Quick & Easy

Just before I begin, here is a little good news for all you US residents! Mike from The Culinary Lens is hosting an incredible giveaway based around pasta! Yum much? Go check it out to enter now 😀

Which also reminds me, last chance to enter my own Amazon giveaway, winner to be announced this coming Sunday 😀 😀

OOh right… sorry one last thing (as always :P) I will be on camp for the next 3 days so no commenting, replying or blogging of any sort mes cheris – do not miss me too much 😉 (and yes, I do know how awesome it is that in the first week of year 12 I miss out on a day already :D)

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They say that the best things in life comes to those who are patient. Those who are willing to work hard and persevere, like my school motto claims, shall reap great rewards.

Pfft. What do they know. Who in the world are ‘they’ anyway?

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As great as the results can be from layering a brownie beneath a cheesecake  or from having a brownie topped by mousse topped by cake topped by frosting , honestly sometimes the work is just not worth it and you just frustratingly want the results without the work.

Lottery style right?

Well, even though winning the lotto is perhaps one in a million’s chance, having a quick fix in the kitchen solution is definitely much easier 😀 You can get amazing results within ten minutes, and when I say that, I mean 5 minutes. Maybe even 4 😉

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Do I or do I not sound like a salesperson right now!

The point is, when you need a quick fix, you need it urgently and they can go stuff themselves because I believe it is natural human tendency to want something really awesome without working for it. Called laziness but is acceptable in this position, I assure you!

Everyone has heard of the 5 minute chocolate cake. Made in the microwave, it is quick and easy but honestly, I have not found a recipe which delivers incredible results. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. And instead came up with a 5 minute brownie because I accidentally forgot to add enough flour 😛

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Seems like history is repeating itself no considering that was how the brownie was initially invented 😉

What came out of the oven was a dense, not-rubbery-at-all piece of cake with a delicious crumb and gooey-ness which could rival some oven baked brownies I have had the misfortune to try before I found the one 😉

Enjoy mes cheris, get all the results without any hard work – kick off those shoes darlings!

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5 Minute Nutella Brownie In A Mug
Source: An original Choc Chip Uru recipe

***Oh oops did I forget to add the Nutella part in my description? My bad 😉

Ingredients:

  • 3 tbs plain flour
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 1/2 tbs cocoa powder (unsweetened)
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp coffee essence (optional) – sub with vanilla
  • 30g butter
  • 2 tbs full cream milk or beaten egg (I used milk)
  • 20g dark chocolate
  • 1 heaping tbs Nutella (or peanut butter or caramel or omit)
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  • 2 tbs add-ins (e.g. chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, chopped candy etc.)

Method:

  1. Melt chocolate and butter together in a heatproof microwave safe mug/ramekin in 10 second spurts until melted. Mix together
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  2. Add in essence, egg or milk and the tbs of Nutella and mix until combined
  3. Sift in dry ingredients and add in sugar afterwards – make sure to stir properly and form a thick batter
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  4. Microwave on high in 20 second bursts until a skewer inserted comes out with gooey crumbs (mine took 1 minute 40 on high but it is different for every microwave)
  5. Wait for a minute before running a knife around the edges and plopping or a plate (or be like me and eat it mug style ;)) – serve with delicious vanilla ice cream and wafers and decadent sundae style!

Now with our intense Australian Spring heat which has suddenly seemed to hit and the fact that school has again began, do you not  think that this is the perfect quick fix? 😀

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Since the time of my guest posts, I have received an influx of awards which was much too sweet of everyone 😀
I will now honour this and my agreement and finally, after an eon (kind of ;)), like to pass them upwards and onwards!

So firstly, we had an amazing blogger, Aida from Sarajevo In Pictures, award me with the One Lovely Blog Award 😀 Thanks so much my fellow Aussie! You are very sweet!

