5-Minute Chocolate Cake for One

As a baker (amateur with a passion), I tend to be skeptical of things “baked” in the microwave oven. But fans of this quickie cake in a cup seem to be eating it up. The 5-minute chocolate cake recipe has been making the rounds.

So I had to find out what the buzz was about. I decided to test out this recipe from a Facebook page. I tweaked the recipe a tad and baked it in a little bowl, thinking it would be shapelier than a tall 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 the cake after “baking,” it 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, 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 white chocolate 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. It would taste so much better with a big scoop of Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream vanilla ice cream or Ben & Jerry’s Dublin Mudslide ice cream. But then, if you’ve got good ice cream in the freezer, skip the mug cake and just grab the carton and a spoon.

5-Minute Chocolate Cake in a Mug

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
Splash of vanilla
Additional white chocolate chips and/or chocolate chips (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients in a mug or bowl, except for the chocolate chips, and stir or whisk until smooth. Add the 3 tablespoons chocolate chips. Pop mug into the microwave oven and cook on high power for 3 minutes. The cake will rise to the top of the mug while “baking” but will fall when done. Let cool slightly, grab a fork and dig in. Or tip the cake out onto a plate and sprinkle with more chocolate and/or white chocolate chips.

Comments RSS You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.