Mississippi Mud Cake Lightened

Today I'm going back to my roots, and I am not referring to my natural hair color.  I am talking about where I grew up.  I was born and raised in Mississippi.  Actually, I was born in Memphis, Tennessee but grew up just a stone's throw away in northern Mississippi.  I realize there are many stereotypes about Mississippi, but I wasn't raised in the country or on a farm.  We do wear shoes and must of us have all our teeth.  There are other stereotypes about Mississippi that are true like most people are friendly and hospitable, and we enjoy really great food.  I personally think the South has the best food culture in the country.  Of course, I realize I could be a little biased. 

Mississippi Mud Cake is a traditional Southern dish named after the mud from the banks of the Mississippi River.  It consists of chocolate cake topped with gooey marshmallows, decadent chocolate icing, and often pecans or walnuts.  It is believed that this dish was created by home cooks after World War II because it was made of simple ingredients that could be found at any supermarket and did not require any special cooking tools.  Sounds like a perfect everyday cooking recipe!

It is no secret that I love Southern Living recipes.  This recipe comes from the August 2007 issue.  I don't keep magazines for years, but I do like to keep recipes that look good, but sometimes it takes me a while before I actually make them. 

This cake was good, but a little dry and pretty fattening too.  So I decided to bake it again using the low fat version of a chocolate box cake mix.  It was really moist and much lower in fat and calories than the original.  Also, the cake mix is so much more convenient.  I hope you enjoy this Mississippi delight!

Buon Appetito ya'll!

Mississippi Mud Cake ~ Lightened

source: adapted from Southern Living

yields: 15 servings

prep: 15 minutes

bake: 40 minutes

calories: 441

fat: 16

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• Devil's food cake or chocolate box cake mix (plus ingredients required on box)
• 1 (10.5-oz.) bag miniature marshmallows
• 
  
  1. Place pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet.
• 2. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted.
• 3. Mix box cake mix according to directions. Pour in a 9 x 13 inch pan. 
• 4. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and sprinkle evenly with miniature marshmallows; bake 8 to 10 more minutes or until golden brown. Drizzle warm cake with Chocolate Frosting*, and sprinkle evenly with toasted pecans.

*Chocolate Frosting

yields: 2 cups

prep: 10 minutes

cook: 5 minutes

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/3 cup milk

 1 (16 ounce) package powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Stir together first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until slightly thickened; remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until smooth. 

Figure Friendly Pumpkin Bread

Well, Pumpkin Palooza comes to an end today.  I hope you have enjoyed all the pumpkin goodness this week.

As I was deciding what recipe to share today, my mother's voice kept echoing in my head saying, "You have to make this Pumpkin Bread recipe! It is so good and would be great for the blog!"  She mentioned this bread several times in the past couple of weeks and even served it at my sister's baby shower last weekend so I thought I would be a good daughter and listen to my mother.

The original recipe comes from www.cooks.com.  The recipe looks amazing and I totally trust my mom that it tastes awesome too, but the recipe includes lots of oil and sugar so I thought I would tweak it and create a lighter version.  Instead of adding 1 cup of oil, I substituted 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce and for the 3 cups of sugar, substituted 2 1/2 cups honey.  Using honey in place of sugar will make the batter wetter so you can add an extra 1/4 cup flour.  I am not sure if it is necessary, but I added the extra flour and the bread turned out wonderful.  I also substituted unbleached flour for all-purpose flour.  After baking the bread, I lightly drizzled the top of the loaves with pure maple syrup.  This added a touch of sweetness and made the bread glisten.  All these adjustments are included in the figure friendly version at the end of the post.

The original recipe contains 210 calories and 8.2 grams of fat per serving and the figure friendly version contains 160 calories and 2.2 grams of fat per serving. I am sure you can do the math, but the lighter version saves you 50 calories and 6 grams of fat per serving. This recipe can be lightened further by leaving out the nuts making it 144 calories and .7 grams of fat per serving. So with a little tweaking many recipes can be lightened without sacrificing flavor or your waist line.

Buon Appetito!

