Cake in mug.

So here is my second post of the Christmas holidays! I haven't had much time to bake since coming home but I did manage to fit something in before the end of term. In my halls, we have a small pantry equipped with fridge, toaster and microwave. So - quite naturally - I decided to make microwave cake. This is quite a simple recipe and may not provide the most exciting of blog posts but it still tasted pretty good! So here you have it. . . cake in a mug!

  

Ingredients 

1 large mug
4 tablespoons plain flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
A couple of drops of vanilla essence

Method

1) Add dry ingredients to mug and mix.

2) Add the egg.

3) Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. 

4) Add chocolate chips and vanilla essence

5) Place mug in the microwave & cook for 2½ to 3 min at 1,000 watts.

6) Cake rises over the top of the mug, but it reduces. If it still looks a bit sticky. . .put in the microwave for another 30 seconds or so. It depends on the microwave!

8) Remove from microwave, allow cake to cool and then tip out onto a plate. 

Cake in mug number two. . .

So there you have it! Cake in a mug! I'm not so sure about what to bake for my next post . . . but I'll think of something. Stay tuned!

Christmas + Cake + Choirboys

Hello there. I must first apologise for my severe lack of blogging. I have just completed my first term at university and unfortunately, I did not have so much time for baking. BUT... I am now back home for Christmas and hope to make up for lost time! My food experiences have been limited as I have been living in catered halls. However, as you will see in the next two blogs, I managed to find some ways around it!

Just before the end of term, I went to a Christmas cake decorating workshop set up by the university. There were 10 of us in all - I think 10 more than they expected - so a good turn out all in all. 

You'll have to bear in mind...I did NOT make the cake, nor did I ice it...so perhaps this isn't worthy to go on the blog - but this is all the material I have! I did, however, make some rather cute (or perhaps creepy) little fondant icing choirboys.

I really enjoyed making them and it has certainly put me in good spirits for the holidays! It was also nice to see other peoples' creations - however unusual they may have been! Take a look. . .

And now for some alternative designs. I think these were a bit more creative. . .

And so that was Christmas cake decorating! I'll be posting another blog very soon - so look out for it! And let's just say that it involves a microwave and a mug.

Whoopie Pies - pies that are just full of whoop!

Whoopie pies have been on my list of things to bake for a while.  It's thanks to Rachel (yes - I'm talking to you Rachel!) that I've been able to make them sooner than I thought. I received a lovely whoopie pie book, 'Make me Whoopies',  with lots of yummy recipes. You can make all sorts!  Chocolate orange whoopies, strawberries and cream whoopies, coconut whoopies, rum and raisin whoopies, tiramisu whoopies and even green tea and cherry whoopies! That's a whole lot of whoopie!

A lot of whoopie

But. . .what is a whoopie pie I hear you say?! I didn't really know at first, I just thought they sounded rather exciting. According to the helpful little introduction in the book, whoopie pies are 'sandwiched cakey-cookies' which 'originated in either Pennsylvania or Maine, USA, where they were packed into the lunch boxes of Amish farmers'. According to another source (ahem. . .wikipedia), the farmers would apparently shout 'Whoopieee!' if they should find one in their lunch box. The biggest whoopie ever made (I thought you'd like to know) weighed in at a staggering 1062 pounds! That's 75 STONE! That's one big whoopie (it had to be said).

I decided just to go for the plain and simple vanilla whoopies. I thought I'd try one of the more simple recipes to begin with, as they seem quite complex! Complex whoopies! 

 

Whoopieee!

I'm quite sad to say that this could be my last post for a while. I'm off to uni this Saturday and (silly me) opted for catered accommodation. So...no student cooking delights on here. I'll see what I can do though. I'll have to be a bit more creative...what to do with a microwave and a toaster!?

It's not the end. :D xxx

The Bread Gallery

 So finally, the bread challenge is complete! This post shows them in all their glory (ish) and fresh out of the oven. Sorry in advance. This may all seem a bit pretentious. Pretentious bread?? Just go with it. . .

Bread #1: The White Loaf

Bread #2: Soda Bread

Bread #3: Focaccia + Rosemary

Bread #4: Naan Bread 

Bread #5: The Bagel

I think that's enough bread for a while!