"Cup" Cake Challenge

I did, indeed, issue a challenge to my co-blogger to test a 5-minute chocolate cake.It is not my recipe, however. It came from a Facebook page.

As a baker, I tend to be skeptical of things "baked" in the microwave oven. But fans of this quickie cake in a cup were eating it up.

So I had to find out what the buzz was about. So, I baked mine in a little bowl, thinking it would be more shapelier than a tall thin mug-cake. And it was. Except for the lopsided, wavy top caused by the fact that it didn't rise evenly in the microwave oven. When I released mine after "baking," the cake was full of tiny craters. Texture was tough. Kind of like biting into tuggy French bread. That's NOT quite the texture I like in my cakes.

Maybe the egg added to the rubbery tugginess: think scrambled egg overcooked in the microwave with the addition of flour, sugar, and cocoa.

The taste? Well, horrid. Perhaps, as Michelle, err, Mama Mia suggested, the cake flavor might be improved by dark chocolate chunks, mint, orange peel, something....anything. I tried to boost the flavor of mine by adding a new chocolate-vanilla extract from Mexico, but it didn't help. Still too dry (maybe "baked" too long?) and texture challenged.

On the positive side? It was quick. Whipped it up in a coupla minutes. Baked 3 minutes. I sprinkled it with chocolate chips and vanilla chips (which I hate, but thought they would break up the darkness on the plate).

I didn't like it. Not one bit. Except for the gooey chocolate chips melting on top of the warm so-called cake. Michelle didn't talk much about the flavor. She probably was being polite since she thought it was my recipe. But it's not. So, Mama Mia Michelle. Did you actually taste it? And what did you think?

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Jeanne slipped me an interesting challenge. Make a mug cake in five minutes. The sweeter the research, the better, so I followed the recipe on a Sunday afternoon, as daffodils popped their leaves in a gentle rain.

Know what? Her recipe works. From stirring batter in a mug to a final spin in the microwave, the whole creative process took five minutes. This opens up entirely new territory in the "I've got a craving and no place to go" category. If you've got flour, sugar, some cocoa and an egg, you're on your way to the fastest fixer upper I've ever tasted.

The recipe suggests adding semisweet chocolate bits, but now that I've made it, I sense a longing for a deeper chocolate experience.

Don't misunderstand: The version as given below works quite well. But if you want to fling it up a notch, fiddle around with some of the flavored dark chocolates, instead of the semisweet versions. Try adding a little orange peel, a splash of orange liqueur, or a chocolate liqueur such as Kahlua. You might even give it a splash of Kirschwasser - a nudge with the cherry brandy.

I'm thinking a splash of mint flavor, too. Now that I know it really bakes up in 5 minutes, I feel like playing around a little with the same devotion I would give the tango - hand to the heart, head to the floor.


5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix 
thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous). And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

(photo featuring a commemorative plate of the Marine Transportation Building, New York World's Fair 1939.)

Wine Biscuits

Do you ever slip into one of those moods where you just have to try something different in the same vein as kids who come up with science experiments the day of science fair? I once had an assignment due for a Humanities Class. The subject was architecture. I blanked on it until the night before, when I found myself making a high school out of pumpkin bread (and aced it).

But appallingly, I digress.

The fact is, I came across a recipe for wine biscuits and had never seen, heard, sampled or baked anything of the sort before. What is their purpose, other than as a peppery vessel to hold up your cheese? The recipe calls for cabernet sauvignon and I only had pinot noir on hand, so the wine essence was not as deeply soulful as I would have longed for. But the pepper announces itself after you've tasted the sweetness of the biscuit - well, not a biscuit but more like a cookie with a hole in it.

The purpose of the hole? It's beyond me. Try the recipe without the hole and report back. There must be something we can do about the color of the finished product, but if you're topping this biscuit with cheese, it won't matter much.

Were I to make the wine biscuits again, I'd wait for another rainy day. I'd use a better grade of pepper, freshly ground, and a fuller-bodied wine. The recipe suggests 4-6 tablespoons of sugar. You might think of skipping that last tablespoon, but I wouldn't. I tried it and ended up dusting the top of each cookie with superfine sugar. The dough was just too savory without it.

A wine biscuit is not a sweet confection; it's a savory item that would go well with spreadable cheeses and fruity beverages such as sangria, in the manner suggested by King Arthur Flour.

I think an herb such as chopped rosemary could help lift this biscuit to another level. Something more is what I want. Something with kick that turns a wine biscuit into a sweet memory.




(photo featuring wine biscuits and a World War II era handkerchief from Hawaii, sent by a Marine to my mother, Rosie)