Pumpkin Bread

source: www.cooks.com

prep: 15 minutes

bake: 1 hour (depending on size of loaf)

yield: 2 large or 4 small loaves (36 servings)

calories: 210

fat: 8.2

4 eggs


2/3 cup water


1 cup oil


1 can pumpkin pie filling


3 1/2 cups flour


3 cups sugar


2 tsp. baking soda


1 1/2 tsp. salt


1 tsp. cinnamon


1 tsp. nutmeg


1/4 tsp. cloves

¾ cup walnuts

Allspice and pumpkin pie spice sprinkled on top 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Beat eggs; add oil, water and pie filling. 
3. Combine dry ingredients, and add to egg mixture.
4. Bake in greased and floured bread pans.
5. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

Figure Friendly Pumpkin Bread

prep: 15 minutes

bake: 1 hour (depending on size of loaves)

yields: 2 large or 4 small loaves (36 servings)

calories: 160

fat: 2.2

4 eggs


2/3 cup water


1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 can pumpkin pie filling


3 3/4 cups unbleached flour


2 1/4 cups honey

2 tsp. baking soda


1 1/2 tsp. salt


1 tsp. cinnamon


1 tsp. nutmeg


1/4 tsp. cloves

3/4 cup walnuts or pecans

All spice and pumpkin pie spice sprinkled on top, if desired

Pure Maple Syrup to drizzle on top after baking, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Beat eggs; add oil, water, pie filling, and honey. 
3. Combine dry ingredients, and add to egg mixture.
4. Bake in greased and floured bread pans.
5. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

Pumpkin Risotto

I am so excited to share this authentic Italian recipe that I received from an Italian friend! While living in Italy we participated in the Amici program which matches American families with Italian families who share similar interests and whose kids are the same gender or close in age. We were matched with a wonderful family, the Lorenzos.  Despite the language barrier we had great times together. The dad, Enzo, and the boys, Riccardo and Federico, speak pretty good English. The mom, Giusi (pronounced Juicy), didn't speak any English, and I do not speak Italian so communication was a challenge. We wished that we could talk to each other more, but were able to find common ground through shopping and cooking. This is a picture of our families a few days before leaving Italy.

The front row: Federico, Giusi, me, Graham, Riccardo
The back row: Enzo, Collin, Brandon

We spent Christmas Eve 2011 at the Lorenzo's home. Giusi is a fantastic cook! She served this Pumpkin Risotto as well as about 6 other delicious dishes.

Risotto is a very popular rice dish in Italy.  The rice is cooked in either meat or vegetable broth and usually includes butter, parmesan cheese, and onions.


According to the World Encyclopedia of Cooking Ingredients, the most popular variety of risotto is Arborio, Vialone Nano, and Carnaroli. Arborio is the best-known Italian risotto; Vialone has a plump grain and a firm inner starch, so that risottos made using this rice tend to have slightly more bite; Carnaroli is a premium rice and has a firm bite.

Risotto Rice

When cooking Risotto it must be constantly tended to and cannot be left to simmer like typical rice.  Broth is added gradually and must be stirred occasionally until absorbed. This is repeated until the rice is done. This is not a fix-it and forget-it dish, but the results are truly worth the effort.

The original recipe calls for sausage. I didn't add sausage. Instead I chopped one piece of bacon and added it to the onions for flavor. The results were awesome. I have included the original recipe with my changes in parentheses.

This Pumpkin Risotto is so flavorful and beautiful making it perfect for a special occasion or entertaining.

Buon Appetito!

Pumpkin Risotto

yields: 4 servings 

with sausage

calories: 781

fat: 41

without sausage

calories: 594

fat: 25.8

400 grams pumpkin 

300 grams risotto rice (Arborio or Carnaroli)

3 Italian sausages (I used 1 piece of bacon instead)

1/2 onion

1/2 glass of white wine

About 1/4 cup olive oil 

1 liter chicken or veggie broth

1- 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese (I love the robust flavor of parmigiano reggiano, but it is quite expensive.)

1-2 Tbsp butter (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Chives

1. Peel pumpkin and cut into small pieces (approximately 1/4 inch cubes).
2. Peel and cut onion into thin strips.
3. Saute onions in olive oil until browned. 
4. Remove casing from sausage and crush with fork and add to onion (I added the bacon instead).
5. Saute the meat and add the white wine and let it evaporate.
6. Add pumpkin letting it cook for about 10 minutes over low heat. 
7. Add the rice and let it toast.
8. Pour in broth gradually stirring often. 
9. You can mash the pumpkin with fork if it is not fully cooked and allow it to fully cook. 
10. When rice is cooked add butter if desired, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and chives to taste. 

After rice is cooked, taste test to determine how much butter, cheese, salt, pepper, and chives need to be added.