5 Minute Chocolate Cake Variatons

By now I expect that everyone with an email account has received the recipe for 5 minute chocolate cake from at least one person they know.  You know, you mix all the ingredients in a mug, microwave for 5 minutes and you have a pretty tasty treat to satisfy your chocolate craving?  If not, I'm adding the recipe below.

So, during one of my recent chocolate craving episodes I dug out my printed copy of the recipe and made myself a cake.  This got me to thinking; "How could you make this better?".  In turn, this thought led me to a few days worth of experiments in which I thoroughly satisfied any remaining urges to eat chocolate.  The end result was two variations that I think are pretty darned good improvements.  5 Minute Banana Chocolate Cake and 5 Minute Black Forest Cake.

I've made my cakes in little microwave safe glass bowls.  This makes them look more like cakes and if you were feeling really fancy, you could even turn them out, frost and decorate them.  The only thing is that these cakes really do taste better the sooner you eat them so I think you have to make a choice between taste and looks.

5 Minute Banana Chocolate Cake:

Once the basic recipe has been mixed, add one sliced banana to the cake.

Try to make sure the slices are distributed evenly throughout the batter so you get a taste of fruit in every bite, rather than just on the top or bottom (like I mistakenly did).

This would be extra tasty with chopped nuts added to the mix as well.

serves 1 really hungry person or 2-3 people craving just a taste of something sweet and chocolaty

5 minute Black Forest Cake:

Once the basic recipe has been mixed, drop small dollops of cherry conserve (or jam) around the cake.  I love, LOVE, LOVE Bonne Maman Jam and their cherry jam tastes remarkably like fresh cherries cooked in sugar syrup rather than plain old jam.  I think this helps make a better end product but I haven't tried another brand either so maybe they'd all be equally good.  Once the cake is cooked it will be considerably more moist than the plain version and the pockets of jam will have turned the cake to a pudding-like consistency.  This version is my favourite by far.  You could drizzle some more jam over the top but I didn't want to "waste" any of my Bonne Maman, so I didn't do that.  This could serve more than one person but I love it so much I'd rather make two than have to share.  YUM!

I'd like to try 5 Minute Orange Chocolate Cake next or maybe 5 Minute Caramel Chocolate Cake (except I was actually trying to make it a bit healthier by adding the fruit).   What flavour combination can you think up? 

5 Minute Chocolate Cake (Basic Recipe)

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons all-purpose or cake flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1 Mug or microwave safe bowl

chocolate chips to taste (optional)

Instructions:

Mix flour, sugar and cocoa

Add egg, milk and oil

Mix well with a whisk and sprinkle with chocolate chips, if using.

Microwave on high for 5 minutes and enjoy!

Cake will be hot! 

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