Cooking with Eowyn

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So, last night, my friend Kelly wanted chocolate cake. Being of the instant gratification generation, she opted to use this recipe for a 5 minute cake you bake in the microwave (which is apparently very popular with the stoner crowd). After getting decent results, she convinced me to try it.

Now, as slaymesoftly can attest, my cooking skills leave something to be desired (although I think she exaggerates the number of things I've set on fire). But this is cake you make in a coffee mug in the microwave - how hard could it be?

Let's backtrack a bit. Kelly, who had apparently googled something to the effect of “baking for impatient people,” selected this recipe on the basis of reviews such as these:

“my friends and i are stoned eating the cakes now. they are awesome. and if we can make them anyone can. you have made munchie time easier thank you”
“your are the jesus of 13 year olds who are to lazy to make a cake"

I, of course, encouraged Kelly to “make the stoner cake!” Since Kelly does everything I tell her to, she did. The results:

Kelly: Um, it looks AWESOME. And it pretty much tastes awesome.
Eowyn: Now I want to make it.
Kelly: Doooooo iiiiiiiiit!
Eowyn: It only takes 5 minutes... ok, let's go to the kitchen!

Sold. Except… I don’t have any cocoa, so, on the advice of one of the commenters, I decide to substitute hot chocolate mix and use less sugar. One minute later:

Eowyn: Shoot! I forgot to put in less sugar. Should I dump and start over?
Kelly: Yeah...
Eowyn: You know, Betty Crocker actually makes this stuff already mixed.

So, we get past the dry ingredients without further mishap. Now, we are at the egg stage, and man, they were not kidding about the pasty part. Then, I add the milk and stir some more.

Eowyn: Er, now I've made chocolate milk with a soggy lump in the middle.
Kelly: Keep stirring!
Eowyn: This is taking longer than 5 minutes.

I add the rest of the ingredients, and then, as is traditional, lick the fork I’d been using to stir.

Eowyn: Ugh! I hope it tastes better baked than the batter just did.

Microwaving time! They also weren’t kidding when they said it would puff up above the rim of the mug.

Eowyn: OMG. It's like the Leaning Tower of Chocolate Cake.

Final result? Eh, not that great. Kind of bland – I think I needed to use more hot chocolate mix (or actual cocoa, like the recipe called for) and probably leave out the vanilla. But I did not explode anything, so perhaps we will try again.

Comments

[silverusagi]

I have never set anything on fire, but I did manage to boil cookies once, when I tried to cut the recipe down. I must have messed up something portion wise, because when I looked in the oven, they were runny and bubbling on top.

Oh, and my friend? She burned jello.

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How... how do you burn jello? *is afraid*

[silverusagi]

She put the jello powder in the water and then put all of it in the microwave. It settled at the bottom while it was in there and turned black.

[urania-calliope.livejournal.com]

Oh man, so what is the exact recipe? I must try this! Fast chocolate cake... Mmm. :D

[next_to_normal]

Hee - check the link at the beginning of the post.

[empresspatti.livejournal.com]

So WHERE is the recipe? Inquiring minds want to know!

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See above. :) I linked to it in the post.

[rahirah]

I fear things cooked in coffee mugs.

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I found a recipe for meatloaf in a mug!

[katiekat641.livejournal.com]

I burned chocolate pudding. Tasted like burnt rubber. I a baked potato. One time while cooking a pork roast, the heat element in our oven caught on fire. I had to finish it on our electric grill. Best pork roast I ever made. And one time I forgot to make sure the oven was empty (my housemate has the habit of putting unfinished food in it) and caught several pizza boxes on fire, and did not notice until someone else saw the clouds of smoke. Burt cardboard smells horrible. And last but not least, I have accidentally melted several bakery cakes left in the oven for safekeeping. I always forget to check it before I turn it on....

[next_to_normal]

Wow, that's worse than me! lol

Of course, I live alone, so there's no one to leave things in the oven for me to set on fire. :)

[goodbyebird]

hee kinda makes me want to create a mini-cookbook entitled "stonercake" - where it's all five minute microwave in-a-mug cakes XP

Would br fun to experiment with some, and not to mention handy, since they all only take about five minutes.

[next_to_normal]

You mean there are OTHER microwave-in-a-mug cakes?? Where?! We googled valiantly, but most of them seem to be the same recipe posted by different people.

[goodbyebird]

lol aren't you eager? I haven't seen any, but then again i haven't looked. Seems pretty intuative though, how you could f.exa. add blueberries or chopped up nuts, vanilla, etc. I'm sure there are many yummy alternatives!
*starts to ponder* I'll be getting a new camera soon too, so I'll need some project or other to take pictures of ;p

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I need a new camera... I wanted to take pictures of the disastrous results - all the chocolate chips sunk to the bottom and got stuck to the mug, so it didn't look pretty when I dumped it on the plate - but the battery won't hold a charge. :(

[goodbyebird]

It's cooking for teenagers and stoners. It's not supposed to look pretty. Sucks about your camera though.

[next_to_normal]

Eh, it's quite a few years old, so it's probably time for a new one anyway. I just haven't been able to justify buying a new one, because I never take pictures... because the old one doesn't work, so there's kind of a Catch-22 going on there...

[goodbyebird]

hm, well if you don't take a lot of pictures, might as well opt for a cheap one, and for that there's always birthdays and christmas.

[seductivembrace.livejournal.com]

*wipes tears from eyes*

OMG... too funny. You're a better person than me for trying to cook cake in the microwave. I'm scared to even *buy* the ones that you're supposed to cook that way. ^_^

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You're a better lazier person than me for trying to cook cake in the microwave.

Fixed that for you. :) I've tried the microwavable Betty Crocker cakes, and they're not bad. Better than this experiment turned out, in fact...