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The awards of this award go as follow:

  1. Give credit to the awesome person who nominated you.
  2. Describe 7 things about yourself.
  3. Nominate 15 other bloggers

Ok so 7 things you wish to know about me? Hmmm…

  1. I can play billiards
  2. I am obsessed with Phantom of the Opera (I have seen the movie, read the book, seen the musical and the sequel!)
  3. I absolutely adore snakes but start crying in the face of a spider
  4. I want to know the secrets behind the curse of the Bermuda Triangle
  5. I have a Goofy PEZ dispenser 🙂
  6. My favourite scent for body scrubs is mango
  7. I have been a Sydney girl my whole life and proud of it!

Because I have other awards to go through, I will be nominating 5 per award – so congratulations firstly goes to: 😀

My next award, the Beautiful Blogger Award, was given by a wonderful blogging buddy of mine from Living Learning Eating – too kind of you my friend, I appreciate it a lot 😀

The rules of this award:

  1. Copy the Beautiful Blogger Award logo and place it in your post.
  2. Thank the person who nominated you, and link back to their blog.
  3. Tell six things about yourself.
  4. Nominate six other bloggers for their own Beautiful Blogger Award (and let them know you have done so)

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Because I have just told you seven things about myself, I am not going to tell you another 6 because I honestly reckon you will just get bored 😉

So for this awesome award, I nominate the following five:

One of my older blogger friends, Ramona of Curry And Comfort, was so generous in awarding me with the Inspiring Blogger Award! Thank you my friend, it means a lot to me 🙂

  1. 1.   Rules for this award:
    1. Link back to the person who nominated you.
    2.Nominate 15 bloggers.
    3. Share 7 facts about yourself.

As of course, I have already shared my facts with you, I would like to nominate these bloggers whose blogs I have only recently met and fallen in love with!

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I was seriously thrilled when I saw this – a fantastic blogger, namely Lisa from La Vie Eclectique, was kind enough to award me with not one, but two awards 😀 – could she be any nicer? These were the Super Sweet Blogging Award and the Thinking Of You Award 🙂

For the Thinking Of You Award, here are the rules:

  1. Thank and link back to the sender
  2. Tell seven things that I love and that I think about daily
  3. Pass the award to seven other blogs

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And for the Super Sweet Blogging Award:

  1. Thank the super sweet blogger that nominated you
  2. Nominate a baker’s dozen of bloggers (that’s 13)
  3. Answer 5 super sweet questions

These super sweet questions are:

  1. Cookies or Cake? Cookies! You can eat five and then justify it by saying it would be the same amount of calories if you ate a *big* piece of cake 😉
  2. Chocolate or Vanilla? Seriously, if you know me, you know my answer
  3. What is your favourite sweet treat? Hmmmm, hot fudge brownie sundae… mmmmmm
  4. When do you crave sweet things the most? When I breathe
  5. If you have a sweet nickname, what would it be? Haha I already have one 😀

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Since there are two awards, check out this whopping nomination for ten bloggers, who deserve both these awards!

I was so touched when I found out that an awesome new blogger I had met, Lindsay from Normal Cooking, had been so sweet and awarded me with the Liebster Award! Too nice my friend thank you 🙂

Liebster means ‘dearest’ or ‘favourite’ in German, and the rules for accepting the nomination are:

  1. Post 11 things about yourself
  2. Answer 11 questions the person giving the award has set for you
  3. Create 11 questions for the people you are giving the award to
  4. Choose 11 people to award, telling them in a post.

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Wow, ok, so here are my answers to Lindsay’s 11 questions 🙂

  1. Do you have a favourite college football team? Who? Um… haven’t been to uni yet 😉
  2. What would you consider to be your greatest achievement? Keeping a blog running while being a senior high schooler!
  3. What do you think is the very best dish you’ve ever cooked? I can’t really say, everything I make is fabulous – JOKES, I actually don’t know 😛
  4. (On the day of posting, it was 9/11) – Where were you when you heard the news of 9/11/2001? I was a six year old, laying in bed lazily but it was still a huge shock…
  5. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? When I was reallllly little, I wanted to be a vet
  6. What did you end up being/doing when you grew up? I haven’t grown up yet 🙂
  7. What is the funniest video you have seen lately? Haha Taylor Swift’s newest music video – WTH? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA4iX5D9Z64
  8. Apple or PC? APPLE!
  9. Who is your Hollywood crush? Right now, Andrew Garfield 😀
  10. What’s the best vacation you have ever been on? Egypt!
  11. What is one of your biggest pet peeves? Hmmmm… people snoring!

