It's a new academic year! I'd like to give a warm welcome to all of the new members who will be joining us this year, and welcome back to our returning members.

If you're new to HackSoc, we'd love to meet you! Drop into our Slack workspace and have a chat, and join our Discord server where our virtual events take place.

Don't forget to purchase a membership for this year! Memberships cost just £4, and while you can attend any of our events without one, buying a membership helps to support our society and gets you access to some of servers. You can purchase one on YUSU's website!

For the time being, we will not be running any in-person events, instead opting for virtual events taking place online. We will also not be attending YUSU's Fresher's Fair this year (see the statement on our website).

Computer Science Q&A Session - 10:40, Thu 01/10 - Zoom

We'll be at the Computer Science department's Q&A session from 10:40 to 11:00. Come along to hear about our society and ask us any questions you may have!

Virtual Games & Cake - 19:00, Fri 02/10 - HackSoc Discord (The Pod)

Join us in adapting our age-old Boardgames and Cake to a virtual setting in our Discord server, where we check in with each other and play games including Jackbox and Uno!

Unfortunately, we can’t bring and share cake, but we can make our own and post them on Slack.

If you would like to give a talk this term, then make your submission soon - submissions close on the 1st of October! Don't miss out on the opportunity to share your interests with our members.

For more information about our talks this term and to make a submission, please see the news article on our website.

What's Virtual Games and Cake without some cake? This week, we have a chocolate mug cake! If you've given it a go, we'd love to see some photos in the #food channel on our Slack workspace.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt, optional

• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Splash vanilla extract, optional
• 1 egg, optional

• 3 tablespoons chocolate chips

Method

This recipe requires a microwave safe mug and a microwave.

Put the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a microwave-safe mug. Blend thoroughly with a fork. Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and egg and blend until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Microwave on high for 90 seconds, then for 15 second intervals until cooked (I’d recommend putting a bowl or plate under the mug in case it spills out!). Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before eating.

Adaptations

Can be made without the egg, vanilla and/or salt depending on your requirements.

This recipe was adapted from https://foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/chocolate-cake-in-a-mug/.

Make sure you're in HackSoc's Slack workspace! We have 200 members, and it's free to join the conversation, so sign up now!

If you're joining us for any of our virtual events, make sure you're also in our Discord server.

Have a great week,

Aaron 🤖