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The best things in life are free…

…well except certain clothing, shoe, and handbag items. 😉

Today’s lesson is that this is a free website. I don’t even have advertisements because I feel it takes away from the quality of the site. And trust me, I have thought about putting ads up on this site, I get the traffic for it. And I get bugged almost daily for someone to advertise something. But I like how sites that don’t advertise look more than I do ones that do have it. Not that I think there is anything wrong with those sites that have advertisements. Making a buck or two is certainly understandable. 😉

That being said, I run a free site. Free. I bring this up because time to time, since this is a free site and I don’t have an editor to hire to edit my work, I forget something. A dash of salt, how many chocolate chips, things like that. Or worse. Which is why I say to you the first thing they teach you in home economics class…read through the whole recipe first. I type out the recipes half the time right before I go to bed. I forget things. Oops.

Now if I were to say, write a cookbook, that would be a different story. Those recipes are checked and rechecked before they go out to publish. In a way, you are my recipe testers. Aren’t you lucky. 😛

Here is one to test out at home kids. I have been on a huge hot chocolate kick now that the weather has shifted to flannel sheet mode. The actual cake itself does not have a strong hot chocolate flavor, but once you add the glaze on top, it is more than enough hot chocolate flavor. Don’t panic if when you slice into it and don’t see the marshmallows, they kind of disappear. Only the ones right on top sort of stuck around, and those didn’t really stay in marshmallow shape. But when you bite into the cake you can taste them, and that is all that matters.

The end result is definitely sticky, the glaze doesn’t harden as much like other glazes, so I find it best to eat it the day of. If you don’t want to eat it the day of, don’t glaze them. They should freeze nicely. I wouldn’t know as I gave the other two of mine away. That’s why I like to make mini loaves all the time…easier to give away. 🙂

Hot Chocolate Loaf Cake with Marshmallows and Cocoa Glaze

 Hot Chocolate Loaf Cake:

10 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¼  cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sweetened hot chocolate mix (powdered)
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows and an additional 1 ½ cups for the topping

Preheat oven to 350F.
Spray three 6-x-3 ½ inch mini loaf pans with baking spray or butter and flour them.

Using a stand mixer (or a large bowl and a hand held electric mixer) with the paddle attachment on medium speed, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add eggs/egg yolk, one at a time. Beat for 1 minute after each addition. Scape down the sides of the bowl and the bottom of the bowl after each addition.

Sift together the hot chocolate mix, cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl.

In another small bowl mix together the buttermilk and vanilla extract.

Alternating, starting with the dry ingredients first, in thirds to the butter mixture. So dry, buttermilk, dry, buttermilk, dry. Mix until just combined.

Remove from mixer. Fold in chocolate chips and marshmallows using a spatula. Mix in any extra flour that might have not made it into the batter.

Divided batter evenly among the three loaves, going about 2/3 of the way up. I find this is about 4 large scoops with the regular size ice cream scoop.

Place loaves on a baking sheet and place in center rack.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a wooden skewer or cake tester comes out clean (might have a little marshmallow, but that’s fine).

Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove from pans and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Glaze when cool (see instructions below).

Hot Chocolate Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
1/3 cup sweetened hot chocolate mix (powdered)
1 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup hot milk

In a medium bowl, add the hot milk and cocoa powder. Whisk until cocoa granules have dissolved. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder and whisk until glaze is smooth and shiny. If too thick, you can add more milk.

To top the cake:
Place a baking sheet under the wire rack where loaves are. Place a bowl under the loaf you are going to glaze. This will catch any extra glaze and you can use again for the second glazing.

Pour glaze over loaf. Add a sprinkling of marshmallows (about ½ per each loaf). Press them into the glaze so they stick a little. Do this to all of the loaves. With remaining glaze, go back over with another coating of glaze over the top of the marshmallows.

This is a sticky cake. I like it best the day of.

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Comments

  5. I have all ingredients on hand (unusual for me). Its cold and damp in Cleveland. I will make tomorrow morning so I have a snack for my computer guy when he comes in the afterdoon.

    Reply

  8. It’s just cool enough here this week for cocoa; I had my first cup a few days ago. It would be cute to serve this to guests, letting them expect a cup of cocoa!

    (And the teensy, tiny few bucks I make off my blog go straight into the kid’s college fund. At this rate he’ll be going to college when he’s, oh, 65. Maybe.)

