It's the middle of May, which means that, theoretically, we should just be a few short weeks away from the glories of summer, but in reality, at least up here in New York City, we're still dealing with spring storms and long, grey days. Times like this make me feel like a vacation. And even when an actual trip, say, down to Florida or over to California isn't logistically possible, it still lifts my spirits to try to bring a little bit of vacation into my life. Maybe that's just reading the kind of detective book I usually read by the pool, or eating too much pineapple. Or maybe it's by whipping up this Mudslide Cake.
A mudslide is already boozey milkshake. There's heavy cream, Irish cream liqueur, coffee liqueur—I've seen it with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. If you're going to go for it, a mudlslide is a way to really go for it, which is why it's perfect for a vacation and less popular at, say, a Tuesday happy hour. So making one for yourself on a weeknight is the kind of thing that takes you out of your usualy rotation of recipes and habits, and injects a little sunshine into your life. The Mudslide Cake takes that and turns it into something you can eat slices of all week.
Great cooking comes down to confidence
In terms of preparing the cake, the only real special ingredients required are the coffee and Irish cream liqueurs. You don't even need to bother about constructing layers for the cake, though of course you could if you were so moved. You could also split the batter up into cupcakes or mini cupcakes for more easy single servings. But this way, the hands-on time of making the cake is pretty minimal. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool down before applying the chocolate glaze, a step necessary so that the glaze actually sticks to the cake rather than melting down the sides.
Top with maraschino cherries or more chocolate flakes, if you want. Pair it with a beach read, and take a tiny vacation from your regular life, even if beach season is still a few weeks away.
Get the recipe for Mudslide Cake.
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