More Than Just a Pretty Plate

These are not mine.

I only took pictures of them because I found them interesting.

I had seen a big ceramic plate with a pavlova recipe once.

I considered getting it because it was a three-in-one dish - 

a recipe guide, a baking plate and a serving plate.

However, it was really quite big and

I felt it would just be an added kitchen gadget (one I didn't really need), 

so I let it pass.

Then I saw these two babies.

Interesting!

There are more of these triple purpose things.

Let's just take pictures of them, I said to myself.

Then for our anniversary, a good friend gave us some flowers.

She had placed them in this big mug.

Isn't it impressive how she managed to get an extra function out of the mug.

I would not have thought of using her mug as a vase.

I did use it to make a cake before I returned the mug to her.

Bailey's Irish Cream Cake

4 T all purpose flour

1/4 t baking powder

1 T sugar

2 T milk

1/2 T vegetable oil

1 T Bailey's Irish Cream

1 T bittersweet chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients except for chocolate chips in an oversized microwave safe mug.

Mix with a small whisk until batter is smooth.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Cook in microwave for about 1 minute.

If not yet done, heat an additional 15 seconds.

Let cake cool a few minutes.

Consume cake while warm.

I got this from a cookbook I borrowed from the library

called 5-Minute Mug Cakes.

Essentially, the simple mug cake would have

flour, baking powder, sugar, milk and oil.

In this recipe, the Bailey's cream replaced 1T of the milk.

As could be found in the cookbook, you can mix and match ingredients

to come up with your choice of cake.

In case of (need a cake fix) emergency, pull out a big mug.