results you will get rolling out a homemade crust, flaky but sturdy enough to provide texture to the creaminess of the pie.  As always, I used 4-5 T. of ice water for my crust and worked the shortening in quickly to the flour-salt mixture using just my fingers to cut the shortening in until the dough resembled small peas.

Once your crust is ready and in your pie plate, you need only to mix up the filling.  Sprinkle the top of the pie lightly with nutmeg, and dessert is in the oven in no time.  Hello April!

Ingredients

½ cup buttermilk
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 T. flour
Pinch of salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 unbaked 9” pastry shell

Directions: Preheat oven to 400°. Set pastry shell aside. In large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except the nutmeg and the pastry shell and stir well with a wooden spoon to blend then use a wire whisk to incorporate the liquid ingredients more thoroughly. Pour batter in the unbaked pie shell; sprinkle the top lightly with nutmeg. Bake 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350 and bake another 45 minutes until the top is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted comes out dry. Cool well, allowing the filling to set well before cutting into wedges.

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Food for Thought

Snow Ice Cream

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Surely you enjoyed snow ice cream as a kid!  My first thought when I looked out my window this morning was “I want snow ice cream and I want it for lunch!” What else would a person think of with this much snow on the ground?  Just a quick trip outside to the yard to scoop up the clean snow and you’re almost there! This recipe uses raw eggs; omit them if you like if they don’t agree with you. Snow ice cream melts fast so this is the quintessential “make and eat immediately” recipe. Turn your snow day into a FUN day; your kids will love it and so will you!  Winter kitchen frolic!

Snow Ice Cream

1-12 oz. can evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 gallon fresh clean snow

In large bowl add milk, the beaten eggs, vanilla, and sugar and beat briefly with an electric mixer to blend well. Add the snow and stir gently, folding well. Scoop into bowls and top with sprinkles! GO on: smile, do a snow day happy dance  and say ahhhhh!

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