Help Sugar Kisses!

Vegan-friendly Royal Oak bakery Sugar Kisses learned a few weeks ago that their building has been sold and they must move by the end of the year or close up shop, after 5 1/2 years at their Washington Avenue location.

In general, this would be a challenge, not to mention that bakeries often make the most profit at holiday time, so this makes the move especially hard to complete while hoping to keep the doors open.

And, they need some help! There are three ways we can help them:

1. Give them your business! They have a packed menu full of breakfast stuff (Scones, coffee cakes, etc.), cookies and cupcakes, candy, granola bars and much more. They have vegan and gluten free items. They also have a light lunch menu of soups and more and serve fair trade organic coffee.

2. Buy gift certificates -- you can purchase gift certificates to give as holiday gifts. Them getting the money up front will help them with the move.

3. Donate! They have PayPal set up on their Web site if you just want to give them a few bucks to help.

You can check out their menu, buy gift certificates or donate by going to their About section on their Web site.

And pass it on!

Coffee Mug Chocolate Cake!

Ok, so this post is just for fun. Gooey, (not vegan) chocolate cake fun. A friend e-mailed this recipe to me and I knew it was something Claire would love.

Even though I told her Sally e-mailed me the directions, she said, "You should get a job cooking. You love cooking, right?" After she finally tasted the gooey mess, she said, "Now you really should get a job cooking."

Step 1. Get a large mug and spray it with cooking spray.

Step 2. Measure 4 Tbsp. flour and 9 Tbsp. hot cocoa mix into mug



Step 3. Crack an egg into the mug and mix as best you can.



Step 4. Add 3 Tbsp. water and 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil. Mix thoroughly until all dry ingredients are wet. Be sure to scrape the bottom to get all the flour and cocoa!



(Here we added some marshmallows and mini chocolate chips, but they all melted during the "baking." But, they were still melty and good.)



Step 5. Microwave on high for 3 minutes*. During microwaving, the cylinder of cake will rise out of the mug. As soon as the microwave stops, it will slink back into the cup.



* I looked at it and the top looked all sticky and wet so I thought it wasn't done and put it in for another minute. Four minutes was fine/didn't overcook it, but it still was wet looking after 4 minutes but was thoroughly cooked. I think 3 would have been fine.

Step 6. Turn over cup and tap until the cake falls out onto the plate. It will be extremely hot -- look at the steam! (And the bits of flour I didn't get quite mixed in.)


Step 7. Add any toppings, frosting, etc. you might like. We went for more marshmallows, chocolate chips and some chocolate sauce.





Step 8. Enjoy! Claire (and dad) tell me it was delicious.



Since I don't like chocolate, I decided to make one out of my Ghiradelli white chocolate hot chocolate. Having never had white chocolate cake, I have nothing too compare it to, but it was a pretty good little treat!