Cake in a cup and other stories

It’s happened to the best of us. You’re in your hotel room, there’s a whole wonderful exotic world out there just waiting to be explored but you’ve made like Nomadic Matt for the last four months and right now, you just feel lazy. But there’s a problem: you’re hungry. Very, very hungry. Maybe the hungriest you’ve ever been. What do you do? Alas, if only you’d read this post first, friend! We’ve discovered that you can make some pretty delicious meals with a two slices of bacon and an iron…we kid you not! You’ll need the ingredients in the first place obviously and a few common hotel appliances, but if you have these sorted then the (culinary) world will (sort of) be your oyster.

1. Use the iron as a skillet/grill. Wrap chicken, fish, vegetables or whatever your choice of ingredient may be for the evening, in foil. Put the package onto the ironing board, and put the iron, on the highest setting, over the top of it. Note: make sure no juices escape as this could seriously ruin the iron you’re using!

2. Bacon/eggs with the iron

Bacon: Cut your bacon in half and place between two foil sheets. Press the edges of the foil sheets together to stop grease from spilling out. Iron the bacon, opening the packet with a fork every few minutes to check to see if the bacon is done and to let out steam. It should take around ten minutes depending on how crispy you like it!

Eggs: Lay the iron so that the ironing surface is horizontal. Make a little foil pan and grease it with bacon fat or butter. Crack one or two eggs into it, wait 7-10 minutes, then flip them over to cook on the other side.

3. Ramen noodles in the coffee maker.

The coffee maker can be used for all sorts of meals. Place your noodles in the coffee maker. Submerge the noodles in water and turn the coffee maker on. After the water runs through the coffee maker, let the noodles soak in it for three to four minutes, or however long it takes for the noodles to soften. Then drain and add seasoning to taste.

4. The 5 minute mug cake (courtesy of travelettes.net)

We came across this great idea on the Travelettes website and we think you’ll agree tis just ingenious! Its ideal for when you just really need a dose of chocolate (i’m sure the ladies reading will sympathise!) It’s a great one for hostels as you’ll usually have access to a microwave. To see the original article, click here.

• 1 large coffee mug
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
• A small splash of vanilla extract
 or any kind of coffee flavour or syrup
• Cream or even icecream (for the ultimate satisfaction)

Add all dry ingredients to your mug and mix them well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly before pouring in the milk and oil. Keep mixing. Add the optional chocolate chips next (who makes that an option, anyway?) and the almond syrup. Mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for about 3 minutes at 1000 watts. Don’t worry, the cake will rise over the top of your mug. After the “ping”, let it to cool a little, tip it out onto a plate, cut it in two halfs and add cream.

5. Porridge in the coffee maker

For a yummy breakfast, porridge is perfect. To make this, put two packets of instant oatmeal into the coffee maker. Add some honey, some fruit jam (you might be able to find this in the hotel somewhere!), and a pinch of salt. Put an herbal tea bag into the filter basket. Pour 8-10 ounces of water into the coffee maker, turn on the machine, and your delicious porridge breakfast will be ready in around five minutes.

So granted, none of the above is likely to turn out as Michelin rated cuisine.  But when you’re on the go sometimes you just need to improvise…so happy ironing!

Header image source: cafemomstatic.com