Egg Free, Effort Free | Happy Day #7

Good afternoon! What a lazy day I've had. I'm aching seven ways to hell after the gym yesterday and I've got a nasty feeling that I'm in for a cold. So what's the solution here? Cake, obviously. But that means I have to leave the house... so maybe not. After racking my brain for a while, I remembered a recipe we tried in Vienna: Chocolate Microwave Mug cake. It's perfect for a lazy student like me - it's cheap, easy, and it's made of things you've probably got in your cupboard. Here's my photo for the day, and underneath is the [egg free] recipe!

The rather attractive result of our experiments in Vienna

So this is the kind of recipe which you can bend until it breaks. Some versions call for cinnamon, some vanilla, others mint. So here's what I used. 

...

In addition, you'll need 70ml of water and 2tbsp of vegetable oil. I'd advise not using olive oil for this recipe, it's got quite a distinct flavour and olive isn't exactly chocolate's life partner. The recipe I looked at called for a splash of vanilla extract. I'm inclined to think that it would be a happy addition, but I'm a student so I don't have vanilla extract lying around; that's why I added the Golden Syrup. The method is plain enough: you add the dry ingredients to your mug [flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, cinnamon], and mix them together with a fork until they're evenly blended. 

I also recommend putting the flour and cocoa through a sieve so that you avoid lumps

Next comes the wet ingredients [water, vegetable oil, golden syrup and/or vanilla extract]. I added in my water a little at a time, like you'd make a hot chocolate - this just avoids any of the powdery mixture floating onto the top of the mixture and making it lump. Stir this all together with a fork until the lumps are rare, if there are any. 

Now you just need to pop it into the microwave. My halls microwave is terrible, so it took about 3 minutes on full power to cook. However, this version says that a 1000 watt microwave will cook these to perfection in 1.5 minutes. I'd advise a minute, then a prod with a fork, then a further minute etc. until it's just how you want it. Be warned, even when it's finished, the top is glossy - don't let this fool you into thinking it's not cooking! 

See what I mean? It looks uncooked, but it's actually cake under all that shine!

Then you just need to garnish it and enjoy! Most people add cream or ice cream to this. In Vienna we topped it with "Schlagobers", which is essentially just thick cream. I'm a bit of a sucker for fruity pudding though, so I've added a dollop of raspberry jam to mine. What a perfect way to be unhealthy without even leaving the house! So have your cake and eat it too!
Until tomorrow, P.S. You should check out Libbi and Katie's instagrams; they were the head chefs for the Vienna masterpieces, I was just photographer.