Quicker than quick chocolate cake for one

I found myself in a bit of a pickle just now. I had an unstoppable sweet craving, but nothing readymade in the cupboards, and I wasn't keen on waiting a whole hour while an actual cake was baking. So I made this mug cake. I used the last of my Valrhona cocoa powder and some awesome Callebaut Belgian chocolate chips. The result tasted sweet and light like Kinderchocolade. 

No picture today, I bet you know exactly what it will look like anyway. If not, just Google 'chocolate mug cake'.

3 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp demerara sugar
5 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp milk
small handful chocolate chips

Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa and baking powder with a fork in a decent size mug. Pur in the oil, vanilla extract and milk and stir. Drop in the chocolate nibs, leaving them sort of floating on top. Microwave 40 seconds on 800 Watt. 

Eat. 

Eat a lot: Werkstatt der Süße, Prenzlauer Berg

Dark chocolate, raspberry, Tasmanian pepper and gold leaf tart

Berlin finds: Rixdorf

Things are moving quickly here in Berlin. Gone are the days of massive flats, empty and waiting to be lived in. Gone are reasonable rents, illegal ping-pong bars and bullet-holed facades. Well, almost gone. But it won't be long now.

Clubs that have been open since the fall of the Berlin wall are closing to make way for chi chi shops, posh apartment blocks and media companies. When you're looking for a room in a WG (shared housing) you have to beat twenty others and still pay a premium price. One of Berlin's most wonderful traits, its greenness, is steadily disappearing to make way for, yes, more expensive flats.

As they say, all was better in the olden days.

Imagine how chuffed I am to be living very near one of the few proper authentic bits of the city still around. In the middle of Neukölln, there's a village green housing the oldest blacksmith in town plus a garage for old-fashioned horse drawn carriages. The surrounding town houses are gorgeous, spacious and light. The local thrift shop is enormous and filled with stuff no one in their right mind ever would buy - it's all just too dusty and disgusting. But what a joy to rummage through it all. Here in Rixdorf, the annual hay bale rolling competition and the Weinachtsmarkt transport you back in time. Squint and you can imagine yourself a hundred years ago. It's just lovely.

It's easy too: just take a walk on Richardplatz and the surrounding streets. Have a chai tea and some cake at Barini, opposite the thrift store, while you're at it. Buy tickets for a puppet show in the theatre next door and visit the figure skating shop, just because there is one. This is Berlin at its best.

Alt-Rixdorfer Weihnachtsmarkt, second advent weekend in december, Richardplatz, 12055 Berlin

Barini, Böhmische Straße 46, 12055 Berlin, 030 25059718, website

Berger Wohnungsauflösung, Böhmische Str. 13, 12055 Berlin, 030 68224987

Central Rixdorf Theater, K&K VolkArt, Böhmische Straße 46, 12055 Berlin, 030 26378812, website

Eisprinzessinshop, Richardstraße 76, Berlin, website

Rixdorfer Schmiede, Bürgerstr. 17, 12347 Berlin, 030 6942232, website

Eat your cake: Martins Place, Neukölln

There's something rather Groundhog Dayish about having tiny humans.

(I'm not supposed to call the twins 'babies' any more, now that they have passed the grand old age of one. It's the equivalent if calling yourself a girl when you're over thirty, apparently.)

You secretly cheer every night to have 'made it through another day'. You crash out in front of the mac/tv/ipad at 7pm and are in bed by 9pm (or thinking about it, or dreaming about it while sterilising bottles and rinsing out vomity things). And when you do get that holy grail, a Moment To Yourself, you're at a total loss what to do.

And so I found myself on the lookout for a place in the wintery sun, again. I headed back to the Melbourne Canteen, but that side of the road was in the shade in the late afternoon. I followed the rays and there they were, two tables in front of a small cake shop.

I gingerly went in; it didn't look all that open and the coffee machine shone like it had been either just cleaned for the day, or had not yet been used. But they made me a cappuccino and fed me one of an impressive array of cakes. Not having cake was not an option. So much was clear by the way I was asked which cake I was having.

apple something something cake

While I sat there, gratefully eating, drinking and reading (the luxury), a steady stream of people came in and left again with neat packages in their wire bike baskets. No one joined me at the little tables though. Through the fog that is my brain I realised: this is the go-to place for cake in the Kiez. I may not be the one to find it first, but I'm sure happy I know where it is.

Martins Place Kuchenmanufactur, Pannierstraße 29, 12047 Berlin, website, open Tue-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat 11am-8pm, Sun 11am-7pm

Berlin's outdoor café secrets

It's that time of year when I want to spend every waking sunshiny minute outside. Summer evenings are a doll here in Berlin - there's oodles of stuff to do, from open air cinema's at every corner to free Shakespeare in the park, from barbecues on the Tempelhofer Feld to buying beers at the Späti and drinking them standing on the Hobrechtbrücke. (No, I'm not sure why you'd do the latter either, unless you're a homeless person or a twelve-year-old who won't be served at a normal bar. But there they are, whole hordes of twenty-somethings who think Kreuzberg is the epitome of cool, planted firmly on the bridge to stay, so perhaps it's something that needs trying. Or maybe I'm just getting old.)

But during daylight hours, life is more complicated for those spending the summer in the city. It's too hot, really, to be out in the sun unless you want to end up burnt to a crisp.  So I've been going around my Kiez, looking for places enjoy a bit of dappled sunlight without the meltdown. These are my favourites, in no particular order.

Golgatha, Victoriapark, Katzbachstraße, Kreuzberg: hidden away in Victoria Park, neighbouring the playground and the sports field is beer garden Golgotha. You'd never guess it's there, yet the café's garden is big and lush. There are beach chairs, rocking benches of the type that belong on a southern American porch, lounge sofas and your average wooden picnic benches to sit on. The shade is plentiful, so is the drink and a grill stand will serve you bratwurst sandwiches and potato salad once you've realised you really don't need to be anywhere else.

3 Schwestern, Bethanienhaus, Mariannenplatz, Kreuzberg: Through the restaurant you go, and down a few steps out again. There you will discover the perfect garden for afternoon tea. High treetops to sit under, amazing cakes and table service; Berlin life doesn't get much better than this.

Hüttenpalast, Hobrechtstraße, Kreuzkölln: I've waxed lyrical about the place before, and if their fabulous food is not enough, you'll find their garden is another reason to check the place out. It's very cosy and very quiet here, so perfect for some outdoor working just off the bustling Hermannplatz.

Lavanderia Vecchia, Flughafenstraße, Neukölln: Looking for an al fresco lunch? At Lavanderia Vecchia a three course lunch is served for as little as €8, while you sit under flapping tea towels drying in the wind (a reference to the fact that this used to be the site of a laundry). There's loads of space, the atmosphere is überrelaxt and you'll have a hard time not ending up chatting to the neighbours living in the Hof, as they all drop in to eat the fabulous lunch fare being served on their doorstep.

Hudson's Cakes, Boppstraße, Graefekiez: Not really a garden, merely a cute selection of seats under the trees on the pavement. Yet, to me, the outdoor seating at the wonderful Hudson's distinguishes itself from the numerous others in the city, and not just because owners Katie and Jim are the loveliest people, their food is a joy and their local vegetable scheme admirable. This is also THE place in town to eat tea and scones, with proper Devonshire clotted cream. So there.

Drink a lot: Chocolateria Sünde, Kreuzberg

Chocolateria Sünde, Oranienstraße 194, Berlin (Kreuzberg), open Mon-Sat, chocolateria-sünde.de