If you know me, you know I’m a cake snob. Box mixes are okay, but homemade cakes are my true love. Cake cooked in the microwave, though? I admit, in the past I’ve been seduced by the promise of piping-hot cakey goodness in only a few minutes, or the cuteness of one serving of cake in a coffee mug (and no mixing bowls to wash).

Yet every microwave-cake recipe I had ever tried was a disappointment. My usual response to those recipes now is, Rubbery, unevenly-cooked cake that doesn’t really satisfy any craving? Bleah, no thank you. I’m glad I tried this recipe from Prudent Baby, because I was very pleasantly surprised by how tasty it is. And it’s easy! I’ve made it about five times, tweaking the recipe to suit my tastes, and everyone who has tried it has loved it.

Soften a tablespoon of butter in each mug, 10-15 seconds in the microwave on medium power. You want the butter soft but not melted. (The mug[s] you use can be large or small, it doesn’t really matter. If you use a smallish mug, the finished cake will puff out over the top a little, which is fine.)

Add two tablespoons of sugar and stir till it’s fluffy and creamy.

Pour a little bit of vanilla into each mug. I just eyeballed it, but if you want you could measure out 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.

This step is optional. If you don’t mind a crumbly cake (or you can’t eat eggs) you can skip it. If you want a chewier, more, uh, cake-like cake then mix in about half an egg per mug. The first time I made these, I happened to have egg yolks in the fridge left over from making an angel food cake, so I just used one yolk per mug. You could also break an egg into a bowl and lightly beat it, then use half of that. Or you could even use a whole egg, if you want. It will just make for a rather dense, eggy cake which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Add two tablespoons of vanilla or plain yogurt (or sour cream, or even sour milk or buttermilk in a pinch) to your mug and stir well.

Mix in 1/4 cup of flour, 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a pinch of salt.

Now for the best part: the streusel topping! In another bowl, for each mug mix together 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Cut 1 tablespoon of cold butter into small bits and add that to the bowl, then use your fingers to rub and smoosh the butter into the flour mixture till it’s well combined. Sprinkle that over the top of the cake batter in the mug.

Stick your mug into the microwave and cook on high for 1 minute, and in additional 10-second increments as needed. In my microwave, one mug of cake is done in 1 minute 20 seconds, and two mugs of cake take about 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Ta-daa! Coffee cake in a mug, in less than ten minutes. Just be sure to let it cool a bit before you eat it. Serve with pickled eggs and pretzels for an excellent late-night supper.

Microwaved Coffee Cake in a Mug
serves 1

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• optional: 1 egg, lightly beaten (or 1 egg yolk or 1 egg white)
• 2 Tbsp vanilla or plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Streusel Topping:

• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp butter

1. In a large or small mug, soften (not melt) butter in microwave for 10-15 seconds on medium.
2. Add sugar and mix till creamy and fluffy.
3. Add vanilla.
4. Stir in the yogurt.
5. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.
6. Make the streusel topping: mix flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add cut-up butter and rub into flour mixture till well-combined.
7. Sprinkle topping over batter in mug.
8. Cook in microwave on high power for one minute, plus additional 10-second increments as necessary. When the cake looks mostly dry, it’s done. Let it sit for a minute to finish cooking.

October 2: Annalie’s been doing a lot of drawing on her easel chalkboard lately. I thought this one, of a pear on a branch, was particularly good.

October 3: Class in in session. (Homeschooling can be kind of awesome. In our dress code, pajamas and bedhead are perfectly acceptable attire.)

I looked out the window of Elliora’s room and saw four deer across the street in our neighbor’s yard. (One of the deer is just to the left of frame, behind a bush, so I didn’t bother trying to get it in the shot.)

October 4: I couldn’t get Elliora to lie on the couch for our monthly photo session; she kept rolling away. I tried to sneak some photos in one day when Katy happened to be in her bedroom while we were in there playing, but I couldn’t get Elliora to look at me for a single photo. Oh well. This is very representative of 10 months.

We got a new chair from our neighbors who were getting rid of it after it didn’t sell at their garage sale. Elliora loves it and has already figured out how to push it up against the couch and use it to climb up.

October 5: Troy had to come home on a lunch break. I grabbed the opportunity to take a photo of him and the girls. (He normally wears civilian clothes on his commute and changes into his uniform at work, so we don’t see him in uniform very often.)

Elliora, just reading in her chair.

