I’ve rummaged through my kitchen a lot of times looking for something sweet; I rarely stock up on sugary foods and am at a loss at times like this.  Having seen yet another episode of Masterchef Australia (seems like my biggest source of inspiration), where they made a quick microwave cake; I wondered why I’d never tried it before. After attempting it, I realized it was a little dry and needed a little something on it. That’s how I came up with coffee syrup, caramel sauce, berry sauce and lemon sauce to go on my desserts. All the sauces are made from the most basic ingredients and are easy to make. There are many other ingredients in your kitchen that you can add a little sugar and water to and make a sauce!

• Cooking skills required: Mixing!
• Equipment/Utensils Required: Blender(optional)  
• Items needed other than the basic stocked items: None!
• Prep Time: 10 mins for cake
• Cooking Time: 1-2 mins in microwave
• Serving size: 2 cup size cakes
• Cost: $0.36 for 2 cakes

Ingredients:

1. Butter/Oil: ¼ cup
2. Sugar: ¼ cup
3. Eggs: 1
4. Milk: 2 tablespoons
5. Baking powder: ½ teaspoon (optional)
6. Whole wheat flour or multipurpose flour: ½ cup.

Method:

Cake

1. Use a few drops of oil or butter and spread it onto the cups.
2. Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix well. (You can skip the baking powder if you don’t have it)
3. Add milk if the mixture is too thick. 
4. Split the mix into two cups lined with oil/butter and place in microwave and run at maximum power for 1-2 mins. 
5. Top with any of the sauces, ice cream, nuts or fruits!

Toppings

1. Coffee Syrup: Combine 1 cup of coffee, ½ cup of sugar in a saucepan and gently bring to a boil over medium heat. Let it thicken according to the consistency you want and serve warm with the cake. Use the same method for instant or ground coffee. You can also make a bottle of the coffee syrup and store in the fridge. Optional additions: cream.
2. Berry Syrups/Sauce: Add ¼ cup sugar, 1 cup berries (crushed/blended/chopped) in a saucepan over medium heat and stir. Add ½ cup water to the mixture, let it thicken and then remove from heat. Blending and cooling are both optional steps. You can use frozen berries or fresh; you can use this sauce on pancakes and waffles too. Optional addition: ½ tbsp cornstarch (thickens it up).
3. Lemon Sauce: Mix together ½ cup sugar, a dash of salt and 1 cup water over medium heat. Stir until thick and remove from heat. Add the juice of one lemon,1 tbsp butter and stir well. Optional addition: ½ tbsp cornstarch.
4. Caramel Sauce: Mix ¾ cup sugar, 2 tbsp flour and ½ cup water in a saucepan and mix well. Stir the mixture for 5 mins and add 1 tbsp of butter. If too thick, add a little water. Optional additions: cream, vanilla extract.

Calories: 400 – 500 calories for two cakes

Most of the calories come from the oil/butter and sugar. Each topping has a different calorie value with the lemon sauce being the lowest and the caramel sauce being the highest.

Serving Suggestions: The recipe makes a great sundae or dessert bowl along with ice cream, nuts, a few pieces of fruit and lots of syrup on it. You can add chocolate pieces, chocolate syrup, maple syrup, honey, raisins to it to complete the sundae! You can try versions of these sauces like coffee caramel sauce, raspberry coffee sauce, fruit sauce, chocolate coffee sauce etc. All of these syrups can be made and stored in the fridge and used with cakes, ice creams, pancakes, waffles, fruits. cookies, brookies, brownies etc.