Gluten Free Mississippi Mud Cake: Guest Blog

This is a guest blog. I recently had a birthday and my daughter made me this gluten free cake! It tastes great. I have recently started eating gluten free and I feel much better. Eating gluten free is not cheap though, so we make a lot from scratch. Purchasing a gluten free cake like this would be very pricey!

Gluten Free Mississippi Mud Cake
16 servings
Begin making this cake early in the day, and allow plenty of time for cooling.

To make this cake, I merged two recipes together, and modified them a bit to suit the cake. The original Mississippi Mud cake recipe is found in The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts. (Their recipes are not even a little bit gluten free. Shame on them! :P)

Credit for the chocolate cake recipe goes to Sarah at www.sarahbakesgfree.com. Her blog is full of delicious looking gluten free recipes, so feel free to check them out too!

The recipe looks a bit intimidating, but don't let it fool you. Each step is quite easy, and there isn't a whole lot to mess up. Making this cake will take up a good chunk of your day, though. So make sure to budget some time. (I believe it took me about 3 hours the first time I made it, not counting cooling time.)

It's totally worth it though! This cake is super rich and can only be described as decadent. I've been making the gluten version of this cake for years, and it is always super popular wherever I take it. This gluten free version is actually better than the original in many ways!

Full Ingredient List:

* 1/2 cup butter, plus 3 tablespoons
* 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 cup oat flour
* 2 cups gluten free all purpose flour blend
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 3/4 cups pure dark cocoa powder
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 cup buttermilk (or you can use 1 cup milk and mix with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Let stand for at least 5 minutes.)
* 1/2 cup oil
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, plus another 1 1/2 teaspoons
* 2/3 cup hot water
* 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows (check label to ensure it is gluten free)
* 8 oz semi-sweet melting chocolate (check label to ensure it is gluten free)
* 3 tablespoons water
* 3 tablespoons powdered sugar (check label to ensure it is gluten free)

Step One: Walnut-Mixture

* 1/2 cup butter (save the extra 3 tablespoons for later)
* 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 cup oat flour

Grease two 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with waxed paper.
Over low heat, melt 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat; stir in the walnuts, brown sugar, and oat flour.
Divide mixture evenly between your prepared cake pans and pat to evenly cover the bottom. Set aside.

Step Two: Chocolate cake

* 2 cups gluten free flour blend
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 3/4 cups cocoa powder
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 cup buttermilk (or you can use 1 cup milk and mix with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Let stand for at least 5 minutes before adding to the batter.)
* 1/2 cup oil
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 2/3 cup hot water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together the flour blend, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Drizzle in hot water slowly, scraping the bowl while beating on low. Batter will be thin.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and gently tap pans until the batter is evenly spread.
Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. [I did find that Sarah's estimate on baking in cake pans was a bit off. My cakes were in the oven for about 35 minutes. Just keep an eye on it, and remove when the toothpick comes out clean.]
Cool in pan until just cool enough to handle.

Step Three: Assembly


* 1 ½ cups mini marshmallows (I was out of mini marshmallows, so I sliced regular sized marshmallows into fourths.)

While still hot, carefully place one cake layer, with the walnut-mixture side up, on a cake plate.
Top with a single layer of marshmallows.
Immediately place second cake layer, walnut-mixture side down, on top of the marshmallows so they will melt. (I used a dinner plate to flip the cake out of the pan, and then flip again on top of the marshmallows.)
Insert long skewer in center of the cake to keep the top layer from sliding.
Allow cake to sit, or refrigerate, until completely cool.

Step Four: Glaze

* 8 oz semi-sweet melting chocolate
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons water
* 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Once the cake has fully cooled, begin making the glaze. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate, 3 tablespoons butter, and water. Stir frequently until melted and smooth.
Remove from heat and add 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla.
Let chocolate mixture cool to room temperature.
Add the powdered sugar, beating with a spoon until well blended and a thick spreading consistency. (If your mixture is a grainy texture, add a bit more water.)
Remove the skewer from the cake. Spread glaze over the top and allow it to drip down the sides of the cake.
Garnish as desired. (I used chocolate chips and dusted a bit of powdered sugar on top.)