I need to warn you all that reading the following may have a palpable negative effect on your overall health
Because I have just learned that in few points in my life-- and I'm sure that this applies to most if not all of you as well-- am I more than about five minutes away from freshly made chocolate cake.
I know! Crazy! But true!
Here is the recipe that's been bouncing around the net
4Tbs cake flour
4Tbs sugar
2Tbs cocoa powder
3Tbs oil
1 egg
3Tbs Milk
3Tbs chocolate chips
splash vanilla extract
as for the method, you pretty much mix the ingredients in order in a coffee mug, with an eye on making sure that the powdery things are well-mixed before you add anything wet. Then cook for 5 minutes on high in a microwave.
I, however, have some notes on this recipe
For one, the chocolate chips were added by someone who was likely scandalized that the original recipe didn't use actual chocolate.
Dude, I agree.
I'm with you.
You haven't made a chocolate cake if you didn't use chocolate in the process. But you didn't go about this the right way.
Taken as read, the chocolate chips don't properly disperse themselves in the mixture. My fix messes with the simplicity of the whole deal, but I'm fairly ok with that.
mix the powder ingredients in a separate bowl. While you are doing so, have the chocolate chips in the mug in a pan filled halfway up the mug in water. Bring the water to a boil and keep the heat on until the chips are melted. add the powder, then the egg, then the oil, then the vanilla, mix and cook.
If you're lacking chocolate chips, chocolate syrup can also be used instead.
Also, it should be noted that any hot chocolate mix that you add milk to (I am specifically not referring to SwisMiss or any of its equivalents here) can work in place of the cocoa powder and sugar. I've personally used Ghirardelli chocolate mocha mix to delicious result.
You might find that the resultant cake needs a little bit of help. Such is often the downfall of many things that you throw together in under ten minutes. However, there are solutions. A scoop of ice cream goes extremely well, as does whipped cream and fruit. Peppermint schnapps works as well. I'm relatively sure that Kaluha, Baliey's, or a splash of whiskey would also punch it up, but I have yet to test these variables. Surprisingly, it went quite well with the salty dogs that my friend and I made out of fresh grapefruit and Beefeater.
In any case, if you ever thought to yourself, "It's too bad I can't have chocolate cake right now," know that you were WRONG.
It's unfortunate I am reading this while starving, lacking most basic cooking/baking skills, and after reading a website on obesity. ;)
ReplyDeleteI never keep flour or chocolate around though I stare at the Ghiraldi sugarless dark chocolate at Kroger's too much
ReplyDeleteMy goddaughter uses this recipe all the time. Won't tell her about the alcohol as she was grossed out all her life by "adults" drinking. Now at 18, occasionally her boyfriend has to call to say she can't talk and will spend the night.
We find it cute since it's a very occasional thing, and now her mother gets to smell her breath.
Cooper: by all accounts you need not worry about obesity and seriously, this is only a couple of steps above a gin and tonic as far as difficulty goes. If you can operate a fork properly you can do this, I promise. I was able to talk my 13 year-old brother through it.
ReplyDeletePia: I'll have to try it with store-bought cake mix some time. For science.
I actually think teaching kids to use alcohol for the flavor and not for the buzz is important. My brother was a typically irresponsible teen drinker until I showed him that an evening spent with a small amount of good beer is better than an evening spent with a large amount of terrible cheap vodka.