Checkout woman (in reference to marshmallow fluff): What do you do with this? Put it on toast? I bought some and I don’t know how to use it.

Me: I’m going to use it for a cake. But, it’s good with a spoon straight from the jar.

Checkout woman says nothing and gives me weird look.

Me: You could also use it to make something like a smore with a digestive biscuit and piece of chocolate.

Checkout woman: Healthy.

And then I felt awkward like I had said something wildly inappropriate (and super American). But here’s the cultural difference part. Her go-to idea for marshmallow fluff was to put it on toast, and that is pretty English. Cheesy toast, beans on toast, boiled egg and soldiers – these are all ways the English use toast. I don’t have that many uses for toast. Obviously you can put it on toast, but I had never considered that before (but maybe I will now). And for me, I felt super American because it never occurred to me that a person wouldn’t know how to use fluff. Also, a spoon seems like a perfectly legit means of eating fluff. And why should a treat be healthy? Smores are an amazing American treat and great when turned into a cake.

For Ryan’s birthday I made Ryan a steak and mashed potato dinner and then we followed it up with this cake.  In making the cake, I did almost set off the smoke alarm. Here’s what happened: I tried to toast the mini marshmallows using the broiler. I put them in the oven and then after about a minute I looked at them and they weren’t even brown yet so I put them back in. I went to melt the marshmallow fluff and checked back in the oven. The marshmallows were puffed up, dark brown, and starting to smoke. I pulled them out, we fanned the smoke, and then threw them out. Oops. Accidents happen.

I had more marshmallows, I didn’t toast them, and the cake cake out really nicely. I lit candles, I sang, he made a wish, then we ate cake. And then we finished the whole cake in three days, because that’s how good smores flavors are. The chocolate cake is very dark and rich, so it’s nice as a loaf because you can indulge without having a huge slice. And the top is all smores with fluff, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham crackers (or in this case digestive biscuits). This cake ticks all the boxes for indulgent dessert because it’s rich, gooey, crunchy, chocolaty, and very sweet.

The cake recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen and the idea for the smores part comes from Kraft.

Messy level: This cake is pretty easy to put together, the messy part comes from the decoration. Marshmallow fluff is sticky and gets everywhere, so that’s the messiest bit.

Chocolate Smores Cake

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ of a tub (8oz) marshmallow fluff
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• about 4 digestive biscuits (or 2-3 sheets of graham crackers)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325/165°.
2. Butter and lightly flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth.
4. Add the sugars to the butter and beat until fluffy. This takes about 3 minutes.
5. Add the egg and beat well.
6. Then mix in the buttermilk and vanilla.
7. In a medium bowl mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together.
8. Slowly add the flour into the wet ingredients. Stir together with a spoon until well-blended but do not over mix.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
11. Remove the cake from its pan. Use the back of a wooden spoon and poke a few holes gently in the top of the cake.
12. Put the marshmallow fluff in a bowl and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
13. Remove the marshmallow fluff from the microwave and spread over the top of cake. Make sure you fill in the holes so the marshmallow drips into the center of the cake. Use the tip of the knife to encourage some of the fluff to drip tantalizingly down the side.
14. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.
15. Use your hands to crush up the biscuits/graham crackers. Crush them into some small crumbs and larger cookie shards. Sprinkle/arrange the cookies over the top of the cake. It should look a little messy but indulgent and amazing.

3.2.2807

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I love today’s job. I’ve been there for over a year and a half, and I started as an intern. I’ve had such fun, I’ve gotten great learning opportunities, and I’ve made wonderful friends. So I decided to do something nice for my coworkers on my last day and make Abraham Lincoln’s favorite cake. I don’t know how the historical record proves this was his favorite cake, but the gift shop says it was his favorite so I’m rolling with it. They sell this recipe on a really cute kitchen towel. I was eager to try it, but also a bit daunted. There are a lot of steps, a lot of egg whites, and I needed an angel food pan. I did some searching and I found some angel food pans for $25-30. I love kitchen gadgets, but I didn’t want to spend $20+ on something I wouldn’t use that much. I reached out to friends and no one had an angel food pan. I looked on Craig’s List and Freecycle, And then I thought about eBay, and there are some great prices but  nothing would arrive before my last day. Yesterday I went to Giant to look for a disposable pan, and I found a real one for $9.20. Awesome deal, so I bought it.

