Ahh Monday…I must say I look forward to it ever so slightly for the Mug Cakes. They have now ubiquitously become one in my mental vocabulary. I can’t think of Monday without thinking Mug Cake. I love it.
And when’s Monday coming around again? Right now.
Europe: Cheesecake
Come time-travelling with me again, but this time our destination is Ancient Greece! The first Cheesecake is said to have been created on the Greek island of Samos, where they were believed to be a good source of energy. So much so that they were served to the athletes in the first Olympic games in 776 BC! It was so loved that Greek brides and grooms were also known to have eaten Cheesecakes as their wedding cakes.
As the Ancient Romans conquered Greece, the cheesecake was one tasty spoil of war. This spoil was so good they began spreading it as they expanded their empire, eventually it travelled over to Europe, Great Britain, America, and now to your kitchen! Go on, spoil yourself.
I replaced the original graham cracker crumbs with scotch finger crumbs since we don’t have them freely available in Aussie-land. I felt there were too airy and didn’t pack together hard enough for a satisfying base – comment below if you have a brilliant replacement!
- 4 tbsp light cream cheese
- 2 tbsp plain Greek yoghurt (or sour cream)
- 2 ½ tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp scotch finger crumbs
- 1 tbsp melted butter
- Take your trusty mug and grease the insides and bottoms. Place the scotch finger crumbs and melted butter for the crust and mix until the butter has blended in. Press, like this is S P A R T A, so that the crumbs form a crust at the bottom of your mug.
- Take a small bowl, whisk the egg first, then add cream cheese, yoghurt, sugar and vanilla. Whisk until the lumps of cream cheese have broken up. Pour mix into mug.
- Take a paper towel and cover the top of your mug. Microwave on high for 1 minute – the cake should now be mostly cooked except for the centre. Check that it is, then microwave for 20 second intervals until it is completely cooked (this usually takes 3 intervals). I hope you have made friends with your microwave by now, if you overheat the batter, it might get unhappy and explode your cake as a show of sadness!
- Gently pull the cheesecake from the side of the mug and slide it out upside down. Flip it right side up onto a plate and let it cool at room temperature for a few minutes until the cheesecake is cool enough to touch. Finally, place your cake into the fridge for at least 1 hour to cool further and set. This is the Last Battle, a Battle of the Mind – what I mean is, resist and don’t eat it until that hour’s over!
