Is there a Dr. in the House?

Like I said, this post will be worth your time.  If this is the only post on my blog you ever read, I will be ok with that.  I almost don't want to try to post after this because I just don't know if I can top it in terms of flavor.  That didn't stop me from baking brownies tonight out of sheer boredom, but I didn't even bother taking pictures because it was boring in comparison.  I mean, just look at the ingredients I used for this recipe:

For those of you attempting to repeat this glorious mess at home, the ingredients are:
Cake:
2 cups of sifted flour
2 cups of sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk (surprisingly, despite the name, buttermilk isn't too bad for you)
1 Tb vanilla
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups marshmallows
1 cup Dr. Pepper (I was worried about using diet, but it worked, so feel free to cut the calories in that area)
3 Tb. unsweetened cocoa powder

Frosting:
1 lb bag of confectioners sugar
6 Tb. Dr. Pepper
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3 Tb. unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:
Now mind you, I was making this for a potluck, and we all know the deal about potlucks.  Everyone brings the one thing they're really good at making.  So everything is awesome.  And if you bring something crappy it stands out.  Plus you end up taking it home at the end of the night and what's more embarrassing than having to eat leftover crappy cake alone at home?  Perhaps wetting yourself in public, but I'd say that's about it.

So anyway, I found this recipe book online.  And I know that it's a book of traditionally southern African American desserts.  But I found it somehow calling out to me.  Maybe it's the deep fried chicken and kale I was deprived of as a kid, but something in this recipe book called out to me.  So I asked for it as a Hannukah gift and decided to make this recipe the second I saw it.  Dr. Pepper, marshmallows AND chocolate?  There really was no higher priority in my life than immediately getting all necessary ingredients.

After the trek to Whole Foods for kosher marshmallows (which have fish gelatin in them, and I don't usually eat fish, but this was an exception I felt somehow I had to make) I started the complicated journey on the path to perfection.  Otherwise known as making a cake.  Obviously the first thing I did was preheat the oven to 350, though the cake takes a while to put together so if you wait 15 minutes before preheating the oven you'll probably still be fine.

Next you have to melt the butter, marshmallows, cocoa powder, and Dr. Pepper in a saucepan on the oven until it's nice and smooth.  It might get a little frothy for a while but eventually it should have a nice consistent texture:

While it's melting, and assuming you can still pay close enough attention to it that nothing will burn, go ahead and mix together the flour, sugar, and baking soda:

Now slowly pour the melted and smooth marshmallow mixture into the flour mixture and mix it well:

You can beat it a little, but don't get carried away.  It will fall easily off the spoon:

Meanwhile you can beat the eggs in a third bowl until they're nice and fluffy.  I know, lots of bowls in this recipe and lots of clean up.  But I swear it's worth every dish.  Now add in the buttermilk and vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds or so:

Add the egg mixture to the batter and mix until well blended and the batter is smooth.  Pour into a 9x13 inch pan (spray first with butter spray or some equivalent) and bake for 50-55 minutes or until it looks done.  Let cool for at least 10 minutes before frosting, though with this recipe the cake doesn't need to be completely cooled before frosted.  Another reason I love it.  Also just to warn you, when I took the cake out of the oven I was not impressed.  It looked like there were lots of little air bubbles and the cake didn't seem very thick or moist.  Then I frosted it and ate it and realized I could not have been more wrong.  It was perfect.  So please take a moment before judging your naked baked cake.  Give it a chance to impress your tastebuds.  You might be pleasantly surprised.

For the frosting, you're basically going to repeat the first step but with confectioners (aka powdered) sugar.  Melt the butter, cocoa powder, and Dr. Pepper in a saucepan.  I used the same one as before and didn't even bother washing it out because it was mostly the same ingredients.  Once you have a nice smooth consistency, take it off the heat and slowly stir in the whole bag of powdered sugar.  It's a lot of sugar, it's very sweet, and like I said before, it's totally worth it.  Once it's all mixed in you'll still have a pretty drippy looking frosting.  Let it sit for about 10 to 15 minutes, and then pour it over the slightly warm cake.  Then let it sit for at least an hour, preferably two, before serving.  I dusted it with more powdered sugar to make it pretty:

And then bask in the glow of compliments you will undoubtedly receive for this piece of perfection.  You'll never look at Dr. Pepper the same way again.  I certainly won't.

Maybe you'll even get enough compliments that you can convince someone to wash your dishes for you...