I know I’m talking a lot about angel food pans, but I was a little intimidated. It’s two pieces because angel food is apparently really light and sticky and so having the bottom pop out makes it easier to remove the cake. I found this great Martha Stewart video about how to use an angel food pan. I thought it was helpful because before watching I didn’t know you’re supposed to let the pan cool while it’s inverted. Crazy, right? Anyway, I don’t even know if this cake is even technically angel food cake. It didn’t rise as much as Martha’s cake and it came out really easily without inverting it. Seriously, it was the cleanest cake removal I’ve ever done. I was so impressed by how clean the lines of the cake are, and you can see a picture in a little bit.

Ryan and I really liked the cake, and I hope my coworkers will too when I bring it to them in a few hours. The cake was moist, with a little crunch from the almonds. And also, the frosting is delicious! It hardens a bit as it sits, but when it’s freshly made and still warm, it is just like marshmallow fluff. It was so good. I kept “accidentally” getting it on spoons and my hands and then I just had to eat it to clean everything up. What a hardship.

Again, I thought this cake was really good but what would take it up a notch would be to drizzle on some strawberry or raspberry sauce.  I think it would really brighten the flavor. The original gift-shop-towel recipe does call for optional fruits but I didn’t use them because I really didn’t know where I’d find candied pineapple and crystallized cherries. Anyway, here’s to you Abraham Lincoln and to my coworkers. This is my adaptation of Lincoln’s cake. Thank you for a wonderful year and a half.

Ingredients:

Cake-

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

3 cups flour

1 tsbp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 cup almonds finely chopped (you can buy this or just throw a bunch of whole almonds into a food processor)

6 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting – 

2 egg whites

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Cake – 

1. Preheat oven to 350°

2. Grease and flour the angel food pan. First I greased it all up with butter. Then I poured  few tsps of flour into the pan. I shook it all around to coat the pan. I also used a silicon basting brush to get the flour into ever nook and cranny. Once it’s well floured, knock out excess flour into the sink or trash can.

3. Cream together the butter and sugar.

4. Sift flour and baking powder 3 times.

I took this picture because I almost never use my sifter and I was excited

5. Add 1/3 of the flour to the butter mixture. Mix. Add 1/3 of the milk to the mixture. Mix. Repeat until all the flour and milk have been added.

6. Add the almonds.

7. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold them gently into the batter.

8. Add extract and mix.

9. Pour into the pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. The top should be golden brown and if you insert a toothpick it should come out clean.

You can see my oven thermometer in the back left

10. Let it cool in the pan for 30 minutes.

11. Remove from pan and let it cool until you are ready to put on the frosting.

Doesn’t this cake have the smoothest edges?! It’s amazing.

Frosting – 

1. Beat egg whites until very stiff.

2. Combine sugar and water in a pot and bring it to a boil.

3. Boil until it spins a thread 5″ long. That means when you put a spoon in it, and then take it out, there’s a fine thin thread between the spoon and pan. This happens at about 240-245°.

4. Remove from heat, and add 1 tbsp of egg whites. Mix.

5. Slowly pour the sugar-water mixture into the rest of the egg whites.

6. Beat until icing forms peaks.

7. Fold in extract.

8. Ice your cake!

Messy Level: Medium-high.

Expert bakers probably have a more efficient use of materials. But for me, the home cook, I felt like I used a ton of dishes! I was going for ease of cooking, rather than ease of clean up. I used two bowls for the flour so I could sift back and forth three times. I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer for the majority of the cake batter, but I also used a handheld electric mixer and bowl to beat all the egg whites. And, I needed a pot for the frosting. And of course, there’s all the measuring cups and spoons too. This cake takes a lot of work! But, just imagine how difficult it would have been for Mary Todd 150 years ago!

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