Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Apple ginger microwave dumpling-cake
knitters have to eat

Happy April Fools! On this day of the year, TECHknitting features a non-knitting post. Past April Fools have included a crossword puzzle and kitchen clean ups. Today, a recipe for a quick-ish snack or dessert. 

This apple ginger dish comes out somewhere between a steamed dumpling and a moist cake, best served hot. For dessert, there is a prep-ahead option so the meal can end with fresh cake--perfect with ice cream.

-->* * * Set 1200 watt microwave to half-power. 
Set other microwaves accordingly. * * *<--


Yield: 1 big serving (6 ounces, 170 g) or two smaller. Serve with ice cream to make two large desserts. 

Time elapsed from beginning to end, about 15 minutes.

Dry ingredients, add slurry,
stir in apples, add molasses
just before cooking, finished cake

 Dry ingredients

  • ground cloves, pinch
  • ground nutmeg, pinch
  • salt, 1/8 teaspoon
  • cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon
  • powdered ginger, 1/2 teaspoon 
  • 1/3 cup white all-purpose flour (approx 1.4 ounces, 40 grams)
  • 2/3 teaspoon baking powder

Slurry ingredients

  • butter, 1 tablespoon (Optional: substitute neutral cooking oil such as Canola or Avocado)
  • sugar, 1 tablespoon
  • white of one large egg 
  • vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon

Stir-in ingredients

  • 1/2 apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (approx 1 cm)
  • 1 tablespoon molasses

Utensils

  • 1 oversized round bottom coffee cup (16 ounce, 475 ml)
  • 1 small bowl, an ordinary cereal bowl is fine

Instructions

  • In coffee cup, stir together all the dry ingredients.
  • In small bowl, soften the butter in microwave, then stir in sugar. If substituting optional oil, no need to heat anything: simply mix sugar into oil.
  • Into the sugar mixture, thoroughly beat in the egg white and vanilla extract. This is the slurry.
  • Optional: if preparing ahead of time, stop here and store slurry, covered, in fridge. Then, just before microwaving...
  • Scrape the slurry ingredients out of the small bowl into the dry ingredients in the coffee cup and mix thoroughly. The batter will be quite stiff.
  • Add the apple chunks, folding until every chunk is coated with batter.
  • Stir in molasses, leaving streaks.
  • Scrape batter off cup sides and smooth top of batter, submerging all apple chunks.
Set 1200 watt microwave to half power, set other microwaves accordingly. 

Cook 2 minutes. Let rest for 20 seconds, then cook for an additional minute. Test to see if knife comes out clean. If not, return to microwave and cook in 20 second bursts until knife comes out clean.

Run a sharp knife along inside cup-edge, then turn out onto serving plate(s). Eat hot.

Variations:
  • adjust ginger to taste
  • For prep-ahead option (stirring together wet and dry ingredients at the last moment) optional oil works better because it cannot harden in the fridge like butter tries to.
  • Golden Delicious apples, which do not brown when cut, are best for prep-ahead option
  • Apples not sweet? Add up to one additional teaspoon  sugar
  • For small eggs, use white + 1 teaspoon water



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