A QUICK CHOCOLATE FIX

Have you received an email with the recipe for chocolate cake in a coffee cup? It's quick way to get a chocolate fix without overdoing it - not that anyone I know would actually bake and eat an entire chocolate cake......but this recipe has built in portion control, just in case. Here's the recipe:



5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.


I DID use the choclate chips, and yes, it did spill out of the mug - I placed the mug on a plate just in case. Although it was very chocolatey and gooey, thanks to the chocolate chips, it was a bit spongy, but when you're baking in the microwave, you have to expect some deviations. Personally I prefer the recipe for microwave brownies that my friend Janet gave to me several years ago....



Microwave Brownies

3 oz butter (add pinch of salt if using unsalted butter)
8 oz brown sugar
2 eggs
a few drops Vanilla extract
3 oz plain flour
2 oz cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder

Melt butter and sugar in a glass bowl in microwave.
Beat in eggs and vanilla.
Sift flour, cocoa, and baking powder into a bowl and mix in egg mixture.
Pour into lined microwaveable dish and on place an up turned saucer in the microwave.
Microwave 4 1/2 to 5 minutes. Should still be sticky on the top.
If you do not have a turntable, 1/4 turn after 2 minutes.

Either way is a quick chocolate fix you can enjoy anytime.

THE PERFECT BROWNIE - AT LAST!

If you've been reading for a while you know that I'm a confirmed chocoholic, and that I've been searching for the perfect brownie recipe for some time now. I have to wait until we have company so that I have an excuse to bake, and so that Art and I don't eat the entire batch. (Yes, even if a recipe is deemed 'not quite perfect', it's STILL chocolate, and of all the recipes I've tried, I've never found one that wasn't edible!) So....

Several years ago I discovered that substituting (American-style) brown sugar for all or part of the sugar will produce a gooey brownie, and that's a good thing. Additionally the brown sugar's caramel-y taste adds an extra richness and depth, so when I saw that this recipe called for equal amounts of brown and white sugar I was hopeful.

My ideal brownie is intensely chocolate, slightly gooey on the inside but with a shiny, thin crust on top. This recipe ticked all the boxes for me, and for now, this is the one, the brownie recipe I'll use until someone can convince I need to try another one! I used a combination of chocolate: half 60% Ghiradelli and half Lindt 85% chocolate, just because that's what I had on hand. I think using all 85% chocolate might have been too intense, but as I type this, I can't believe what I'm saying! Too intense?? Hmmm....maybe the next time I'll use all 85% chocolate just to see. I've also thought about using the drier brown sugar we buy here in Italy, just to see how much the gooiness is affected. For this recipe I loved the extra intensity of the dark brown sugar rather than light brown.

Here's the recipe, which I'm going to call

The Best Brownies EVER!

2 sticks (8 oz.) butter, more for pan and parchment paper
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour

Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and line with buttered parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate together. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs. Whisk in salt, sugars and vanilla.

Whisk in chocolate mixture.

Fold in flour just until combined.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until shiny and beginning to crack on top. Cool in pan on rack.

Yield: 15 large or 24 small brownies.

As with most things chocolate, these are better if baked 1 day in advance.

Post script: I later tried this recipe with just 6 oz of butter and 6 oz of chocolate and the brownies were just as yummy...

LIFE IN THE STATES AND A CHOCOLATE RECIPE

Under normal circumstances, I would have already written about how much fun we had in the states, about how I indulged in some ‘only in America’ treats, and what special aspects of American life I really enjoyed. But these aren’t normal circumstances. When you’ve been sick so long that you start marking anniversaries, something’s wrong! Today marks the four week anniversary of whatever it is that has a hold of me. I’ve just taken the last of the second round of antibiotics, and although I feel hopeful, I’m remembering all the times in the past four weeks when I thought I was on the road to recovery. Apparently that road is as windy and curvy as the roads in Umbria!

As for what I enjoyed in the states, first and foremost would be the grandchildren. I didn’t get to spend as much time with Nick as I would have liked, but with school, hockey, my health, and his being a teenager, we just never seemed to connect. We did get to have a nice talk on Christmas Day, and I know we’ll be in touch via the phone.

Because we stayed with my son’s family for five days, we did get to connect with the grandgirls, who continue to amaze me. Miss M, at the ripe old age of 3 ½ can count to twenty in Spanish so fast it makes my head spin, is already learning about the presidents of the United States (and can name quite a few of them), and has the sweetest, most endearing personality….except of course when she’s having a meltdown, which makes me think she’s perfecting the “terrible twos” into the “terrifying threes”.

Our little redhead, on the other hand, continues to charm and to take charge. Six going on twenty six. Learning to read, excited about make-up, only too happy to put on an impromptu concert for her guests. Adorable, intelligent, amazing....the same things every grandparent says!



Winters here in Umbria are cold and gray, dreary and drippy. Visits to the United States remind me what a wonderful thing forced air heating is, and how much I love wall to wall carpet on a cold winter’s morning.

It seems that when we’re in Italy there’s always some item missing from my pantry….cilantro, or graham crackers, or grape jelly. Cheddar cheese seems to top the list of many, many expats as the thing they miss the most. And then we visit the states and all of a sudden I’m saying “Hey! I need some good pancetta!” I did take some new olive oil back with me… fresh, spicy oil that I couldn’t wait to share with friends! I guess I can find most of what I need in the states, but certainly not for what I’m used to paying for it! Even with the terrible exchange rate the cost of parmigiano, wine, and DeCecco pasta is double, maybe triple what it costs in Italy, because of course it has to be imported, but ouch!

While we were in the states my friend Judith wrote about her favorite new recipe of the new year: FUDGE PIE. Honestly, you know I was sick just by the fact that I didn’t make this recipe until today! It would have been a perfectly yummy, easy-to-make-in-a-tiny-kitchen-with-few-utensils recipe, but since we didn’t want to infect our friends who might still be healthy, we didn’t entertain like we’d planned to.

Anyway, today after talking with Judith, I decided to try her recipe. After all, if I was going to be sick forever I figured I might as well indulge while I could. If you read the entire post, you’ll see that Judith substituted brown sugar for ½ cup of the white sugar, and since this is something I often do to make my brownies a little gooier, I decided to do the same. I also skipped the 1 teaspoon of milk, figuring that the extra moisture in the brown sugar would cover that missing bit of moisture. I also made one change to the recipe itself before I printed it out, and I’ll mention this one for all inventive cooks out there who make up new recipes: I listed the ½ teaspoon salt BEFORE the ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. I mean, it’s soooo maddening to be following a recipe line for line, ingredient by ingredient, and discover that I now need a measure of a dry ingredient AFTER that same measuring spoon has been used for a liquid ingredient! AARRRGGHH!

And how did we like this recipe for FUDGE PIE? YUM! It was more like a bit warm (because of course we ate it while it was still warm!) gooey brownie than fudge, but let’s not get picky, okay? If it lasts long enough to have a piece when it’s at room temperature, I’ll let you know about that too, It’s just soooo quick, so easy, 2 bowls, one pie pan, 40 minutes (watch closely check it after 35 minutes just to be sure), and you’re ready to grab a spoon, snuggle up on the couch with the latest DVD you’ve rented and ENJOY! Let me know what you
think…..