Mug cakes

November 12, 2021 7:26 PM

I've been really into mug cakes lately. They're easy to make, and I end up with just the right amount of warm dessert for myself. I really like Budget Byte's Cinnamon Nut Swirl Mug Cake (minus the nuts).

But man, for a "microwave cake", it's actually kind of complicated. I'm pretty sure I use every size measuring spoon I own plus an extra bowl, mix three sets of things, and use the microwave many times. So yeah, I needed to cut some of this out.

Budget Bytes has a few other mug cake recipes, and I wanted to try them out. I saw her post this Funfetti Mug Cake earlier this year, and I saved it for the next time I had milk I needed to use up. This was a lot easier. Like, I finished making it and I thought, "wow that was easy".

The taste? It was okay. It felt like something was missing though.

And then I realized that she doesn't put any salt in this recipe. How can you make a cake with no salt?! I made the recipe again a day later with a pinch of salt. Not the best, still not even close to the taste of that cinnamon mug cake, but better.

Okay, so I also made some hot chocolate a few days later, and I realized my cocoa powder expired over two years ago. It still seems fine, but I guess I should try and use it all up. I remembered that Budget Bytes has a chocolate mug cake recipe. I made this once while my sister had been staying with me and I remember feeling that it was pretty...average.

But I still need to use up this milk, and I also need to use up this cocoa powder, so I made that chocolate mug cake again. And this? This was even easier. This one doesn't have butter, so I didn't have to even use the microwave twice or grab a bowl. I also didn't bother with the dollop of peanut butter in the middle.

The taste was still pretty average though, and it definitely wasn't sweet enough. Maybe I've grown too much of a sweet tooth lately, but two teaspoons of sugar just did not feel like enough. So I decided to remake this again, but use a whole tablespoon of sugar. Definitely helped.

And that had that extra benefit of getting rid of a need for a measuring teaspoon. So this is so easy now. One mug, one 1/4 tsp spoon, one tbsp spoon. Use the 1/4 tsp spoon to mix everything. One minute in the microwave. That's it. I could make one of these every day.

Still, those two easier mug cakes don't beat the taste of the cinnamon swirl mug cake. Maybe I can tweak that one...

An annotated chocolate mug cake recipe

November 21, 2021 4:34 PM

Original recipe - "The one" Chocolate Mug Cake

I don't really change too much, but this format is a little easier for me to read.

1. Take out one mug, one 1/4 teaspoon, and one tablespoon.
2. Scoop these ingredients into the mug and mix:
   • 2 tablespoons of flour
   • 1 tablespoon of sugar
   • 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
   • 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
   • 1/8 teaspoon of salt (Just fill the 1/4 teaspoon about halfway)
     I like to scoop the dry ingredients in that exact order, to make sure I don't get my flour or sugar all cocoa powder-y. I mix using the 1/4 teaspoon.
3. Pour these ingredients into the mug and mix:
   • 2 tablespoons of milk
   • 1 tablespoon of veggie oil
     Once again, I mix using the 1/4 teaspoon. After you mix a little, you'll want to tap the teaspoon against the side of the mug to let out any powder trapped inside. You want to make sure everything is mixed as well as possible.
4. Microwave the mug for 1 minute.
5. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
   Or don't, because this is a not-super-sweet mug cake, and the inclusion of vanilla ice cream is only going to make it feel even less sweet. But it does make the cake look more aesthetic.

I think it's time

December 30, 2021 4:34 PM

Earlier this year I took a break from my food blog, and I told myself that I wouldn't be back until I made a mobile app for myself. Well, I switched to an Android phone, and I learned some basic mobile app programming, and here I am again.

I think it's time to get back to flailing in my kitchen.

Fried mac 'n cheese: Take 3

December 31, 2021 5:58 PM

Happy Thanksgiving! It's December 31, and my family is having Thanksgiving dinner, and tomorrow we're celebrating Christmas. Because that's just how my family rolls.

Remember that incredibly large portion of mac n cheese I made last last Thanksgiving? Remember how I deep fried some of it a week later? And then deep fried more of it in February but still had some left over? Well, I finally finished deep frying all of it. In April. But I had these photos on my Pixel and I only just got my app in a state where it's able to upload photos.

I don't remember much about this, but I do remember taking the photo on the Pixel and thinking "Whoa! This picture quality is waaay better than my old iPhone"

I think I finally figured out how to make fried mac n cheese without flailing. And I also think I won't be making any more fried mac n cheese for a very long time.

Stovetop mac 'n cheese

January 1, 2022 6:53 PM

You would think that after eating way too much mac n cheese and fried mac n cheese cubes that I would just stop making mac n cheese altogether. But no. I just stopped baking it in the oven and turning them into fried cubes. When I was a little kid, I loved baked mac n cheese, but I think my tastes have changed over time.

I saw this broccoli shells and cheese recipe on How Sweet Eats and I immediately saved it for a time when I would buy too much milk and needed to use it up before it expired.

For some reason I thought mac n cheese was hard. This was actually so easy. The recipe said to use freshly grated cheese, but pre-shredded works perfectly fine. It tasted great, and I might decide to make this for Thanksgiving next year.