Skip to content

Mississippi Mud Cake – Fun Vegan Chocolate Cake

vegan chocolate cake mud cake

This vegan version of the Mississippi Mud Cake is an easy and fun vegan chocolate cake dessert that actually makes its own sauce! 

The History of the Mississippi Mud Cake

If you have ever been to New England, you have probably somewhere come across Yankee magazine. It has been around forever and it is the quintessential guide to, and commentary about, all things New England. I can’t even remember it not being in the house I grew up in and, after Greg and I got married, my parents actually gave us a subscription for a Christmas present. As funny as that seems to me now, I did get some great recipes from those magazines, some of which I still have and use, cherishing the tattered pages that I habitually tuck into my cookbooks with every confidence that I will be able to find them again.

Grace Coolidge and The Mud Cake

In the December issue of 1996, Yankee did an article about Grace Coolidge, the wife of President Calvin Coolidge. Apparently, she had quite a sweet tooth and was reported to have served Mississippi Mud Cake frequently to her guests at the White House. If you are wondering how a recipe about Mississippi Mud Cake showed up in Yankee Magazine, it’s because the Coolidges were both from Vermont, which is as New England as it gets. (fun fact: this was in the “Recipes with a History” section of Yankee) Sadly, I didn’t save the article, but the recipe was tucked safely away. 

Family Time in The Kitchen

My mom liked to cook, but she was a solo act. A lot of what I learned about cooking was self-taught and trial and error as an adult. I love cooking and I intentionally involved my children in cooking (and still do) every chance I could. So, in 1996, I was a working mother of two:  a one-year-old and a three-year-old. Those were busy and fun times. When I wasn’t working, I was focusing all my attention on time with my kids, lots of which happens in the kitchen. In those early years, the original version of this Mississippi Mud Cake was a favorite and I loved making it with them.

Updating the Original to Make Vegan Chocolate Cake

Those kids are now grown, and on their own, and it had been years since I had last made the Mississippi Mud Cake. But, one day recently, while searching for ideas, I was delighted to find the non-vegan version of the Mississippi Mud Cake still tucked in a cookbook from years ago. I was sure I had lost it! Converting it to a vegan chocolate cake recipe was simple and the results did not disappoint. So yummy and gooey!

Vegan Chocolate Cake to Make with the Kids!

This is one of those recipes that is just too cool to make by yourself. Seriously, if you do make it by yourself, you are going to wish someone was with you to see the process. Really, this is one of those recipes that seems a little magical when you make it with kids. The final step of pouring boiling liquid over cake batter seems like some sort of act of faith that somehow a cake with a thick sauce will be the result (check out the video at the end of this post to see this step in action!). 

The simple cake ingredients: cocoa, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder

This Delicious Vegan Chocolate Cake is Definitely Dessert!

Disclaimer: this recipe is not health food. It is dessert. If you have seen any of my other posts, you know I am a fan of the family dinner (when at all possible) and love honoring that gathering with dessert. Most are more healthy than this one, but few are more fun. But, it’s still fully vegan and anytime you can enjoy a delicious dairy-free chocolate dessert it’s a good day!

So when the cake comes out of the oven, the cake is on the top and the gooey sauce is on the bottom. As you serve it, you invert it onto the plate so the sauce is on top. The cake that you see when it comes out of the oven apparently has the look of the mud along the banks of the Mississippi River. Hence the name. 🙂

Vegan Chocolate Cake Mississippi Mud Cake
The fun surprise of the magical sauce on the bottom!

Enjoy This Recipe for Vegan Chocolate Cake and Please Share Your Photos!

We hope you enjoy this delicious vegan chocolate cake (and have fun making it). Please let us know in the comments and/or share your photos on social media (tag us and use our tag #fullofbeanslife so we will be sure to see them!). We love to see your photos!

 
Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Vegan Mississippi Mud Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews
  • Author: Georgia @ fullofbeans.us

Description

This vegan version of the Mississippi Mud Cake is an easy and fun vegan chocolate cake dessert that actually makes its own sauce!

Most of our desserts are more healthy than this one, but few are more fun. But, it’s still fully vegan and anytime you can enjoy a delicious dairy-free chocolate dessert it’s a good day!


Ingredients

Units Scale

Batter:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 Tbs cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup soy or almond milk
  • 4 Tbs oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Sauce:

  • 3/4 cups brown sugar
  • 4 Tbs cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 cup boiling water

vegan whipped cream or ice cream for serving (optional)


Instructions

  1. Grease an 8×8 baking dish and heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients for batter into a bowl.
  3. Add the milk, oil and vanilla and mix only until smooth.
  4. Add nuts if desired.
  5. Turn into the prepared dish. (It will be thick.)
  6. Combine sauce ingredients and gently pour over the batter. Do not stir.
  7. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top looks dry and firm.

Notes

There will be a fudge sauce underneath the cake. It will thicken up as the cake cools a bit. Serve with a spoon and invert the serving onto a plate. Top with whipped cream or ice cream. Serve and enjoy.

Georgia is an unpretentious foodie who, at 50, transitioned from a vegetarian diet to a whole foods plant based diet and is loving it. She works as a nurse, plays as a quilter, loves to run, hates to race.
She thinks dogs are actually angels (in dog suits).

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. How many does 1 recipe of mud cake serve please? How much longer should it be cooked for if 2 or 3 times the recipe is cooked. The recipe offered the quantities, but the recipe method info did not change.

    1. Hi Michelle! Thanks for checking out this recipe. The number of servings from the suggested 8×8 pan is generally 9. But that depends a lot on how big you make the servings. The range is probably 9-12. We haven’t made it in a larger pan (say 9×12) but, if the depth of the pan is about the same the cooking time should be about the same.Doubling the recipe on the webpage itself is only going to change the ingredient quantities and kind of assumes the reader is making additional batches rather than that using a bigger pot. It’s more important in baking than, say, soup, of course.

Comments! We love them - tell us what's on your mind!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back To Top