Chocolate Cake For One

Cake for One

If I accomplished only one thing in my time at l’Université, it’s this cake. I love my pastries and my sweets, but an entire cake alone is just too much. Even an entire cake for two people can be a bad temptation to go for seconds or thirds. Then there’s cake for breakfast, cake for a snack… Until I’m overwhelmed by cake.

I wanted a cake for one; that wouldn’t be sitting around the house tempting me to have another taste or taking up room in my freezer. There are numerous recipes out there for mug-cakes. The type you can assemble quickly and pop into the microwave for a minute. I especially like this one from Budget Bytes. But I don’t have a microwave and mug-cakes don’t often work in the oven.

 So I had to come up with my own version for a quick, oven-baked cake for one.

Butter, sugar, almond milk

I’ve had a fair amount of cake fails in the past, and I knew it would take a fair amount of testing. For one, I didn’t want to have to crack open a whole egg, only to use half a yolk. And I wanted to make sure the cake wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet, which seemed to be a problem during recipe development.

Cookie-cake-y batter

Maybe I was a bit crazy to taste cake after cake after cake in order to find something that worked. I like to think it was a self-indulgent kind of self-sacrifice, and I’ve finally found a recipe I love.

This is not a cake that can be doubled or baked in a large cake pan. It won’t stick together, as there are no eggs. It’s also not quite your traditional cake texture. I like to think of it as a cookie-cake. Depending on your ingredients, it can take a bit longer to assemble than a traditional mug-cake, but the wait is worth it.

…and some chocolate

You’ll need a small baking tin for this. I use my little horse cake tin, but small individual pie tins should also work well.

 I love to bake this cake until it’s fondant but not completely done. It’s almost like a lava cake, with a crispy outside and soft, melted interior. It’s the perfect, self-indulgent dessert when you are craving something decadent… without the left over temptation.

Puffy oven goodness

• 25 grams butter, softened
• 20 grams sugar
• 1 ½ tbsp milk – I use almond milk
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
  

  Leftovers: this cake is enough for two, or you can just lick the bowl on your own.

• 3 ½ tbsp all-purpose flour

For the chocolate:

• 1 tsp Nutella
• OR 1 tsp coco powder
• OR 5 squares or 25 grams of baking chocolate, melted

I haven’t tried things like peanut butter or speculoos spread yet, but those might work as well.

1. Preheat over to 200°C/400°F. Very lightly grease your cake tin. In a deep bowl mix the sugar and butter until well combined. Add the milk, baking soda, and salt and mix again. Add flour and mix until you have a homogenous batter. Finally add your chocolate of choice and mix until it’s thoroughly incorporated. The batter should be smooth but not too tough.
2. Spoon the batter evenly into the cake tin and bake for 5-10 minutes depending on how “done” you want your cake to be. Let cool for a minute. Eat warm with a spoon. I usually indulge myself further by eating it right out of the cake tin.

There is nothing else I can say about the wonders of a chocolate cake for one. It’s a little bit of celebration and consolation at the same time. A way to forget about the day’s troubles and just enjoy.