Chocolate Love In A Cup

Last week when I was grocery shopping I came upon this perfect little recipe. My local grocer has a recipe of the week you can pick up, and there are usually some good ones. Each recipe is submitted by fellow customers and they are all tried and true. This weeks recipe was for "5 Minute Chocolate Cake In A Cup". The recipe originally came from a cookbook entitled "101 Recipes For Microwave Mug Cakes". If you click here you can go to her website and get other great recipes. YUM! is all I could think. What a fun little treat.

I ran home and as soon as E came home from school we were making a mug full of goodness. As a kid I loved things that I could make in the microwave, in a cup. I mean there was Lipton Cup of Noodles and a snappy little hot tomato drink I learned in 4H that reminds me a bit of a Bloody Mary mix. I made these things over and over and over. I soon realized there was nothing better than being able to master the microwave. The independence it brought! I have taught that skill to my children as well. My youngest can cook a mean microwave burrito with no help at all. It's a science and my children are brilliant at it.

So Sat. night as J and I were heading out the door for a little adult bonding time (Movie!) E was already getting 4 big fat mugs of chocolate cake going for the kidlets. They loved it! What a perfect treat. I may never have to buy 6 containers of Ben and Jerry's again. When you can have your own individual chocolate cake why bother with Phish Food? Actually I will never give up a good Ben and Jerry's night, but I have to be feeling skinny before we'll do that anytime soon:)

The cake is more easy and fun than actually wonderfully delicious, but hey it's quick. We doctor ours up with a little hot fudge sauce, powdered sugar sprinkle, and cream in a can. It will hit the spot, and it keeps the kids happy, happy, happy! The recipe states to microwave the cake for 3 minutes, but I think the cake becomes a bit overdone. We found 2 minute and 15-30 seconds was perfect. A little underdone, might actually be good. It would be a little lava-ish. A pinch of cinnamon would be good, or a sprinkling of chocolate chips. Experiment and enjoy the goodness of some food in a cup. I love it!

5 Minute Chocolate Love In A Cup

4 T. flour

2 T. cocoa powder

4 T. sugar

3 T. milk

1 egg

3 T. oil

pinch of salt

splash of vanilla

3 T. chocolate chips (optional)

1 large coffee mug or hot cocoa mug in our case

Add the dry ingredients to large mug and mix well. Add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add the chips and mix until completely combined. Put mug in the microwave and cook for 2 mins. 15 secs. - 3 minutes tops. Cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't worry. We actually used an enormous mug and it fit well, but in a regular mug the cake will go over the top. It won't make a mess though since the cake has already set by this time. It looks really neat. Allow to cool a little and eat. We top ours with hot fudge, powdered sugar, and cream. 1 mug can actually feed two people if you can share.