The article notes that pawpaws are native to Virginia and grow wild in many forests around the state. Sure enough, last fall, when pawpaws ripen, I saw them all over Carter Mountain when I was hiking there. I was pumped to think I'd load up a backpack full of free, local fruit to share with everyone. I picked and brought home a few pawpaws for a taste test and the reaction was universal—everyone who tried some spit it out immediately. Brad colorfully described them as tasting like pears that had been left overnight in a sweaty gym sock. Mmm, doesn't that sound inviting?
Out of curiosity, I looked up other official state fruits and saw tasty things like: various kinds of apples (Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia); blackberries (Alabama, Kentucky); strawberries (Delaware, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma); cherries (Utah); peaches (Georgia); and pumpkins (New Hampshire). There are even a few states that are too clever by half and have adopted the tomato as their state fruit (Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee).* Instead of any of those yummy things, we in the Old Dominion are looking at a state fruit that tastes like rank feet. Oh well, at least we won't be alone, as Ohio has already designated the pawpaw as its state native fruit, in addition to having the tomato as its state fruit.
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*Arkansas can't actually make up its mind, as it has the tomato as its state fruit and vegetable.
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The idea of throwing a dessert together on a moment's notice and cooking it in about two minutes in the microwave sounds so appealing in theory, but the practice is almost always decidedly lackluster. Still, that hasn't stopped me from posting two microwave chocolate cake/brownie recipes, the better of which was from the usually reliable America's Test Kitchen
But then I came across a few microwave cake recipes (not all chocolate) by Christina Tosi,* the genius behind Milk Bar and Mom's Funfetti Birthday Cake, among other things. Brad and I made this recipe on a whim one night and we all agreed that this was by far the best microwave cake we've had. So we can now safely retire the Microwave Brownie Cake and the original Microwave Molten Chocolate Cakes from Cook's Country, as well as the Clementine Chocolate Lava Cakes, which, though not cooked in the microwave, are not as good as these and therefore no longer worth the effort, especially given what a pain in the ass they are to cook properly, as Cassie discovered (on Valentine's Day no less—whoops, sorry about that!). Stick with Christina Tosi and you won't go wrong.
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*We also tried and liked, though not as much, her recipe for Coffeehouse Pretzel Mug Cakes with Honey Drizzle.
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| This was maybe a hair underdone; Mom says another 5 seconds in the microwave would've been perfect. |
Microwave Molten Chocolate Cakes 2.0
Adapted from All About Cake (2018) by Christina Tosi
Time: 16 minutes
The recipe calls for cake flour, which I no longer keep on hand, so I made this with all-purpose flour and it worked fine. If you like, you can make a reasonable substitute for cake flour by sifting or sieving together 44 grams all-purpose flour + 6 grams cornstarch. I had better luck with the taller, thinner 12-ounce mug pictured above, as opposed to the shorter, fatter mug I made the second cake in. It took about 2:05 to cook the cakes just right in our 30-year-old 700-watt microwave. Use that time as a rough guide to cooking the cakes in a newer, higher-powered microwave.
Wet ingredients
40 grams (2½ tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
35 grams (2 tablespoons) buttermilk
25 grams (2 tablespoons) grapeseed, sunflower, or other neutral-flavored oil
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg (~57 grams in the shell)
Dry ingredients
100 grams (½ cup) granulated white sugar
50 grams (~rounded ⅓ cup) all-purpose flour (see note)
20 grams (~scant ¼ cup) cocoa powder
½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
45 grams (3 tablespoons) mini chocolate chips
1. Place the butter in a medium bowl. Zap in the microwave on 50% power for 1 minute, then continue to zap in additional 15- to 30-second increments until the butter is just melted. Don’t overdo it. (While the butter is melting, you can gather the dry ingredients to save time.)
2. Whisk the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and egg into the melted butter.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder together.
4. Dump the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Whisk gently until combined and no lumps remain. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Divide the batter evenly (use your kitchen scale) between two 11- to 12-ounce coffee mugs (see note). Zap both mugs in the microwave on high power for 1 minute, then continue to zap in additional 15- to 30-second increments until the cakes are puffed up and risen to, or nearly to, the edges of the mugs. The tops and sides should be set, with some gooey cake batter underneath (you can check with a toothpick to make sure it’s not cooked all the way through). This can take up to about 2:15 depending on the wattage of your microwave (see note).
6. Take the mugs out of the microwave and let them sit for 1 minute. Stir the cakes up just a bit with a spoon and serve promptly, with or without a scoop of ice cream. Serves 2.
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