Cake

So my friend Lineh e-mailed me this innocent little recipe titled "The Quickest Cake Ever". Clearly, this sparked my interest. Especially since chocolate is involved. I asked Lineh if she's made it and how it turned out. Of course, the skinny sphinx hasn't tried it. So I made a grave sacrifice and tried it out this afternoon.

Here it is:
4 tablespoons flour (In my effort to be virtuous, I used whole wheat flour. Ok, ok, I give in....it was all that was in my pantry! Sheesh, give me a break....I really wouldn't say it added to or detracted from it overall.)4 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa 1 egg 3 tablespoons milk (I used whole milk because I was too lazy to go to the fridge in the basement and get the bottle of skim....so I dipped into the baby's supply a little bit. He's still growing. Hopefully I'm not!)3 tablespoons oil 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) (Um, yeah.....that's right the recipe says OPTIONAL. Yes, I did make the cake WITHOUT the chocolate chips. because. i. ate. them. all. before. i. could. make. anything. with. them.....Seriously, this is an enhancement you don't want to pass up. Seriously.)a small splash of vanilla extract
and if you are feeling sassy, a dash of salt (more on that below)

Combine all ingredients in a mug and mix well. Microwave for 2-3 minutes on high. Turn out onto plate and enjoy warm.

In my case, I did not trust my microwave as I have exploded several bowls of oatmeal in the past year alone. Given that, I opted to use a 4 cup measuring cup. This actually made it look bigger than a mug would have. (In general bigger is better....except when we are talking about my thighs.) As clearly stated earlier, the chocolate chips are a must. The little dash of salt gives it a bite to help balance the sweet. I strongly suggest eating this immediately; as I suspect that it would turn rock solid if let to cool completely. Also, if you are going to count calories, do so before hand. I made this fatal mistake and calculated afterwards resulting in over 35 minutes on the training bike tonight. (Yes, I will admit, I ate the whole thing.)

Now, let's talking about what we could do to make this even more fun to consume.....caramel on top anyone?