Microwaveable Endeavors

Over the past couple of years I have found myself frustrated by the fact that there isn’t a kitchen that is readily accessible in the dorms, especially after hearing about the baking adventures of some of my friends in the Haverford Apartments. Here at Bryn Mawr, we do have the SGA Kitchen, but it is rarely well stocked and it is hard to get signed out. It is also generally used for cooking in a group setting.
This year I have decided to be creative and find a way to prepare delicious food using the tea pantry that I do have down the hall. Therefore, my goal has been to find classy, delicious desserts that can be made in the microwave. There are actually a lot of recipes that are designed specifically for microwave cooking and others that can be easily adapted from traditional baking. Most of the information I found came from online searches and food blogs.

Once I had a few recipes to try, the experimenting began. I began with cookies and some individual cupcakes. These turned out pretty well, but the texture was a bit off with the cupcakes. A recipe for chocolate, peanut butter, oatmeal cookies was phenomenal, because they were meant to have an interesting texture anyway.
My best success ended up being my simplest recipe. Chocolate covered strawberries. All they take is two cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips, two tablespoons of vegetable shortening (do NOT use oil or butter (otherwise the sauce won’t stay on the berries), and two containers of strawberries. The chocolate and shortening should be heated in a medium bowl in the microwave on 50% power for one and a half minutes, twice. Then the concoction should be stirred until the consistency is smooth and then it can cool slightly. Dip two thirds of each strawberry into the chocolate sauce and then place on a tray covered with waxed paper. Once the strawberries are prepared, they should be chilled in the refrigerator for thirty minutes. Then they are ready to serve. There is also a black and white version that starts the same way, but then, the strawberries coated in chocolate are given a second layer covering about one third of the strawberry with white chocolate. The white chocolate sauce is prepared the same way as the other one, substituting white chocolate chips for the semi-sweet. Both recipes are delicious, but I prefer the classic, myself.