Chocolate Mug Cake for 2

I was having major chocolate cravings the other day and you know me and should know by now, when I crave, I HAVE to have it! This time it was for some rich dark chocolate cake! Mmmmm but generally, this is a hard craving to get rid of because the only way out of this is to just create a craving satisfying cake that you can stuff in your mouth! --Then go for a 5 mile run to burn it off so you can fit in your wedding dress coming up so very soon!;)

You could either spend a buck or 2 and just succomb to boxed cake mix or find your perfect cake recipe but the problem with that is you are left with a whole cake! Can you let a cake go to waste just to satisfy a craving? Or stuff your face with it and have huge regrets that you can never take back!

So with all this, there is one solution that could help you out in a major way: cake in a mug ~ microwave style!

There are tons and tons of these recipes online and yes I have tested out MANY of them!!;) With all the ones I've tried, they've cured my chocolate craving but they fail in how a cake should be! The texture is always spongey and sometimes tough at the same time. Which led me to giving up on each recipe and starting over from scratch.

But just the other day, I think I came up with the perfect recipe for me. Cured the craving and I was satisfied with the overall outcome of the cake. Below is the recipe!

If you're wondering why there is no picture for this post, it's because I got really excited and just ate majority of the cake! When I was halfway done, that's when I realized I didn't take the picture! But please take my word for it, you will not be disappointed in this recipe. Have I ever let you down?

Chocolate Mug Cake for two

1 egg
3 Tbsp coconut oil
3 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vinegar
Top with any of your favorite frostings or toppings

Whisk egg and oil in one of the mugs.

Mix in milk, vanilla, and sugar.

On the side, combine cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl and add to the wet ingredients.

Mix in vinegar and beat batter until smooth. Split into two mugs and microwave separately for about 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds. I'd say it's ready closer to 1 minute but all microwaves are different. Serve cooled down or if you are like me, let it sit for a few minutes and indulge right away!;)

Taking a Moment....To Study

So today was going to be all about the VERY tasty eats on the gorgeous Caribbean Island of Curaçao but I have a busy week full of studying and need to get cracking on it. I'm excited to be taking the Servsafe exam on Wednesday! One step forward toward my goals. That and because the laws are changing, I'd like to be a step ahead and be prepared. And so I'm taking it seriously because one, I don't want to take it again, of course, and two, the fact that you have to pay for it and since I'm heading to Bolivia and other surrounding countries in three weeks, I really don't want to be spending money on tests and unnecessary stuff when I can be spending it on good food, Yungas Road, and buses, you know.

So next time, I'll be writing about the good eats and posting some recipes of mine. Will be making my Pistachio Marshmallows, Edamame hummus, Turon, and anything else that comes to mind and what I can fit in before I leave. CAN'T WAIT!

So I leave you on this beautiful and VERY HOT Southern California Sunday morning with some pictures of very sweet, delicious delights, and something interesting too.


Mardi Gras style cupcakes

Birthday cupcakes for my friends son for his 1st birthday. I'm his favorite aunt! :)

Bacon Wrapped Dates with a Balsamic Reduction Sauce. Perfect Combination.

Lemon, Fresh Rosemary, and Garlic making an appearance...

...In this wonderful Garlic Sauce which also included olive oil, salt, and three more garlic bulbs. Easy to make and adds tremendously good flavor to any dish you decide to indulge in. In this case, I used it in a mixed seafood dish. This sauce goes with anything or well, almost anything!

Raw Oyster Rockefeller with a Shallot Vinaigrette Shooter. Tried it at a meeting I went to. Pretty tasty to me. Just have to work on my gagging reflex!

My homemade Black Forest Cake. Everything by scratch. Now this cake will always be my guilty pleasure. I've got somewhat non-dessert eaters craving this. I've been having multiple dreams about making this cake soon just for me to eat it all by myself. It's that bad. Trust me when I tell you this is the best cake ever. I'm up for a challenge if you don't believe. You will be a believer when I'm done with you!

Made this birthday cake for my travel bud Vanessa for her party I attended last night. Dyed the whipped cream to a turquoise color cause it's her favorite. Made her cake all shiny with sugar and shaped her V with black sugar. Semi-sweet chocolate cake with cinnamon and cayenne and had strawberries and cream between the layers.

When the weather is cool, I ride my bike to work to get that fresh air, wonderful exercise, and get to listen to all my super cool music too. The last time I took the ride, I caught a glimpse of this lizard while riding up the first of two hills going home and I had to stop. The tail is such an incredibly beautiful color. Tried to get close to it and this was the best picture I could get. I discovered later it is a blue tailed skink. A very interesting spotting, indeed.

