Five Minutes till Vegan Love Fest!

     It is now day 7 of my son's Week Without Milk.  He's been having some tummy issues and I suspect milk for many reasons I won't bore you with.  On Sunday our family went to a birthday party and of course, cake was right out.  He was so disappointed that I promised him a cupcake on Friday.  It has been his one hold out thought in a week devoid of pizza, macaroni and cheese, and grilled cheese sandwiches (his absolute favorite thing in the whole wide world).   Poor kid.  And I have been eschewing milky things too so he doesn't feel like the only one.  Poor me.

     The quickest cake in the entire world to make is the microwave 5 minute cake in a cup.  The problem with those cakes is that they taste almost, but not quite, entirely unlike chocolate cake, to paraphrase Douglas Adams.  I figured that the problem was probably the egg, but I didn't know how to remedy the situation.  Then I found this vegan recipe over at Super Cool Food Blog and that was the answer!  It's fantastic!  I modified it a bit to fit what I had in my house and because I promised Boy 1 a cupcake, I "baked" them in cupcake wrappers set inside ramekins.  The instructions below are for one mug cake, followed by directions for two cupcakes.

Five Minute (Vegan) Chocolate Mug Cake
Makes one serving

4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 Tablespoons sucanat
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder 
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1) Add coconut oil and water to a small dish and microwave for about one minute or until coconut oil is melted.
2) In a large mug, mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking powder with a fork until well-mixed.
3) Add the coconut oil mixture, vinegar, and vanilla and stir until incorporated.
4) Microwave on High for about 1.5 minutes. Check cake; if it appears too wet, microwave for additional 30 second increments. Depending on the strength of your microwave, cake will likely be done (but a little gooey) around the 2 minute mark.

For Cupcakes:

For step 2 and 3, mix ingredients in a bowl instead of a mug.  Put one liner in each of two ramekins and divide the batter between them.  Microwave for about a minute and check them.  My tester came out clean at 1 minute, but they were still a little jiggly, so I nuked em' again for another 30 seconds and called them done.

If you want to frost them, stick them in the fridge for about 5 minutes.  I just mixed up a bunch of stuff for these.  Mostly butter and cream.  That aught to be quite the test for his system!

Note:

     I don't really suggest chocolate frosting for these, it's a little too much, but it's what my son wanted.  I think a nice vanilla may be a better way to go.

Review:

Come to me, my love... Where have you been all my week?

 Ahhhh...

Ew?!

Just Kidding!

(You had me there for a minute, boy...)