And to all those receiving this award, here are my questions – get ready…

  1. Snow or tropics?
  2. Would you rather be trapped in a pyramid or go to the Bermuda Triangle?
  3. Are you a Bond (James Bond) fan?
  4. Cadbury or Nestle?
  5. Dogs or cats?
  6. Cockroaches or spiders?
  7. Favourite donut flavour?
  8. Biggest eating feat of your life?
  9. Which language would you learn?
  10. Private jet or private yacht?
  11. Samsung or Apple?

Congratulations to these gorgeous bloggers! Tag, your it 🙂

The final award comes from a deep and wonderful blogger with the fabulous blog Hot Rod Cowgirl! She graciously passed on the Kreativ Blogger Award 😀 – thank you very very much!

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The Rules of this award are:

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.
  2. List seven random things about yourself.
  3. Nominate 10 other blogs that you admire and enjoy.
  4. Notify the nominees.
  5. Display the award logo on your blog.

And so for the final award, here are my deserving nominees:

Wow, that wraps all that up 😀 – Thank you so much to all the award givers and congrats to all the winners (kinda rhymes?) 🙂

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122 Comments

  1. Lilly Sue says:

    Wow, this treat looks dangerous!! I am a little behind but thank you so much for the award. I have actually been searching for this award…I knew you had given it to me but I couldn’t remember when or which award!! lol I will be posting about it soon 🙂

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  3. Mei says:

    Ack! I didn’t see that you’d already been nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award on this post before I nominated you again on your most recent post..haha …see what happens when I get behind on my reading! Oh well..congratulations and wow that brownie looks super duper yummy an easy. Now if only I had a microwave…lol.

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  7. Bam's Kitchen says:

    Really quick and easy nutella brownies are so easy to make… Now my teenagers will never leave me alone. I love the photos with bites almost as luxurious as watching as Nigella Bites cooking show… Take care, BAM

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  12. kyleen says:

    Thanks for nominating me! Oh my goodness this brownie in a mug looks so delicious I cannot believe you made it in the microwave! Obviously, this is going to be my go-to recipe when I’m livingin a university dorm next year. But it’s good right now too, since I have no time to bake…

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  18. Daisy@Nevertoosweet says:

    Ohhh i love these mug cakes, mug brownies recipes 🙂 They’re so easy, simple and delicious~ best part is! I can make one for myself and not have to share with anyone else ahahaha yay!

    Congratulations on being nominated all these blog awards! You definitely deserve them all 😀

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  24. The Baking Gypsy says:

    Awwww I miss you already, Uru!!! But I hope you’re having a fun time! 😀

    I love quick and easy desserts because sometimes I’m not in always baking mood when I feel like having something sweet. I don’t have a microwave though so the easiest dessert I can make myself it nutella straight out of the jar 😉 This looks fabulous though!

    I do the same thing all the time…sometimes when I don’t expect something to come out good, it actually turns out to be one of those ‘best thing I ever made’ stories. I play it cool though and let people think that I totally meant to do that….that actually works 😉

    Anyway…I’m going on here. Hope you are having a nice break! Oh and congratulations on all your accolades! Well deserved 😀

    Hugs,
    Tammy

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  27. Lisa says:

    I have been dying to nuke up a mug cake, but I’m afraid I’ll end making them over and over and won’t be able to stop eating them because they’re so easy..but now you had to tease me with nutella! I’m slipping!!! lol Congrats on your awards..so well-deserved and loved learning more about you through them!

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  31. Tisa says:

    Congratulations on all your awards, Uru. I had yet to find one of those few minute cake in cup recipes that were decent. Yours of course looks better than best and I am going to give it a try. 5 minutes to taste bud satisfaction- lottery style 😉 Thank you.

