5 Minute Cake

Yesterday I opened up my inbox to something truly incredible: a forwarded mass email that I actually wanted to read. My aunt had sent along a recipe for "5 Minute Chocolate Cake," an individual sized cake that bakes for 3 minutes in the microwave. I had come to believe that microwaves were only good for reheating leftovers and making popcorn, but I was pleasantly surprised to pop open the door after 3 minutes and find a moist, more than decent cake for tonight's dessert. For those late night chocolate cravings or times when you just don't want to put a lot of effort into dessert, this recipe is one to remember.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp flour

4 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

1 egg

3 tbsp milk

3 tbsp vegetable oil

3 tbsp chocolate chips (optional)

1 small splash vanilla

Directions:

(1) Mix dry ingredients in a microwave safe mug.

(2) Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl and add to dry ingredients. Stir until combined.

(3) Microwave on high for 3 minutes. NOTE: Place a plate under the mug to avoid messy cleanup if the cake overflows.

(4) Allow cake to cool. Put out onto a plate if desired.

NOTE:

I was missing a few ingredients, so I improvised to make the cake work. I didn't have any eggs, so I used 1/4 cup of crushed blackberries to act as a binding agent, and 1/8 tsp of baking soda as a leavening agent. I also only had about 1 tbsp of cocoa, so I added 1 tbsp of instant coffee in its place.

West Van Flowers

We went to the Harmony Arts Festival this past weekend in West Van, and the highlight for me was touring the community gardens between Ambleside and John Lawson Park. There were lots of vegetables - including 2 metre tall bolted lettuce which was staked! - but the the flowers really grabbed my attention. Here are a few of my favourites:

August in the Garden

Our internet is finally back after going out the night of the thunderstorm. Since that time, the zucchinis have gotten out of control, lots of eggplants have emerged, and two varieties of tomatoes have started to ripen.

I'd read zucchini plants were prolific before we started the garden, but I guess I hadn't really grasped just how prolific because I kept 7 of the 11 plants we originally had. Our counter is covered in zucchini, and our freezer full of shredded zucchini. Now I've pulled almost everything, leaving just 2 of the smaller plants. I think that next year I'll start with 4 plants and eventually pull 2. I also want to try varieties other than the traditional green zucchini.
For the last few weeks, though, the garden has been suffering through more than just a glut of zucchinis. Beginning with a melon plant, powdery mildew began to affect the curcubita plants, and I had to pull 1 pumpkin, 1 zucchini plant and 2 melon plants. I wanted to keep them, but neither organic treatments nor fungicides helped, so I had to remove them to stop the fungus' spread. The spread of fungus is something that I will definitely keep in mind when designing the garden next year. I also need to do more research into disease-resistant pumpkin seeds, because I really want a successful pumpkin harvest.

Storm in Vancouver

We got a bit of a surprise tonight - a lightning storm in Vancouver. I've lived here for 15 years, and in all that time, we've probably had about 4 lightning storms, so I (and the meteorologists, apparently), were not expecting it. But I'm not complaining. I love storms, and any rain is welcome in the garden.

Fruits of the Garden

Purple Peppers

Zucchini that got out of control!

Pickling cucumbers

Potatoes

Pumpkin

Pizza

I love pizza, and I especially like making it at home because I'm a fairly picky eater. For a long time I was looking for that perfect pizza dough recipe, one that would make a wonderfully thin, springy pizza with a crisp crust. And a few months ago, I found it - THE recipe.

This recipe calls for a slow rise in the fridge over several days to improve the flavour of the dough. However, instant yeast must be used for this method, and I prefer active yeast, so I skipped the whole fridge thing and let the dough rise traditionally in a warmed oven a couple of times. To modify the recipe, I used 2 tsp of active yeast, activating it in warm water (instead of ice cold) with a couple spoonfuls of sugar in it. I mixed the dough in a Kitchen Aid mixer, which makes the whole process ridiculously easy and results in a perfectly soft and elastic dough.

I also made the pizza sauce, not following any particular recipe, just adding what I wanted to the pan. I briefly fried some sliced onion and garlic in a couple glugs of olive oil, then added a tin of whole San Marzano tomatoes, a bit of white wine and a bay leaf. I let that simmer away, then pulsed it a few times in a blender with fresh basil from the garden, salt, pepper and a bit of sugar. I can't wait until our tomatoes are ripe so that I can use them future sauces.

The recipe made three balls of dough, so I froze the two I didn't use. For toppings, I just used what we had in the fridge/garden: grilled zucchini, leftover chicken, feta cheese, fresh basil, and chopped spinach from the garden. I baked the pizza at 425 degrees F until it was golden brown on top, about 12 minutes. Everything I've read says that pizza should be baked at the highest temperature possible, but in my experience, if you're not using a pizza stone (which I wasn't), the super hot temperature crisps the crust and browns the cheese before the interior of the pizza is fully cooked. 425 degrees was perfect, and the pizza was just right.

Berry Picking & Jam

We went berry picking today at Driediger Farms in Langley, and got lots of raspberries and a small carton of blueberries. I really didn't realise how many raspberries we had picked until I got home and started to box and bag it all up for the freezer. I'd even made a batch of raspberry jam (and one of blueberry as well), but still had lots and lots leftover. I guess I'm going to need to find some recipes that use raspberries!

Raspberries waiting to be picked...

A full bucket

Raspberry and blueberry jam

Berries ready to be frozen