Baby Shower Cake

Here is the cake that I made for the surprise baby shower that I threw for a teacher at work last week:



I'll be honest and say that the cake did not end up looking the way I wanted it to and I realized that making a cake like this takes more work! Of course everyone said it was beautiful and they loved it as is. I have decided to just stick to cupcakes, regular 2-3 layer cakes, fun design cakes, and if I do decide to make a certain # tier cake, it'll be separated, not put together.

I made 3 different flavor cakes. The top layer was chocolate, then lemon, then white cake with sprinkles, and another layer of chocolate. I was going to make buttercream but the weather wasn't too cool that day and didn't want the frosting to melt, so I just stuck to making regular frosting. I dyed the frosting pink since the shower was for a baby girl, decorated each layer with white frosting decorations, and topped the cake with a baby rattle, two pacifiers, and pink sugar sprinkles.

The cake---was a success. Everyone loved it. The cake was perfectly moist, the frosting, just fantastic, and every plate I saw was pretty much clean. In fact, the first thing I overheard when I walked through the doors at work the next day were a couple of coworkers talking about the cake and how much they loved it. No lie! That is a compliment.

I guess maybe I am too much into food and they just like eating whatever they see. A foodie I am. :)

***Sadly we got the news a few days after the party that the adoption fell through. She would have adopted the baby next week. Very sad but she is still hopeful for a positive future and I believe luck will be on her side. She is a great mom. :)

It has been awhile...

So I'm just now finding the time to update with a post. Just recently got back from my Ecuador and Chile adventure. What a great time I had! And again, I wish I was back but already planning for a huge South America 2011 adventure. Anyway, I'll update what I had been able to do and then recap my adventures on and below the Equator.

First, I baked and decorated a cake for my besty Lacey. A pretty pink butterfly decorated with red hots. My original plan was to get the colorful rainbow sugar sprinkles and make a rainbow affect but she is not a fan of sprinkles so had to tweek everything around. She also only prefers the confetti cake and confetti frosting so that is why the frosting on the cake looks bumpy.



All I did was bake the cake in two 9-in round pans, allowed them to cool completely, stuck the cakes in the freezer for a couple hours, frosted and layered them and cut the cake in half and made sure to cut out a diamond near one edge, split the cake in half, and flipped them to make the shape of the butterfly. Frosted the cake and decorated it with the red hots. She loved it!

I enjoyed sushi for the first time in a month! It was nice! Sorry, no pictures. I figured it was just the usual!

And my friend RaraRosa aka rufflesizzle came down from SF and made plans to hang with her and her friend. Bluebizzy and Rufflesizzle reunited! I missed her. Ended up going back to Carnival, the Middle Eastern restaurant I fell in love with awhile back and was craving!


Ordered Tabouli. Tasted almost exactly like homemade! Except I grew up with a secret ingredient that isn't usually added in Tabouli. It's cucumber. My mom always added the crunch to it and that's how I'll always make it and prefer it in my Tabouli. So it was fantastic at the restaurant and I made it even more amazing by finely chopping up cucumbers and added it to the salad when I got home!


Grape leaves aka Dolma. Tastes exactly like homemade. Usually put ground beef into it but it is fine either way.

I also got Kibbeh but for some random reason, I forgot to take a picture of it! Ridiculous. It was splendid of course, and just like the first time I came here, there were only a few pine nuts in each Kibbeh. Ridiculous again! I'd like them to add more but besides that, they are darn good here!

Rosa and Maryanne got the Chicken Shawarma and were completely satisfied with their sandwiches. They took my tahini sauce that was on the side of my Kibbeh and used it in their sandwiches. They loved it. I'm not a fan of tahini so I was happy to let them utilize the sauce in their Shawarma!




I love Kafta so got a small plate of Kafta Kabob with rice, tomato, and onions. Amazing! Perfectly cooked, seasoned, and moist. Superb.



Next up, dessert of course!

Rosa settled with Baklava. It is filo dough with a mixture of walnut and cinnamon/sugar, honey (or most of the time it is actually a simple syrup), and usually topped with finely chopped pistachios. I would have ordered one but they used honey and I'm not a fan of honey. My preference is first enjoying Baklava without the syrup and then Baklava with a simple syrup. She ate it up.



Maryanne tried my dessert, LOVED it, and ordered her own. And myself, I of course got Knafeh!! If I could, I would eat this everyday! So I bought two so that I can keep it in the fridge and drag it out until the next time I have some more! It's shredded filo dough (usually dyed a pink-to-orange color), sweet cheese, and topped with a simple rose or orange blossom syrup and finely chopped pistachios. My go-to dessert. Get it. Now.



'En'credible Ecuador and Chilly Chile next up....