Chocolate Mug of Sadness

By Addie

I’m a little bit horrified by this thing.
Which isn’t to say it’s not good. It is. It’s rich and dense and very chocolatey. It’s cake, you guys- I don’t mean to sound like it ate my family or anything. We made a batch for the kids at the office- lined up a bunch of our company branded mugs and spooned in the ingredients, launched the microwave and then dropped them off at people’s desks. They ate them. They were pleased, very pleased, and amused by the novelty of it all. But I stood back and watched, not able to hide the horror on my face.

There’s just something so… sad about chocolate cake for one. In a mug. So… not right. It should not be this easy to make your own cake in the microwave, for one thing. Maybe that’s what bothers me- how close I am to making chocolate cake. Every. Day. Just for myself. Just for myself in my apartment. Using my Sleepless in Seattle mug. Swarmed by cats as I dig in, all hunched over it, wrapped in a shawl I knit for myself. Plucking a stray piece of cat hair off my Chocolate Mug Cake for One. Feeling the thick cake hitting the bottom of my empty, loveless womb. Waiting for death.

So, you know, ENJOY MAKING THIS RECIPE.

Makes 1 large mug of sadness or 2 slightly less sad servings

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons flour
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 Tablespoons Nutella
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Preparation

Step 1

Combine all ingredients in a large coffee mug (or 2).

Whisk with fork until smooth.

Microwave on high for 1 1/2 to 3 minutes.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Or, halfway through baking time, drop in a dollop of peanut butter. (“Baking” time depends on microwave minutes. Ours took about 2 minutes.)