Chocolate Lover’s Mississippi Mud Cake

Dotted with marshmallows and covered in velvety chocolate frosting, Mississippi Mud Cake is a chocolate lover’s paradise!

Reasons To Make Mississippi Mud Cake

• You are a chocoholic looking for the ultimate chocolate sheet cake. 
• An event calls for a cake that wows, but you want something that is quick and easy to make. 
• Ooey gooey marshmallows and rich chocolate frosting sound amazing together. 
• Even if you aren’t an experienced baker, you can whip up this cake in no time. 
• Did I mention CHOCOLATE???

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Mississippi Mud Cake is somewhere between brownie and sheet cake. It’s a super fudgey chocolate cake gets dressed up with a warm icing and mini marshmallows. If you like you can also add pecans to the icing for extra crunch and flavor. 

The result is nothing short of delicious. If you like chocolate and marshmallows, I promise you’re going to love this cake. This easy recipe was adapted from the Pioneer Woman’s Mississippi Mud Cake recipe (the wonderful Ree Drummond) and I’m so happy to have discovered it! I loved her recipe, but made a few little tweaks to better suit our tastes.

Mississippi Mud Cake Recipe

Here’s a quick glance at the ingredients you’ll need. Detailed information and measurements found in the recipe card below.

• Unsalted butter – You’re going to use the butter in both the cake and the frosting, and lots of it! 
• Unsweetened cocoa powder – Again, you’ll use some in both the cake and the icing. You can use regular or dark chocolate.
• Boiling Water
• All Purpose Flour 
• Sugar – regular, white granulated sugar.
• Buttermilk — You can also use a homemade buttermilk substitute here if you prefer. 
• Baking soda
• Vanilla
• Salt
• Eggs
• Mini-marshmallows
• Whole milk – To make the frosting smooth and creamy.  In a pinch, any milk will do.
• Powdered sugar – also called confectioners sugar.
• Optional – Chopped toasted pecans – Toasting the nuts first brings out an even deeper flavor. We skip the nuts due to an allergy in my home.

How to Make Mississippi Mud Cake

1. Make the cake: Melt butter in a sauce pan, then add cocoa and boiling water. Combine. Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt in one bowl and the buttermilk, vanilla, baking soda and eggs in another. Add the chocolate mixture to the flour and stir lightly, then add the buttermilk mixture and mix until everything is well combined. Bake in a 9 x 13 pan until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean (about 20 minutes).
2. Add the marshmallows: Add mini marshmallows to cover the whole top of the cake and broil for a minute or so, until they get toasty brown. 
3. Make the frosting: Melt butter in the saucepan and add the cocoa powder and milk. Remove from heat and beat in the powdered sugar in batches until a thick frosting forms. Mix in the vanilla and the nuts, then pour over the cake. 

Let the frosting set for a few minutes and enjoy nutty chocolatey marshmallow bliss!

Can’t get enough chocolate? I understand! You will also want to check out my Hershey’s Chocolate Cake Recipe, Easy Chocolate Bundt Cake, Chocolate Overload Cake,  and Easy Brownies Made With Cocoa Powder. 

Mississippi Mud Cake

Fudgy chocolate cake topped with marshmallow and a chocolate ganache icing

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 16 servings

Calories: 558kcal

Author: Christi Johnstone

Ingredients

For the cake

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 bag mini-marshmallows

For the frosting

• 14 tbs unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup milk whole milk is best
• 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans toast the pecans for more flavor

Instructions

To make the cake:

• Preheat oven to 350 F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.
• Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder followed by the boiling water, then turn off the heat and set the pan aside.
• Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl to combine. In a separate bowl, beat the buttermilk with the eggs, baking soda and vanilla.
• Add the chocolate mixture to the bowl with the flour. Stir a couple of times, then add the buttermilk mixture to the bowl. Stir until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake is set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Remove the cake from the oven and sprinkle the mini marshmallows over the top. Turn on the broiler, then put the cake back in the oven for 1 minute or until the marshmallows begin to brown. Watch closely, some broilers work fast! Let cool while you make the frosting.

To make the frosting

• Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the butter. When butter is melted fully, add the cocoa powder and milk and whisk well to combine. Gradually add the powdered sugar in batches, whisking well between each batch to combine. Add vanilla extract and salt, and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula to combine.
• While still hot, pour the frosting right over the cake. Move the bowl back and forth as you pour to ensure even distribution. Let the iced cake stand until the frosting is set, then slice and serve. Enjoy!

Notes

This cake is very rich, a small slice will do!

Nutrition

Calories: 558kcal | Carbohydrates: 84g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 79mg | Sodium: 249mg | Potassium: 112mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 66g | Vitamin A: 719IU | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg

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