Mississippi mud cake

So every now and then you just have to do something like bake a cake on a random Monday night.

This was one of those weeks.

I'd been thinking of making some kind of Mississippi mud cake for at least a week because I had some items that needed to be used and that would make use of a lot of them.

Actually I started out thinking some kind of s'mores dessert but then changed directions.

I had a chocolate cake mix, eggs, marshmallows and cream cheese (along with graham crackers that ended up not being used here) hanging around on the edge of their best by dates. So Monday the hubby was working late and it seemed like a good time to bake.

The inspiration came from a mix and match mama recipe but I made several changes. Since we'd just had several birthday celebrations including cake I didn't really need this whole thing staying at the house, so I took some to my co-workers and they seemed to like it too.

Ingredients
Chocolate cake mix
1 box chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup chocolate chips
4 oz cream cheese
1 batch homemade marshmallow fluff (1 cup mini marshmallows and 1 tsp corn syrup)
Splash of vanilla
Powdered sugar

Directions
Mix together cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil and water until well blended. I usually mix mine 30 seconds on low and 2 minutes on medium.
Fold in chocolate chips. I flour them first to help prevent them sinking to the bottom. Also be sure not to over stir into batter.
Bake in a Bundt pan at 350 for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
To make frosting I softened half a brick of cream cheese and mixed with the homemade marshmallow fluff. Then I added a splash of vanilla and some powdered sugar to taste (probably a tablespoon or so) and mixed well. I actually ended up not frosting the cake because I didn't have room to keep it in the fridge. I just kept the frosting in there and pulled it out to top slices of cake as needed.

For marshmallow fluff. I melted 1 cup of mini marshmallows in a glass bowl set over simmering water (double broiler substitute). As they got melted and lumpy I stirred in 1 tsp corn syrup until smooth. Voila! Homemade marshmallow fluff.

Make this on a random week night or any time you're craving some chocolate. I think you'll like it!