Chocolate Cup-cake for Chocolate cake day

In 2004/2005 I was living in France in a beautiful big house with a extravagant french kitchen, unfortunately I was not allowed to use that kitchen. I was renting a room in this house and as part of the package students renting in this house were allowed use of a separate student kitchen. This was useful on many levels as it gave us a place to keep our food away from the main kitchen and a place to hang out together, which we did and I spent many memorable nights in that kitchen chatting with my friend and drinking tea or water. The down-side of the kitchen however was the fact that it had no oven, or hon, or anything other than a microwave! You can only imagine how difficult this was for a baking fanatic like me!

Never one to let circumstances prevent me from getting what I want I became an expert in microwave baking. I made everything in the microwave, from bread to cakes to scones. Don't get me wrong, microwave baking never replaced traditional baked goods in my heart and my friends who were there can attest to the fact that I jumped at any opportunity to use the real oven and make proper Irish scones. That said there is a great deal of fun and convenience in making cake in the microwave and since it's become popular recently I decided to share one of my favourite chocolate cup-cake (or cake in a cup) recipes. This time picture tutorial style, it's my first time so excuse the roughness.

Chocolate cake in a cup recipe

4-5 pieces of milk chocolate, or dark choc if you prefer
50ml milk
2 tbsp white flour
pinch of baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk

First choose your mug. I like to pick something tall and slim in shape to make the process fast and ensure the cake cooks evenly, remember a microwave cooks from the middle and you will not be able to mix this once you start. I choose this elegant white mug and buttered the inside -

Just like a traditional cake I like to flour the butter to give the cake a nice outside. I used a chai coco powder for a little bit of a spice kick -

Then prepare the cake mix. Many cake in a cup recipes prepare the cake mix in the cup used to bake. I know this saves on washing up but honestly I've found that it can lead to a improperly combined mix and lumps of flour where you do not want them so I mix in a cereal bowl, something most students have, and then put it into the mug.

Break the chocolate into the bowl and add the milk. Melt the chocolate and milk together in the microwave for approx 30 seconds - 1 min. Whisk together the mixture and you can add more milk if it is not runny in texture. To this add the flour, pinch of baking powder, coco powder, sugar (can be removed if using hot chocolate powder instead of cocoa powder) and egg yolk. Then beat the mixture until it is smooth. Pour your mixture into the cup but leave space at the top for rising -

Microwave this on 50% power for 2 and a half to 3 minutes, going one minute at a time with a pause between them. Do not mix and don't panic if any mixture spills over the edge. The mixture will rise over the top and make a lovely little muffin top. At this point you can dig straight in or you can let it cool and ice it



I attempted to make mine look like a cappuccino or some coffee drink using plain and chocolate icing. The cake is delicious and fluffy with lots of chocolate goodness. Hope you enjoy