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  34. girlinafoodfrenzy says:

    Quick, easy, tasty and chocolate! The last part is all I truly need to know 🙂 Nutella is rarely in my home (because I would eat it!) but I might need to get some to trial your short cut recipe I think. A quick choccie fix sounds too good to be true 🙂

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  36. Anne@FromMySweetHeart says:

    Uru…I can’t believe this cake came out of a microwave! It looks too good! I love these quick and easy treats, and like you….I’d eat it right out of the mug with a heaping scoop of ice cream. Congrats on your many many many well deserved awards! : )

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  42. Hotly Spiced says:

    That’s the most awards I’ve ever seen in a blog post! Congrats to you, Uru. But the beautiful weather has turned. I’ve had to get the gas heater reconnected that I had disconnected last week when I thought winter was done and dusted for another year. This is a dessert that I think is perfect for this gloomy day xx

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  52. Ritacooksitalian (@ritacooksitalia) says:

    What a collection of prizes!! Well Done, you deserve it, and I admire the time you spent to blog about it. Regarding the recipe, this is the type of chocolate fix that I need right now… windy and rainy here in the UK, I need to cheer up with nutella/brownie in a mug (a large one, please!).

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  55. Pingback: Happy 10/11/12! « a little lunch

  60. Cake Whiz says:

    congrats on the awards Uru! very rightfully deserved… i enjoyed reading all your answers and getting to know you better 🙂

    and honest to goodness, this 5 minute cake is to die for. i wish i can just grab that mug from my computer screen…lol

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  61. Jenbeans says:

    Wow, that is one scrumptious looking dessert there! And I like that it’s nuked in a mug labeled ‘soup’ haha 😉

    I’m a phantom fan too!!!!! ADOREEEE the music, adore adore adore aaaaaaa… Colm Wilkinson played the original phantom in Canada – have you heard him sing? (he also played the father in Les Miserable)

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  67. Saskia (1=2) says:

    Congrats on your awards CCU. My 8 year old has announced he wants to make these brownies on the weekend. OMG, I haven’t seen Hershey’s cocoa powder before – definitely going to hunt for that!

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  68. The Healthy Flavor says:

    Thank ou so much Uru for the nomination!! And c grats on all your awards too! I need to do a blog post as well since I’ve received several myself. Your brownie looks nothing short of sensational! Wow is all I can say!!

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  75. Eva Taylor says:

    Your posts always make my teeth tingle, such sweet concoctions! I don’t have much of a sweet tooth but like reading your reasonably simple recipes. Have fun at camp and congratulations on all your awards.

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  80. Saguna says:

    Thank you SO much for the double whammy of very sweet awards, CCU! I really appreciate ’em and will try to pass ’em on when I get the chance. I love that you made this dee-luscious-looking mug brownie in a giant soup cup! 😉

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  82. mjskit says:

    This looks awfully darn yummy! Quick and easy chocolate anything goes to the top of my list. Congratulations on all of your well deserved awards!!!

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  90. erika says:

    OH my god nutella brownie in five minutes sounds soooooooo good right now (it’s 9 in the morning). That looks like sheer joy.

    Thanks so much for the award 🙂 You are the best and deserve all the ones showered upon you!

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  101. Kimby says:

    Woohoo, Uru! Congratulations on your many awards and the sweet reward of this delectable microwave brownie! (I like your “soup” mug.) 🙂 Thanks, too, for sharing all of the above. xo

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  102. Becky says:

    Uru,
    You always make me laugh! but seriously your brownie cake is amazing, but dangerous. too easy to scarf down so many calories.

    Congrats on ALL of your well deserved awards. Have fun a t camp!

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  107. petit4chocolatier says:

    Congratulations! And I cannot wait until you come out with a cookbook with your beautiful and witty writing! Your blog with all your talents is one of the best!

    Thank you for the nomination; I appreciate it! And I cannot wait to view the other blogs I haven’t seen before!

    Sincerely,
    judy

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  116. Veronica says:

    I’ve seen the mug cake around but most reviews say that it has a bad rubbery texture. I will definitely make yours if I ever get around to trying it! I don’t know why I’ve never wanted to but your photos are rather compelling. yummmm

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