The disaster that wasn't a disaster

Cola Cake
Mama’s Tea Cakes 101 Soul Food Desserts Copyright 1998

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups mini marshmallows I used cut up mini marshmallows because that's what I had

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the butter and sugar in a medium mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add the eggs and buttermilk, mixing until the batter is smooth. In a separate medium bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder together. Add the flour mixture and vanilla to the batter. Fold in the marshmallows. Pour the batter into a 10-inch non-stick Bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

To decorate, spread incing on top of cake and let it drizzle down the sides.

Icing
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ cup cola I used Coke Zero
4 cups powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Mix well with an electric mixer on low speed for 2 minutes or until icing is smooth and spreadable. Makes about 2 ½ cups. This is waaayyyy too much for a Bundt cake but probably perfect for a 9x13-inch cake.
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This started out very promising. It rose beautifully in the oven. At first. Then it collapsed. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I used cut-up marshmallows instead of mini-marshmallows (I dusted them in corn starch so they weren't sticking together) or maybe I used too many marshmallows? From the beginning, I was leery of using the Bundt pan for this. I've always seen this recipe in a 9x13-inch pan. Next time I will use a 9x13-inch pan.

Yes, there will be a next time. Despite the fact that this was basically a sticky gooey mess, between the cake collapsing and the icing being quite soft (which would be fine for a 9x13-inch I think, but not for this Bundt cake), not one crumb of this went to waste. Between home and work, every last bit of this disappeared and people loved it. The marshmallows turned into chewy tasty bits in the cake which was my personal favorite part.

I will say that this did not stick to my new Bundt pan. I've always had a Bundt-type pan but it was flimsy and there was one spot where cakes ALWAYS stuck, ALWAYS. It really turned me off from using that pan. So when I saw a heavy, trademarked official Bundt pan in Goodwill for a couple of dollars, I grabbed it up. Cakes fly out of there, no sticking at all.