Chocolate and coffee are a combination that’s difficult not to love. The clash of sweet and bitter makes flowers bloom, angels sing and unicorns dance on rainbows – at least, on your palate.

If chocolate works with coffee, it’s bound to work with kopi too. After all, much of our local kopi beans are roasted with sugar, and kopi is regularly paired with condensed milk for an addictive bittersweet flavour.

Kopi is also a popular ingredient in cakes too, so combining kopi and chocolate and cake is an absolutely logical progression.

Taking the cue from the many, many mug cake recipes out there, the Butterkicap Team put together a Chocolate Chip Kopi Mug Cake that’s moist, aromatic, and oh-so-good.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp kopi powder

• 2 tbsp milk

• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

• 1 ½ tbsp granulated sugar

• ¼ tsp baking powder

• 1/8 tsp salt

• ¾ tbsp vegetable cooking oil + extra for oiling the mug

• ¼ tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tbsp chocolate chips

Method

• In a microwave-safe bowl or mug, microwave milk on high heat for 30 seconds.

• Add kopi powder and stir to mix. Set aside and let the coffee steep in the milk.

• In a separate bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a whisk to combine the ingredients evenly.

• Pour the steeped coffee through a fine sieve into the mixed dry ingredients. Don’t worry if a few bits of coffee powder gets into the mixture. Stir with a whisk until thoroughly combined.

• Next, add cooking oil and vanilla into the batter and stir with a whisk to mix through.

• Add a few drops of oil into a small microwaveable mug. You can either use a brush or a kitchen paper towel to spread the oil, covering all the inner surfaces of the mug. Alternatively, you can also use cooking spray.

• Pour the batter into an oiled mug.

• Generously sprinkle the top of the batter with chocolate chips. Don’t stir, as this will cause the chocolate chips to sink to the bottom.

• Microwave on high heat for 1 minute and 30 seconds.

• Let cool for a minute before serving.

Extra tips

• Use your favourite brand of kopi kampung for this recipe. If your kopi comes in sachets, steep one whole sachet in the milk and don’t forget to squeeze out all the liquid goodness before pouring the steeped coffee into the dry ingredients.

• Do not use three-in-one kopi sachets as it already comes premixed with sugar and creamer, which will throw the rest of the recipe’s ingredients off-balance.

• No kopi, only coffee? We’re not sure if it will work, but do give it a try and let us know. You’ll want fine coffee powder for the best outcome. Steeping coffee beans won’t get you much flavour in the short amount of time needed.

• Mild flavoured cooking oils work best for this recipe, such as grapeseed, canola or sunflower oil. Leave your olive, sesame or coconut oils for other recipes.

• Regular, semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips? All three go well with this recipe. Choose the one you like most.

• If you’d like an even spread of chocolate chips throughout, pour half the batter into the mug first, then sprinkle with half the chocolate chips. After that, pour the remaining batter and top it off with the rest of the chocolate chips.

• Microwave mug cakes harden and become tough and chewy once it cools, so be sure to eat it while it’s still hot.

• For extra decadence, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Or both!

• Not much of a kopi drinker but prefer teh tarik instead? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with our chocolate chip teh tarik mug cake recipe!

This article first appeared in butterkicap.com

Butterkicap is a food and culture platform and community that enables anyone to experience Malaysia through stories of her people, food and places.