By Bethany Jae

Last night I was up until an ungodly hour of the night/day doing assignments. As my eyes were closing + brain slowly stopped working, I was in need of something baked + comforting; coffee + tea was not cutting it anymore.

It was then I knew a mugcake was in order.

A mugcake you say? Yes. A mugcake. Aka, a cake in a mug.

I have a massive sweet tooth. Anything to do with cakes, chocolate, + sweet delicious things get me a little excited.

Being a Pinterest-addict, I’ve seen a gazillion mugcake recipes + have tried a gazillion mugcake recipes. After experimenting + hoping to find the perfect chocolate one, I was always left disappointed + never liked including an egg in the recipe.

So, I went looking for an egg-less mugcake recipe.

And I found one. A good one. Many, many months ago.

Since then, I’ve adapted the recipe + have used it as my total go-to when I need that quick yummy baked goodness without baking a whole cake. This is the recipe I whipped up last night for myself + one of my other brother’s who was up doing assignments as well. He’s never liked mugcakes, but thought this was one tasted delicious – good sign hey!

S0, here’s a treat for you to bookmark for later, or just whip up + shovel into your mouth in less than 5-minutes right now…

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: recipe:

- adapted from Wendy See Wendy Do’s Funfetti Mugcake Recipe -

- serving size: 1 [double the mixture if you want more though!]-

// basic ingredients

2 tbsp self-raising flour

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp milk

one or two drops of vanilla extract

// scrumptious additions

rainbow sprinkle: 1 tsp rainbow sprinkles

chocolate: instead of vanilla extract, add 1 tbsp cocoa

personal favourite – chocolate marble: melt some chocolate (love using Cadbury’s ‘Topdeck’) in the microwave. add half to 3/4 of it to the batter + slightly mix it through. save the rest of the melted chocolate + drizzle it on top of the cake once it’s cooked

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// directions

in a big mug, mix all dry + wet ingredients together

note: the cake rises while cooking, hence the ‘big mug’ suggestion

then add your scrumptious additions

bake in a microwave for 15-20 seconds at a time (until you’re happy with how much it’s cooked). keep an eye on it the entire time it’s in the microwave because the cake may rise up over it, especially if you’ve doubled the batter

note: the reason I’m not giving an exact baking time is because the baking times on previous mugcake recipes I’ve used have never work. doing it in 20ish second increments is your best bet :)

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and last of all, enjoy!

mugcakes aren’t like your normal cakes. it can take many times to get it right + find your groove with it. but once you do, you’re gonna lurve it xx

Filed Under: Recipes · Tagged With: Mugcake, Recipe

Edition 32: Inspiration Plus

April 26, 2013 by bethany · Leave a Comment

:: a little bit of this + that to kick start your weekend inspiration ::

: images :

[image via @cubbygraham on Instagram - he's the guy in the video near the end of this post!]

[image: by Sean Wes - incredible hand lettering artist. follow him on Instagram @seanwes]

: posts/articles :

Elora Nicole‘s honest + interesting series on publishing : intro / industry / beta readers / discipline / agents / you aren’t crazy

‘You Are Here: Changing the World Around Us‘ on DarlingMagazine.org

‘Thoughts on Depression + Suicide: Sometimes You Just Want to Go Home‘ on StorylineBlog.com

‘The Courage to Collaborate‘ by Blaine Hogan

’8 Killer Online Marketing Campaigns‘ on Inc.com

: motion :

Dove Beauty Campaign

What It’s Like To Be A National Geographic Photographer

An Instagram Generation

charity: water Save it or Shave it Campaign Grand Finale (on Cubby Graham)

: words :

tweet of the week // “Every “overnight success” I’ve ever met had a thousand nights of hustle & hard work no one else saw.” – @JonAcuff

“I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” – Vincent van Gogh

“Be brave. No one remembers a coward.” – Christopher M. Hurley

: and just ‘cos it’s cute :

[a baby gorilla getting a check-up at Melbourne Zoo (originally tweeted, image via Pinterest)]

// happy, happy weekend! x

Filed Under: Inspiration Plus · Tagged With: Cubby Graham, Elora Nicole, Instagram, Sean Wes

When You’re Not Inspired

April 24, 2013 by bethany · 1 Comment

[image via Pinterest]

When you’re not inspired, getting work done can feel like an absolute bore.

The words are just lines holding no emotion or story. And each step can feel as though you’re pulling a freight train.

When you’re not inspired, you spend countless hours trying to find where inspiration is hiding.

You hope that if you click on one more page link, get out + about, read others words + more, that you’ll be a little closer to finding the hidden gem. But all you end up doing is procrastinating + finding interesting irrelevant pieces to store away hoping you can use them them in the future.

Inspiration isn’t what gets work done. It isn’t even what marks something you do as spectacular.

Inspiration isn’t what makes your piece of work sparkle or pop; it’s your skill, handiwork, + talent.

Inspiration can give you a surge of thought + a push to begin, but it’s what you’ve done leading up to the surge that defines it’s presentation + impact; it’s your disciple + what you’ve been doing to steward + develop your skill well.

Because in the end, inspiration without work is nothing.

And when you’ve mastered your talent you won’t need inspiration to make it great.

Work without inspiration + inspiration will find you.

Work because what you produce is captured by people’s hearts because of it’s delivery, not the beginning thought.

Harbor your talent.

Grow it + grow it.

And don’t let the lie that inspiration is what makes it ruin your opportunity to produce something great.