Cake in a Cup

I was forwarded a recipe for chocolate cake that is "baked" in a coffee cup in the microwave and supposedly five minutes start to finish. Being extremely skeptical of anything that is cooked in the microwave, I had to try it.

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.

The recipe encourages you to mix everything right in the cup. I felt that that would lead to lumps and inconsistency in the batter so I whisked the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl and then brought them together quickly with the chocolate chips and then poured equal amounts of the batter into two 8 ounce size coffee cups. I nuked them for 3 minutes on high. They bubbled up over the top, but did not spill (you could put them on a plate just in case) and then settled back down into the cup.

As I predicted, the chocolate chips settled to the bottom of the cup, but once turned out onto a plate, this made a kind of frosting of top. It comes out of the cup easily when its still hot, but you'll want it to cool for a bit before eating. It does end up looking like a traditional cupcake that's baked in a muffin tin, minus the paper. Since it is microwaved and not baked, the consistency is weird - more like a pudding than a cake - and bordering on rubbery. This improved as it cooled somewhat.

This is NOT cake. Think of it more like a pudding and then, perhaps, you won't find the texture so disturbing. My recipe tester (Nathan) couldn't get past the texture thing. He described it as "spongy" followed by a negative look. He also could taste the egg, which he didn't like. I didn't think it was that bad, but it is really more of a chocolate eggy pudding rather than a cake.

I want to experiment with this some more. I may try different cocoa powders and extracts. In the future, I would just put the chocolate chips in the bottom of the cup to increase the frosting-like result. You could use different flavored chips or chopped chocolate or maybe even a spoonful of peanut butter. If you want the chocolate chips in the cake, you can toss them with a little flour to prevent them from sinking. I will try using only whites to lessen the eggy taste. If you experiement with it, share your results with me.

Bottom line: if you need some chocolate like right now. This certainly will do. True to the claim, it does only take five minutes. It is easy and it would be a great kitchen project to do with kids who want to learn to cook. Have them do all the measuring and stirring themselves! Also good for the lazy bachelor type. I mean, chicks are usually impressed when guys try to cook anything ;)