Mississippi Mud Cupcakes

Mississippi Mud Cake is a Christmas tradition in our family. This year I tried something a little different. I made Mississippi Mud Cupcakes. I think they may become the new Christmas tradition around here- they are luscious.

This recipe is from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson. These cupcakes are versions of Mississippi Mud Pie and Mississippi Mud Cake, two dense chocolate creations from the 1960s. If you've had Mississippi Mud Cake, you know that it involves pouring a warm chocolate frosting over a chocolate cake that has been liberally sprinkled with pecans and marshmallows. How do achieve this in a cupcake? Ms. Richardson explains, "I've revised the recipe to make rich chocolate cupcakes embedded with pecans and frosted with decadent marshmallow frosting."

She captures the flavors and decadence of the original in these little gems. Deliciously.

I made a couple of minor changes to the recipe. It calls for 3/4 cup regular cocoa; I used 1/2 cup regular cocoa and 1/4 cup dark cocoa. I'm glad I did- it makes the chocolate taste even richer, and balances the sweetness of the marshmallow frosting.

Speaking of the marshmallow frosting, the recipe calls for a cooked one, and I could not locate my candy thermometer. I did a quick search on Just a Pinch and found a marshmallow frosting that did not require cooking. We loved it!

        

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting
Makes 24 cupcakes

1 cup hot coffee 
3/4 cup cocoa
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup toasted, chopped pecans
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1/2 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cupcake pans or place liners in wells of pans.
In a small bowl, whisk the hot coffee into the cocoa and set aside to cool.
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Whisk by hand to ensure they are well mixed. Stir pecan and chips into flour mixture.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and cooled cocoa mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir batter together with a rubber spatula until just combined (too much mixing = tough, unevenly domed cupcakes).
Fill each well about 3/4 full. Place filled pans on middle rack of oven. Bake until cupcakes have domed nicely and bounce back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes.
Cool the cupcakes in their pan on a wire rack. Once they have cooled, remove them from the pan and pipe a mound of marshmallow frosting on each.
These cupcakes will keep for three days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Easy Marshmallow Frosting 
from Just a Pinch

1 cup butter at room temperature
1, 7 oz. jar marshmallow fluff
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

With electric hand mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, 2 or 3 minutes, scraping sides frequently. Stir in fluff and vanilla, then beat until smooth and well mixed. Add to piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes. Decorate as desired. 

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes may have been taken to some of these fun parties!

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