3-Minute Chocolate Cake in a Cup

Ian is enjoying cooking. Even when it is really a messy activity for him, I like it because it’s not only fun, but it's also an activity that teaches practical skills, introduces new sensorial experiences, vocabulary and mathematical concepts.

I’ve been looking for easy to make recipes and yesterday I found this “Chocolate Cake in a Cup” recipe. Ian is fan of chocolate so we tried out it.

I gathered all the necessary ingredients: flour, sugar, chocolate powder, milk, egg and vegetable oil. I also gathered all the cooking utensils, including measuring spoons, spatulas and mixing bowls. But I didn’t put all the ingredients within Ian reach at the beginning because surely he would have poured everything without following my instructions.

I always give Ian the ingredients measured, ready to pour and stir. But yesterday, I wanted him to measure at least the dry ingredients. First I gave him the flour bag and the measuring spoon. I hadn’t started explaining the measuring before he began to pour the flour directly from the bag. When I tried to stop him he got very angry and poured flour from the bowl.

It took me a couple of minutes and some tickles to convince Ian that it would be fun to follow my instructions. Here is a photo of us in the middle of the negotiation :-)

Well, Ian spooned the dry ingredients into a bowl, while I counted, and stirred them up. Then he learnt to hit the egg softly to break the shell and how to pour the egg. I measured the milk and oil and let him mix it. We stirred the dry ingredients separately from the wet ones in order to show Ian the difference of stirring wet and dry ingredients.
Then he mixed both and poured it into two cups. (I sprayed the mugs with cooking spray first.) Then into the microwave to bake for 3 minutes and enjoy!

You can get the recipe here.