I love my job and this mud cake

I love my job. Don’t turn your eyebrows at me.

Why am I telling you this on a baking blog you ask?

For one thing, I bribe people at work with my baking. It’s a good negotiation tool to have on hand. You should try it one day. And best of all, it is not covered by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act J

Food aside, my job is also a significant part of how I experience my life. It may not be as enjoyable as food, but it really helps if I at least like it. And I do.

I look at software contracts, bids and accounting standards all day, all week, all year. Software revenue recognition is the Everest of the accounting world. Because once you have conquered that, everything else seems only remotely interesting. At least I believe so.

Everyday I deal with idiots who really belong in the circus. But I appreciate it when I do find someone who just gets it. It helps me build relationships with people who count.

Once in a while I need to stay up late for an overseas conference call. It works well, because I’m practically nocturnal. But not so well when it’s an early morning one.

Every month end I have 50 billion journals to approve. It helps me understand the details. When it’s year end, I stay back late every day. It makes me feel like I’m contributing, even though I’m really just writing in my blog.

Every other day, I have auditors on my back. But it puts me on my toes and allows me to see the big picture. They are also an easy target for venting.

It also makes me crave chocolate more than what is natural and acceptable. I obsess over it all day, and then go home and bake something chocolatey and post it on here. See? It’s the cycle of life.

So now I have to tell you about this Mississippi mud cake. It’s dense, chocolatey and above all, sodden with Kahlua. It should be what people make wedding cakes out of, rather than that dry, solid stuff you need to eat like you would a steak.

Recipe: Mississippi Mud Cake

A liquid batter makes for a moist, dense cake. Baking it at low temperatures also helps. But you do have to be patient waiting for it to bake.

I recently made a double batch of this recipe and made a 2 tier cake to take to a birthday party where 1/3 of the attendees were children. It really only hit me much later that the liqueur and coffee wasn’t exactly appropriate for consumption by children. But hey, they enjoyed it and no one complained. That I know of.

Ingredients:

Makes 1 x 23cm/ 9” round cake

200g unsalted butter, chopped
150g best quality dark chocolate, chopped
250ml (1 cup) hot water
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

80ml (1/3 cup) Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
1 tsp vanilla extract

440g (2 cups) caster sugar
250g (1½ cups) plain flour

1 tsp baking powder
25g (¼ cup) cocoa powder, sifted (very important, unless you are using the ultra expensive Valrhona cocoa)

½ tsp salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Lightly grease a 23cm/9” cake pan with butter or veg oil; then line the bottom with baking paper.

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Let cool.

Whisk together the coffee powder and hot water until no lumps remain. Add to the chocolate mixture along with the Kahlua and vanilla.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cocoa. Whisk this slowly into the chocolate mixture to avoid spillage. Then the eggs.

Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour. I would start poking at it with a toothpick around 45 minutes, just because ovens vary greatly.

Stand cake 30 minutes; turn onto wire rack to cool completely.

You can do so much with this cake. You can stack layers of it with ganache and sculpt into different shapes. You can make it ahead of time and freeze; or refrigerate. It’s so versatile, and tastes devine! Just don’t make it for children like I did.