Mississippi Mud Cake

submitted by Jim

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 9 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 8 ounces (8 squares) semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan.

Stir or whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter until light. Gradually add the sugar, beating well after each addition.

Drizzle the oil into the mixture while the mixer is running and beat for 2 minutes at medium speed until the mixture is smooth.

Add the beaten egg a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Take your time with this. If you add too much of the egg at once, the mixture will be grainy and it's difficult to recover from that. The mixture should be fluffy. Add the vanilla and corn syrup and beat at medium speed for three more minutes.

Beat in the melted chocolate.

Using a strainer or a sifter, sift the dry ingredients over the batter a little at a time and fold well after each addition. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. The mixture might be a little dense for folding. Do the best you can. It will probably work out well.

Pour and spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly.

Bake for 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted half an inch from the edge of th cake comes out clean. the center of the cake will be soft and gooey. Don't let that bother you. This cake behaves like a pan of brownies. If you overbake it, the sides will be tough and crusty. Some people like that.

Let the cake cool for five minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and then release and remove the side of the springform pan.

Leave the cake on the bottom of the pan and place on a serving platter.

Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream. The kind from an aerosol can is OK but real whipped cream is always better and isn't difficult to do.