Wilma on Wednesday -- Mississippi Mud Cake

These weekend, our son will return to being college boy, and we head south to Macon to move him and his belongings into the dorm. He'll be a junior, so we've done this before, but it's a new school for him, so some of it will feel like the first time. Plus, he took this past year off (a "super fun gap year" in his words...do you hear the sarcasm?). Of course, it was not really super fun as he came to grips with his diagnosis of bipolar I disorder and how to live with it successfully.


Anyway, that explanation is the long way of saying that it was time for a special dinner. He's definitely a steak and potatoes guy (as is his dad), so that was the main course menu. For dessert, I had him choose something out of his great-grandma's cookbook. Well, he doesn't really care that much about sweets, and was kind of annoyed by the question I think, and so... he just picked one.


Usually, I think this is known as Mississippi Mud Pie, and I suspect there are as many recipes for this as there are cooks in Mississippi. Nevertheless, my Michigan born and raised grandmother had this in her collection. Basically, it's layers of yumminess, and I've done this as kind of a pictorial recipe. Enjoy!


In a 13x9 inch pan:


1st layer:
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
1 stick of margarine (that's 1/2 cup, or 8 oz. or 8 TBSP)


Mix and pat in pan. Bake at 350 deg.F for 25 minutes:

2nd Layer:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup cool whip
1 cup powdered sugar


Whip together and pour (or spread) on first layer:

3rd layer:
1 3 oz. package instant chocolate pudding
1 3 oz. package instant vanilla pudding
3 cups of milk


Mix and pour over second layer (I used a hand mixer, and beat the mixture 2 minutes as suggested on the pudding package):

4th layer:
Spread cool whip on 3rd layer and grate 1 Hershey bar on top (I used a Cadbury milk chocolate bar and only needed the first row of 3 squares... I kept in the fridge to make grating easier):

Keep in refrigerator (covered) until ready to serve.

A side view:

Sooo delicious! But very sweet.