October 6: My friend Carrie, who is married to a Swede and used to live in Sweden, mentioned that October 4th is National Cinnamon Bun Day in Sweden, which inspired me to try making some tasty Swedish cinnamon buns, also called Kanelbullar. I knew that Swedish pearl sugar I bought just because it was pretty would come in handy someday.

I went painting pottery with both girls, and all things considered, I won’t be doing that again anytime soon. I managed to keep Elliora entertained and paint at the same time but it was exhausting.

I painted this sign (“NO WHINING. Kthx.“) for my friend Katie as an unbirthday gift for her to hang in her high-school English classroom.

October 7: Elliora decided that her toy basket looked like a comfortable place to sit.

October 8: We were invited over to our neighbors’ for pizza and the last swim of the summer in their pool. I was sitting in their living room when I glanced out the window and saw they had “Live long and prosper” painted along the inside of the fascia on their front porch, so you’d see it as you walk out the door. I’ve been over there a half-dozen times and never noticed it before.

Elliora on the left at 10 months; Annalie on the right at 17 months, in 2005.

October 10: Elliora has discovered a love of being underneath tables. We’ve discovered how many gross things and choking hazards normally live underneath our tables.

October 11: Elliora has also discovered the basket by our fireplace where we keep firewood and old newspapers. She takes her job of spreading every last sheet of newspaper around the room at least once a day very seriously.

Speaking of Trekkies, Elliora looks adorable in her ThinkGeek Starfleet Academy Cadet onesie, don’t you agree?

October 12: It’s really hard to make mashed-potato casserole look pretty.

October 13: I love it when geeky friends come bearing geeky gifts. Well, technically Laura painted the bowl on the left for me because I painted a dottery bowl for her with a BBT quote (which I never got a photo of, I just realized). And Sonja mailed the bowl (with quotes from the song Friends Forever in the Scrubs episode “My Musical”) to me, she didn’t give it to me in person. But the point stands.

October 14: These apple-pie cookies (via smitten kitchen) were extremely delicious. I kind of want to go make another complicated, time-consuming batch right this very second.

October 15: Elliora getting a taste of fall. (Har har.)

October 17: Rainbow sparkly fingernails! The polish (Rainbow Connection, natch) is from the OPI Muppet collection. It made me happy every time I glanced at my hands. Too bad it chipped and peeled so easily. But I’ve been told I should try a base coat next time and that might help.

October 18: Elliora is a climbing fool.

October 19: We went on a leaf walk for science, collecting red and gold leaves and talking about why trees change color in the fall. Annalie copied a list of words for handwriting practice and just to help her learn the words. I threw a couple of pictures in there and told her to write the words for the pictures. The picture for #6 was a tree, and I had to laugh when I saw how Annalie had spelled it. When I pointed her mistake out to her, Annalie thought it was pretty funny too. She said, “I don’t know what I was thinking. I know how to spell ‘tree!’”

Here’s the thing: it’s really hard to make a quesadilla look pretty in a photo. I suppose I could have gussied this one up with a garnish of sour cream and cilantro, or even just remembered to take a picture before I devoured half of it. But I’ve decided that my friend Madge is right to be suspicious of pretty food, and that often the uglier food is the better it tastes. Yeah, gonna go with that.

It helps that my quesadillas usually are quite delicious. I suppose it’s hard to mess up a tortilla filled with melted cheese, but still. I think we’ve all had blah quesadillas before. This is not blah. It is, if I dare toss modesty out the window for a second, sublime.

Avocado and Caramelized Onion Quesadilla
Makes 2 quesadillas

• 2 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 2 flour tortillas
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 2-4 Tbsp. salsa

First, caramelize the onion: Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a skillet (large enough for one of your tortillas to fit in the bottom) over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute for a couple of minutes. Reduce heat to low and let onions cook, stirring occasionally, till very soft and golden brown, about a half-hour. (If you’re in a hurry, you can cook them for less time, but the longer they cook, the sweeter they’ll get.) When the onions are done, remove them from the pan. You’re going to use the same pan to cook the quesadillas but don’t bother wiping it out or anything.

To assemble: fold a tortilla in half to crease, then open. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of the cheese over half, up to the crease. Top with half the onions and half the sliced avocado, and spoon 1-2 Tbps. salsa evenly over that. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of cheese on top of all, and fold the tortilla at the crease, pressing down gently. Repeat with the second tortilla and the remaining ingredients.

Heat 1 Tbsp. butter in skillet over medium heat. Arrange quesadillas in skillet. Cook about a minute per side or till browned and slightly crisp, flipping carefully with a wide spatula.

Slice into triangles and serve hot—garnished with sour cream and cilantro, if you like.