Make Chocolate Cake in your VPR Artist Mug

Most of my mornings at VPR begin routinely enough: pour coffee, put lunch in refrigerator, check email, make to-do list. But this morning I had a much more exciting mission: chocolate cake! One morning during our current membership drive, long-time volunteer Thea Platt told us how she uses her VPR artist mugs to make a quick and easy chocolate cake in her microwave.

I don't really need another vice or temptation, particularly not one this quick and easy, but I just had to see this for myself. I was all set to try it out last night as I had all the ingredients at home, but ironically I couldn't find a VPR mug in my cupboard (I keep them on a shelf near my desk)! So, I measured out the ingredients and brought them to the office this morning.

You can find a printable version of the recipe here, or read on for a photographic tutorial!

1. In VPR Artist Mug, combine dry ingredients - 4 Tbsp. cake flour, 4 Tbsp. sugar, and 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder. Mix well.

2. Add one egg, stir to combine.

3. Add 3 Tbsp. milk and 3 Tbsp. oil, and mix well.

4. Add 3 (or more!) Tbsp. chocolate chips and a splash of vanilla extract. Mix again.




The batter will look something like this (depending on mug, of course).

5. Place mug in microwave and zap on high for three minutes.












6. Do not panic if the cake puffs up over the mug. This is normal.












7. Instead, wait in anticipation with your friends or family (left to right: me, VPR's Peter Biello, volunteers Sarah and Kelly King).











8. Let cool slightly and remove from microwave. Tip cake out onto a plate and enjoy. If you're very virtuous, share it with a friend, colleague, or loved one.










Just another great reason to support VPR! Thank you so much for your support! Thanks also to Thea for sharing this recipe with us, and thanks to volunteer Eugenia Saganich for bringing it to our attention!