Pampered Cooking

Experimenting with my new Micro-cooker.

About six weeks ago I attended a Pampered Chef party. For the most part I try to avoid the Tupperware-esque type of parties because they seem to spread like a disease. Nowadays they have them for anything and everything (candles, jewelry, cooking products, etc.) and you go to one with your friends and then three of them book a party and that's three more parties to go to. Having said all that I do, however, make an exception about once a year and go to a Pampered Chef party because I like to cook. I'm pretty reserved in making purchases and will only buy something I know I will use. The first party I went to about 10 years ago I bought an $8 potato masher because I love mashed potatoes. (The $8 potato masher has since been replaced by the $200 potato masher - my KitchenAid stand mixer - but that's another blog for another day.)

So at the party in August I bought a small Micro-cooker for $7.50. A one-quart contraption specifically for cooking in the microwave. As a demonstration at the party the host made Lava Cake in the three-quart Rice Cooker Plus, sort of similar to the cooker I purchased. I got to thinking I could probably make a smaller version of the cake in my cooker. So last night I approximated a third of a box of cake mix and the appropriate amount of egg, water and oil. I mixed all that in the cooker, then put approximately 1/3 of can of chocolate frosting in a glob on top of the cake mix. I put the lid on and microwaved the concoction for 3 minutes. What came out of the microwave was sheer yumminess. Warm chocolate cake, with gooey melted frosting. And I proved you can make Lava Cake in the one-quart Micro-cooker!