For My Facebook Friends of the Mighty Mo and Hot Shoppes

Finding Facebook Friends of the Mighty Mo and Hot Shoppes brings back memories from early childhood to high school. Brain-freeze from the Orange Freeze. The best fries and onion rings. The Mighty Mo itself – the first triple decker burger in DC, whose two beef patties and special sauce pre-dates Mc-Whatsis. And everyone’s best treasured memory – Hot Fudge Ice Cream Cake.

While I have Mighty Mo memories, I also own two relics of the Hot Shoppes era. The Marriott Hot Shoppes Cookbook: Sixty Years of American Cookery has a history that begins with A & W Root Beer stands, where J. Willard Marriott got his start, and 188 pages of recipes. For reasons that are lost in the mists of time, I also have a laminated Mighty Mo curb service menu. Where were you when these were the prices?

Crisp Hot French Fries 25¢
Golden Brown Onion Rings 35¢
Mighty Mo - All Beef ‘n Cheese – 3 stories high! 65¢
Filet of Fish 65¢
Pappy Parker’s Smoky Mountain Fried Chicken Party Pack (20 pieces) $4.25
Orange Freeze 35¢
Milk Shake 35¢
Our Famous Ice Cream Cake – strawberry or hot fudge 45¢

Why I expected magical secret complicated recipes is beyond me. If you take your own trip down memory lane with the incredibly easy Hot Fudge Ice Cream Cake, use good chocolate for your fudge, and don’t forget Mighty Mo sauce for your next burger. No brand names or recipes for key ingredients were specified, so you’re on your own.

Hot Fudge Ice Cream Cake

Two 3”x3”x1/2” slices of plain yellow cake (day old)
3”x3”x1/2” vanilla ice cream square
4 T heated hot fudge
2-1/2 T whipped cream
1 drained maraschino cherry

On a serving plate, sandwich the ice cream square between two cake layers.
Drizzle 1 T of hot fudge over each of the four cake corners, leaving the center free from fudge.
Place the whipped cream in the center of the cake.
Top with the cherry.


Mighty Mo Sauce
½ c ketchup
¼ c chili sauce
1-1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 drops Tabasco
½ cup finely chopped sweet pickle
1-1/4 cup mayonnaise

Combine the first five ingredients. Add to the mayonnaise, stirring until well-blended. Keep refrigerated.