College Cooking
Ah, nothing like two hot gooey slices of chocolate-drizzled, chocolate-chip-embedded mocha chocolate cake to keep me up past my bedtime. I planned to sleep early and wake early to work on a project for my electronics class, but it’s not every day that my inner Bruce Bogtrotter gets to shine through.
Have you seen *Matilda?*
The cake was thanks to two of my House’s wonderful UCCs, or Upperclassman Counselors, who organized a baking event. We made it in one of the four kitchens in my House, each of which has basic cooking equipment, a stove and oven, a fairly large countertop space, a sink, and two refrigerators. My roommate and I got a great room assignment this year—we live right next door to a kitchen.
Bright, spacious kitchens are just one of the many reasonsto be interested in Avery House real estate.
After the cake went into the oven, there were extra supplies, so some people made chocolate-chip cookies and my friend and I made a banana-chocolate-blueberry mug cake. A mug cake is this brilliant idea that allows one to go from cravings to cake in under five minutes. Brilliant, right? Well, you decide. The batter is mixed in a mug and cooked in a microwave, making it perfect for college students. The recipe we made was “healthy” in that it doesn’t call for any sugar. (Does this mean I can eat it for breakfast?) All of the sweetness came from the banana—and from the chunks of chocolate we snuck in—and it was actually quite good. In contrast to some of the mug cakes I’ve had before, the texture was very cake-like.
The hardest part of baking: waiting.
To make the cake, you need one small overripe banana (ours had lots of brown freckles), one egg, three tablespoons of cocoa powder, and ¼ cup of blueberries (or other berries of your choice). We added chocolate chunks (chips would work too), and it would have been good with almond extract. In the mug, mash up the banana and then mix in the egg, cocoa powder, and if desired, ½ teaspoon of almond extract. Once the batter is uniform, swirl in the chocolate chunks/chips and berries. Microwave for 90 seconds. The top may look a bit gooey while it’s still steaming, but the inside should be cooked. Enjoy—but wait a bit first so that after devouring it, you don’t discover that you’ve burned your tongue like I did. :P We adapted our recipe from here.
*Would Willmake again.*
