5 Minute Chocolate Cake…Yes, you read correctly!

So during a recent gathering the Baker’s Dozen (our little office bake club), we were introduced to the 5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake (2 minutes of prep and 3 minutes in the microwave). I was somewhat skeptical about what could be accomplished in 5 minutes, but I was surprised. Since it would have taken 65 minutes (13 of us X 5 minutes), they were made ahead of time, but we were were given a pretty impressive demonstration of one in front of the microwave. It came out looking good and for a 5 minute production, it tasted pretty good and was a fun recipe. However, it wasn’t quite as light and fluffy as I had hoped, but how much can you expect in 5 minutes, right? Well, I was about find out!

Better than ever 5 Minute Cake - Ready to serve

Well, with that in mind, I set out to see how I could improve it and how else would I go about it other than making 6 cakes?! I had my very own test kitchen and I felt like my own Food Network Test Kitchen. So I began with the original recipe and started tweaking and it evenutally came out great!

Revised and Better than Ever 5 Minute Chocolate Cake

• 4 tablespoons of flour
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons of milk
• 3 tablespoons of oil
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• A handful of chocolate chips

1 – Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

2 – Add the egg and mix well.

3 – Pour in the milk, oil & vanilla and mix well.

4 – Place the mixture in a tall glass or mug and into the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at “high”.

The cake may rise over the top, but it will settle, don’t be alarmed! Let it cool and eat out of the mug or tip it out onto a plate.

5 Minute Cake - Take 1

The first attempt was good, but I kept playing around with it. I began by adding chocolate chips to making it more moist, which it did. The next attempt was adding more vanilla, so I put in a full teaspoon and again it made it lighter.

Then I realized that even though the novelty of this cake is the fact that it’s mixed and cooked in the mug, I wanted to combine the ingredients in a bowl and really try to beat it well. Let’s face it, how well can you really mix anything in a coffee mug, other than coffee? So if you really want to do the mixing in a mug or simply don’t have a bowl (or don’t want to get a bowl dirty), well, mix away in a mug.

So with my whisk, I gave it a good beating and than transferred it into a glass which would give it some additional height (as i’m already thinking of presentation) Sure enough, it came out much lighter, fluffier and pretty delicious for a microwaved cake! All that was missing was a little Kahlua and ice cream and it was ready to go!

The best thing about this recipe is that it’s everything you’d normally have in your kitchen, so it’s simple and dangerous since it can be made at anytime! Oh and in case you were curious, I didn’t eat the 6 I made, I simply sampled them!

Playing with Kahlua – Chocolate pudding and whipped cream

When I first moved to Vancouver, I knew a grand total of 6 people and it was easy to feel out of place, so in an attempt to feel somewhate settled, it seemed natural to fall back to something that made me feel at “home” and that happened to be the kitchen. So it made perfect sense to “whip” up something new and have a couple of people over for some dessert and drinks.

I had recently seen some pudding on the Food Network (which I will definitely also be writing about from time to time) and I dug up a recipe and produced something amazing and easy!  No real explanation is needed for execution, the ingredients and directions speak for themselves. For fun, I threw in a little Kahlua, which you could totally taste, it was chocolate with a little kick

For the whipped cream, I just wanted a color to contrast the black pudding, so again, why not try something new?! The whipped cream was easy too (easier of course if you have an electric mixer and not a whisk). It was my first time using whipping cream and it was amazing to watch it transform into a non-liquid, especially with a whisk, I thought it would never happen! Oh and for continuity, I also spilled in a little Kahlua into the whipped cream at the very end. The Kahlua turned it slightly off-white, but you could definitely tell there was something in there.

For presentation, I used my great white square bowls given to me by my sister, but for fun, I also tried it in a small clear glass and was very pleased with how it looked. So the lesson is to not only to try new ingredients and recipes, but try random things in your kitchen for presentation, you never know what will look good.

Oh and for the record, I now know more than 6 people…in case you were feeling bad for me!

Simply easy and delicious chocolate pudding (Recipe adapted from Second Helpings, Please!)

2/3 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of cocoa

3 tbsp. of cornstarch

1/4 tsp. of salt

2 1/4 cup of milk

1 tsp. of vanilla

Kahlua (as much as you’d like – just not too much and make it runny!)

Whipped Cream (see below)

Blend first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Blend in vanilla. Chill thoroughly. Serves 6.

Whipped Cream (Recipe from Giada’s Kitchen)

1 cup of whipping cream

1 tbsp. of confectioners’ sugar

1 tbsp. of liqueur (of your choice)

Whip the cream to soft peaks in a medium bowl using a whisk or electric hand mixer. (I of course, keep forgetting to buy a mixer, so if you’re using a whisk, it is doable, but be prepared for a 15 minute workout!) Add the confectioners’ sugar and liqueur and whip to combine.