Eggless Chocolate Microwave Mug Cake ~ For Blog Hop Wednesdays~ From Sin-A-mon

It's Wednesday and it is time for Blog Hop again. I am sure most of you are aware about this bi-monthly event. If not, then check this out.

This week I am assigned Monika's Blog Sin-A-Mon. I have been following her other blog for quite a time. She is a well known name in the blogging world with her interests ranging from food to books to social awareness. I chose a very simple yet indulgent recipe from her blog -Chocolate Mug Cake. I have tweaked the recipe to make it egg less and added vanilla instead of cinnamon. I have halved the original recipe to yield only one serving. The weather hasn't been great of late with grey clouds and cold days and occasional drizzle. The warm chocolate mug cake was perfect to lift spirits in an otherwise depressing climate.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp AP Flour

2 tbsp powdered sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp Nutella

11/2 tbsp milk

11/2 tbsp oil

11/2 tbsp yogurt

1/2 tsp baking powder

A pinch of baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla essence.

 Process:

1. Mix all the ingredients and pour the batter into a large microwave safe mug. Mine was big and the batter came 1/3rd of its volume. If you choose a smaller one the batter may overflow while cooking.

2. Microwave it for 2 minutes. Let it sit in the microwave for 30 secs before taking it out. Its ready to eat! I had mine with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

Note:

1. The texture of the mug cake was brownie like. It is best to have it fresh from microwave.

Time to dig in!

Check what other bloggers are up with! Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

# 20 Teaser Tuesdays ~ The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

"He retreated into a solitude that grew in weight day by day. The solitude became a habit, the habit became the man, and it crushed him into a shadow."


Page:39

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists!

By The Water Cooler by Parul Sharma

By the Water Cooler by Parul Sharma is another book I bought during my India visit after my blogger friends recommended it to me for a light read.It was a very enjoyable read.

To give you an idea about the story line I am quoting the blurb from the back of the book.

Synopsis:

  

Restless and discontent at their jobs in an advertising agency, Mini and Tanya quit and make their way to JR Enterprises. Corporate stardom seems to be only a few PowerPoint slides away. This, however is before the HR Manager who hired them gets fired and reveals in a moment of rare honesty that the organization is a madhouse. The CEO, a committed megalomaniac believes that the two girls are perfect examples of recruitment error. With this first impression to her credit, Mini needs to manage a critical project while keeping her paranoid and obnoxious boss at bay. Tanya could have lent her a shoulder to cry on, except that she is serving time in the office boondocks and is slowly giving in to prenuptial madness. 

Join Mini and Tanya on a wild ride full of impossible deadlines, dirty office politics and espionage even as they lock horns with an office full of eccentric characters. A smart, witty tale of messy work, quirky colleagues and the wily attempt to tame both. By The Water Cooler is the hilarious struggle of holding down a job.

 My take:

It was an easy and light read. The story started slowly but picked up the flow as it progressed. The author has sketched the characters in good detail that the readers could easily make up their image in their minds, they seemed so real and relatable. I had an instant liking for Mini for her 'never say die' attitude. I loved the way she got hold of herself and managed to survive in her job against all the odd circumstances and amidst uncooperative  people. There are some hilarious terms used throughout the book like the nicknames used to denote a person of which 'Lardie' is one, I will always remember.I found Tanya a bit more melodramatic than I would have liked. All the other characters in the novel are distinct and add a different hue to the story. As the story progressed, there were twists and turns and the climax was just perfect. 

Overall the story has a perfect balance of spice, humor and thrill. The title is very aptly given as a lot happens by the water cooler in a corporate office. It is meeting spot for the people to take a break from their work and stretch their arms, to get update on the office gossip and politics etc. It is a breezy and hilarious read that will have you reading in anticipation at one moment and laughing out loud in another.It will definitely make you smile, worth picking it up.

 Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

The Reward by R. Singh

I received this book for review by the publisher. After going through the synopsis, I was interested in reading it and reviewing it.

The Reward by R Singh is set is Tijuana where the protagonist, Antonio spent his childhood. Before Tijuana became a murder capital, it was a land of stereotypes for tourists. For many, it has always been home. The novel starts with a flashback to 1970 and builds to a cartel killing in 2002. Along the way, kids grow up, live their dreams and face their nightmares. Scattered details turn out to be pieces of a frightening puzzle that locks together perfectly.

Antonio is dying of kidney failure and it is in his end moments that he writes this memoirs for his loved ones. Reading it today we realize how it was to be growing up in Tijuana in a tumultuous period, how the surrounding shaped the mindset and future of the people like Antonio and his friend Ramon. The author takes you through the changes that has occurred in the region over the years and how the transformed Mexico shaped Antonio's destiny. The author has given such vivid description of the regions, of the roads and the coastal areas that you can actually visualize it in your mind. I enjoyed reading about the childhood days of Antonio and how he took pleasure in surfing in the sea, walking and running on the beach. It seemed refreshing. I could well understand why his mother wanted him to learn English, as she could foresee that in future that would be language through which he would be able to communicate with the world.

But there was something about the novel that did not appeal me. It constantly takes you to the darker side of life and makes you feel helpless to the point that it is depressing. Perhaps that is the reason that even the book was of only 145 pages, I took around 6 days to complete reading it. It is a thought provoking story that kept me engaged and I had to keep coming back to it to read it till the end.

A evocative and well paced story that takes you through the journey of a young Mexican who grew up in a place that transformed radically with time and so was his destiny.

Coffee and Chocolate Pudding (Eggless) | How to Make Coffee and Chocolate Pudding | Chocolate Recipes

Coffee and Chocolate Pudding #Recipes

Coffee and Chocolate Pudding is a self-saucing dessert. It is chocolatey (quite evident), gooey and almost tastes like a fudge brownie.

I had somehow missed the mail from Divya about the November Sweet Punch but as the time came emails were pouring into my inbox with links from bloggers who participated in the punch this month. The first thought that came to my mind that maybe I was thrown out of the group for not participating in the event for the last 2 consecutive times. But, then I scanned my emails and found the original mail from Divya which I had probably inadvertently missed. Baked pudding is something I had not tried yet and I was very tempted to try it as soon as I saw beautiful pictures floating around in the blog world. And I did give it a try and it came out great!

The recipe chosen for the month is Coffee and Chocolate Pudding from here. I have used only a quarter of the measurements given to get 2 medium size servings. Also, I replaced the egg used in it with yoghurt and a pinch of baking soda. The result was awesome! The pudding when warm was gooey and saucy. I had mine with a generous scoop of Vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. A chocolate lover can't ask for more!

Coffee and Chocolate Pudding

Serves 2:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cocoa
Pinch salt
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp butter, melted
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp yoghurt
A generous pinch baking soda
2 tbsp hazelnuts, chopped.

For the topping

2 tbsp brown sugar.
2 tsp cocoa
1/2 tsp instant coffee powder mixed with 1/4 cup of water.

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Sift together dry ingredients.
3. Stir in butter, milk, yoghurt, baking soda and hazelnuts until well combined.
4. Spoon batter into 2 greased ramekins.
5. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cocoa then pour over coffee but do not stir.
6. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Serve with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce if you like.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!