Cooking web notes

You must be familiar with ‘chocolate-cake-in-a-mug’ having already been featured in umpteen blogs and sites. It is delicious and comes together quickly which is great!. After having baked brownies over the weekend I didn’t need any more cakes, but then India won the Cricket World Cup. It’s not everyday that this happens and you will agree that calls for celebration, right? If you have been following this blog or know me personally, you also know I am an ardent fan of cricket. I have been on cloud nine ever since Saturday when India won the World Cup after a long gap of 28 years. I don't even remember the 1983 world cup, when we last won the cup. It was considered a miracle of sorts at that time, and people even today fondly remember and narrate how Kapil Dev (then captain of the Indian team) and his army brought home the cup. Surely I need to celebrate this win.


The match played on Saturday was tough. The Sri Lankan team has seasoned players and is great on the field. The Indian cricket captain, Dhoni, and his team fought hard to win this game. And the victory was sweet.
We needed this break.

In India, cricket is more famous today than even our national game of hockey. Cricket players like Sachin are sometimes referred by people and papers as gods, even if exaggerated it shows how much the game and players are revered. An article in New York Times says cricket in India has the same effect like monsoon rains permeating into the soil. Therefore, it is no secret nor surprise that all Indians wherever they are, celebrated India's win, and I'm no exception. I had every reason to celebrate and having some more brownies left over a small, but deliciously sweet reason to celebrate this victory.


So here is chocolate goodness for TEAM INDIA ! Oh! How my heart swells with pride :)



A special thanks to all my friends on Facebook. I want to especially share this virtual treat with you for watching the match and sharing the emotions via FB.

Happy Ugadi!

Ingredients:

All purpose flour- 5 Tbsp
Granulated sugar- 5 Tbsp
Cocoa- 2 Tbsp
Salt- a pinch
Baking powder- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp
Egg- 1 large
Milk- 4 Tbsp
Vegetable oil- 4 Tbsp
Pure vanilla extract- a dash
2 microwave-safe coffee mugs

Method:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a coffee mug to make the cake.
2. Beat the eggs slightly in a small mixing bowl and add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix well with a fork.
3. Add in the dry mixture and mix well.
4. Pour out half of the batter into each coffee mug.
5. Microwave the coffee mugs,one at a time, half- filled with the batter, on high, for a minute. If it does not get done in a minute, keep for another 20-30 seconds. Do not overcook, you might end up with a dry cake. (I kept it for 1 minute and 20seconds)
6. Let it cool and dig in.
7. It will be wonderful if you can top with vanilla ice cream

Notes:

1.The baking powder makes it less dense and more soft when compared to the original recipe.(thanks for the idea "not quite Nigellla" !)
2.The top of the cake looks a bit gooey when you take it out from the microwave after a minute. But it will be done already and do not over cook.
3.If you living in a place which is at sea level you could add a little more baking powder.
4.The cake rises up while cooking, but when you take it out it comes down. So a tall mug/microwave safe utensil is recommended.
5.The original recipe calls for 4 Tbsp each of flour and sugar and 3 Tbsp each of oil and milk. When I made it I added the above amount by mistake and it turned out to be better than the original .(later I tried once with the original measurements too !)

Recipe adapted from here (mostly) and here
Contributor: Namitha