This week I couldn't decide whether to share a football party recipe or a Valentine's Day recipe, but after reading that brownies were a Top 10 Super Bowl party snack on several lists, I landed on a compromise: Heavenly Hash Cake and Marshmallow Brownies. Whether you're making snacks for the Big Game this coming weekend or planning a date night meal for Valentine's, these two chocolate desserts work for either scenario.
Before we get in to the actual recipes, here are some fun facts you might find interesting enough to insert into an upcoming social conversation:
- In 2022, 99.18 million viewers tuned in to the Super Bowl, which saw the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20.
- Super Bowl Sunday is the second-most-popular day to order takeout after Thanksgiving.
- 1.25 billion chicken wings are eaten during Super Bowl.
- 11.2 million pounds of potato chips and 8.2 million pounds of tortilla chips are purchased for Super Bowl weekend.
- Guacamole is the most popular dip Americans eat on Super Bowl Sunday, consuming 8 million pounds of it.
- Football fans will drink just over 325 million gallons of beer as they watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles this coming Sunday.
- Valentine's Day was first declared a holiday by Pope Gelasius in 496 A.D., although the first official celebration of Saint Valentine's Day that we know of took place in Paris in 1400.
- Both men and women prefer to receive chocolate over flowers (really!), according to the National Confectioners Association, with caramels being the most popular flavor in chocolate boxes.
- Chocolate turns up on many Top 10 lists of the most romantic foods. It's also the most popular sweet treat around the world with 4.5 million tons of cocoa consumed each year.
I grew up eating the Heavenly Hash Cake, as it was one of my grandma's go-to desserts. It's a simple cake to mix up, it's rich and chocolate-y and it feeds a crowd. 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 always called for evaporated milk. You can use whole milk with good results. 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. Another nice thing about this cake is that you serve it from the pan you baked it in. While that may sound too every day for a special occasion, the swirly chocolate-marshmallow topping makes the cake pretty.
The Marshmallow Brownies are very similar to the cake. Both have the marshmallow/chocolate combo on top. If you don't like nuts, skip them. Happy Valentine's and go Chiefs (or Eagles!).
Heavenly Hash 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 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 pan.
Bake 25-30 minutes, until 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
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.
Marshmallow Brownies
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2 squares baking chocolate
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup nuts, pecan or walnuts are good, optional
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 jar marshmallow fluff
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9-inch baking pan.
Beat eggs. Gradually add sugar and keep beating until well combined. Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Add chocolate mixture to eggs. Sift dry ingredients into chocolate/egg mixture. Stir in nuts and vanilla.
Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle of brownies comes out clean. While brownies are warm, spread with marshmallow fluff.
Brownie Frosting
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 heaping teaspoon cocoa
- 1-1 ½ teaspoon milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until bubbles form around edge of pan. Pour over brownies and spread out with a knife while frosting is still hot.
