Wet and Windy

Today was a wet and windy day in Uruguay. Had to make sure the wood was covered and in a dry part of the day, went onto the roof and cleaned out the fireplace chimney. It made it much easier to build a fire to keep the cold away.

Denise made a delicious soup (sausage, white beans, tomatoes, garlic and elbow macaroni). It was fantastic food for a cold day. I went out to buy bread, only to discover that the new panederia and also the local bakery were closed for 1 1/2 hours at lunch time. I returned without bread, with a few choice words about essential businesses that close for lunch time.

When it came time to think about a little warm dessert, we decided to make the dreaded and much renowned chocolate mug cake. I am sure that many of you have seen this on blogs, gotten emails about it or seen UTube videos. It is a 3 minute, microwave cake in a cup and it works.

Here is how it goes:
4 Tb flour
4 Tb sugar
2 Tb unsweetened cocoa powder
Mix those dry ingredients in a normal size microwave safe mug
Add:
1 egg
Mix that into the dry ingredients. Then add:
3 Tb milk
3 Tb oil
splash of vanilla
Mix those all together in the cup.
The mixture will look like the picture above, very runny.

You may add 2 Tb chocolate chips if you wish.
Microwave for 3 minutes (Recipe calls for 1000W microwave, but I have a 900W microwave and it works just fine).

The cake will rise just above the lip and it will look like the photo above on the right.


We made up some fresh whipped cream, brewed up a double tall latté and sat down for a feast. We split the single serving in half, but if you are a big eater- go for a whole one.

This is not a gourmet cake, but is very passable and can be ready in minutes. Use this recipe at your own discretion. We have settled down for the evening. The wind is still raging, but the fire is warm, we are satisfied and all is right with the world. Amazing what a warm soup and a chocolate treat can do to brighten the day.