I grew up eating this chocolate marshmallow cake in all its gooey wonder. It was one of my grandma's go-to desserts. It's a simple cake to mix up, rich and chocolate-y, made with ingredients you're likely to have on hand. It's very rich and if you're making it for a party you could even cut it into small squares ahead of time, just like you would brownies.
Please note, the original recipe passed down in my family called for evaporated milk. You can use whole milk with good results, though. Also note that you absolutely must spread the entire bag of marshmallows over the hot cake as soon as you bring it out of the oven — that's what makes it heavenly.
Another nice thing about this cake is that you serve it from the pan you bake it in. While that may sound too everyday for a special occasion, the swirly chocolate-marshmallow topping makes the cake pretty. You can also add chopped pecans or walnuts on top if you prefer. Oh, and it's a big cake that keeps for several days if wrapped well, so you can enjoy it more than once or serve it when you have a lot of people over.
Chocolate Marshmallow Cake
Serves 10-12
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons cocoa
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Cream sugar and butter in stand mixer or with a hand-held mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Stir in flour and cocoa and then beat on medium-high until smooth. Pour batter into the pan.
Bake 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake.
Icing
- 1 package miniature marshmallows
Spread entire package of marshmallows over top of cake immediately upon removal from oven.
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons cocoa
- 6-8 tablespoons Pet (evaporated) milk or 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3-3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- Chopped pecans or walnuts, for topping, optional
Melt butter and mix with cocoa. Stir in milk and vanilla. Slowly mix in powdered sugar, starting with just 2 cups, and beat until smooth and creamy. Add more powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want. You can also add more milk. Pour/spread this over the melted marshmallows on top of cake. Add chopped nuts if preferred.