    Reply

  9. I LOVE this mini marshmallows on top and the hot chocolate glaze – genius!

    I’m planning on keeping my blog ad free for the same reasons as you 🙂

    Reply

  10. Delicious – I could lick the marshmallows off the screen. I am happy to be a recipe tester for free recipes – and if it doesn’t work out, it’s not like I spent $60 (the average price of a new release recipe book in Oz) for a book of recipes that don’t work. I usually seek out recipes from blogs rather than other online sources because you get the lowdown on them – was it good or bad, what are the tricks etc – invaluable information!

    Reply

  11. Hot chocolate in cake form? Brilliant! And good timing, too. The temperature just dropped here… And way to be ad-free! I have a tendency to not be as interested in blogs that are cluttered up with stuff. 🙂

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  16. Seriously, you have the best ideas for loaf cakes! If you make hot chocolate from scratch, please share the recipe too! Ads or no ads is a personal choice, but I like websites where the ads don’t interfere with reading the post.

    Reply

  18. I read and re-read my posts before I publish and still the printers devil slips in……
    This cake is to die for…….even in summer!!!

    Reply

  21. I really appreciate your blog not having ads. It makes for a much cleaner site and I think it is more professional.

    This loaf looks amazing! The weather certainly has taken a turn and all I want to do lately is stay home and bake. Darn work gets in the way of that.

    Reply

  22. I’m very excited for the cooler weather. I love hot chocolate and I’m sure this cake would not disappoint. I love the look of the glaze dripping over the marshmallows.

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  23. I wish the weather would get to flannel sheet temperatures around here, but I’m telling myself that if I make enough Fall and winter foods, it will.

    This is a truly brilliant idea. I always have about a 2-1 ratio of marshmallows to hot chocolate, so I’m loving this!

    Reply

  29. I hear yah peabody. I think ads are less than lovely, too, but my favorite magazines have them — or sadly, lack them, as in the recent problem with Gourmet. Having given in to the dark side recently and returned to my former life-draining profession for a precious year (your former as well…) I treated myself to a beautifully framed piece of art purchased with my blog earnings and it hangs in my office as inspiration to give up my salary again willingly to the happy land of food writing and photography. Thanks to the people who visit my site! Love the decadent dessert as always and your opinions. ; )

    Reply

  30. Ooh, agreed, but I omit ads from mine because I don’t like how they would look on mine 🙂 I got a lot of friends with ads!
    I love how the mallows just get all melty into this. Guaranteed success, right? 😉

    Reply

  33. I’m looking forward to testing this one! I may take the opportunity to use up some of the store-brand hot chocolate mix my clueless husband bought. I’m not TOO much of a chocolate snob, but I am particular about hot chocolate. This seems like a recipe that would elevate the “inferior” ingredient.

    Reply

  36. My kids will go nuts over this! The weather is just now getting a little cooler. I will definitely be making this when it gets cold out! What a perfect cold weather treat!

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  39. Love this! I am a “home ec” (now Family and Consumer Sciences) teacher and am always reminding my kids to read the recipe all the way through before starting:)

    Reply

  40. Awesome! I love this idea. I’ve been planning a little hot chocolate and marshmallow treat of my own, but I might have to try this too!

    Reply

  41. I’m so glad someone else said they admit to forgetting to add in things to their recipe. I’ve done that, a lot, and get angry emails from it. I need to write stuff down while I’m ‘in the moment of creating’.

    Reply

  42. I’m so with you about ad’s on your site. I have thought about doing ad’s but I don’t like the look. Well to be honest I don’t like the look of my site as is but I have big plans for the future:)

    Reply

  45. Yummy, gooey and chocolatey. Love it. I bet the marshmallows melting into the cake is delicious. But I love the way they look on top too. I’m with you: mini cakes are easier to freeze and perfect for gifts.

    Reply

  46. Mmm…hot chocolate. Just in time for this weekend’s cold front. I seriously just passed up the mini loaf tins at the cake store last weekend and now regret it.

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  47. Looks delicious! I love the idea of putting hot chocolate mix in the batter. I would have never thought of that! I’ll definitely try this around the holidays.

    Reply

  52. This looks SO delicious! I love when you put together flavors typically found in something else and combine them in a baked good. (Like this and your Almond Joy bread I love so much!)

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  55. That looks divine with the marshmellows and chocolate glaze. A perfect mid-morning snack with maybe a cup of hot chocolate, or just some milk. 🙂

    Reply

  57. I live in Florida where it is still in the 80’s. Does this stop me from acting like it’s flannel sheet weather? NO. Pacific NW, I heart you!

    Anyway, I made this recipe. It reall was like hot chocolate, and I loved the texture. Yumola! I did actually put it back in the oven after adding the marshmallows to brown them and make them gooey. Mmmmm. The marshmallows on the inside were awesome! So glad I found you Peabody.

    Love, your new BFF,
    Kristina

    Reply

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