The time is here to snuggle in, finish your wrapping and tagging but first….bake a special little cake in your microwave to give you ‘courage’ to carry on with the tasks at hand.
It’s time to for you too to bake a cup of cake. Yes, you heard me right. A CUP of chocolate CAKE. I first shared this treat in 2008. You can check out that post, on my old Typepad blog, here.
You’ve probably been running around, shopping, wrapping and stamping so why not step back, take a break and treat yourself. You could actually share this cup of chocolate cake. It’s definitely fun to make. And eat. And once you have your ingredients assembled it takes less than 10 minutes from mixing to savoring!
You’re going to need:
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional—–but I don’t think they’re optional!!)
- small spash of vanilla extract
- (optional) 2 tablespoons Kahlua or other creamy liqueur.
- 1 large coffee mug
- Pam no-stick cooking spray
Pour all of your ingredients into a mixing bowl. Warning: the cocoa is light and wants to fly away. Get it moist as quickly, yet gently, as possible.
(Minus two bites! I had to check it out didn’t I?) This year I added some Kahlua (2 tablespoons) for a tad more moisture. There really is no pop of Kahlua flavor. If you don’t like or have Kahlua or another creamy liqueur in the house try adding another tablespoon of oil.
You might try Andes baking chips that have that touch of mint for a flavor change. Mint equals Christmas holidays to me!
Today I began measuring my ingredients at 1:40 p.m., once they were removed from cupboards and placed on the kitchen counter. I had my first warm bite at 1:50 p.m. Talk about instant gratification! There’s really enough cake to share with 2-3 others.
Here are the instructions:
Spray your mug (2 cups volume) with Pam. Mix ingredients (be sure to incorporate the egg white) in a bowl and pour into mug. Cook on high in the microwave for 2.5 – 3 minutes. Start with 2.5. It might rise above the mug. Don’t worry. (Mine didn’t rise above the mug but that’s because I used such a large mug.) I’m at 4,500′ elevation and cooked my cup of cake for that initial 2.5 minutes. Only. Remove from microwave. The cake will fall back into the mug as it cools. Quickly “pour it out” onto a plate and attack with your fork.
This is a generously large single portion of cake! Add a glass of milk and enjoy. Do share your experience with us all (add a comments to this post) if you make your own cake. Please! I’d love to know how it goes. It really is fail proof.
