Tag: Gooey

I’ve been a little bored lately, as seen by the blatant, “Hi – she’s lost it – someone please take her,” expression on Cat’s face in this photo.

Bear’s out of town. (clearly) I had just wrapped up an assignment, missed a family hang by minutes and had already cashed in all my “fine, I’ll humor you” cards with Cat.

As you can imagine, the stale late afternoon only poked at my boredom, teasing it into a whirlwind of creative energy demanding to be utilized. After writing a song, cleaning our place, finishing a painting and walking with a friend, there was only one other thing to do – make chocolate cake.

But, the only problem was I had just cleaned the kitchen. (see earlier energy outlet activities) So, I needed an easy, no frills cake that would not ruin my freshly sanitized Fortress of Solitude. I needed a cake in a mug recipe.

So, I found this quick and easy recipe on the Food Network and molded it into what I needed. Recently, I’ve been trying to eat better so I don’t feel like I’m dying when I’m tying my shoes. So, I had to figure out how to tweak this bad boy without removing any of its decadence and delight, two things absolutely necessary for an enjoyable chocolate cake experience.

Here’s the original as I wrote down from their site – the parenthesis was my scribble-scrabble for myself. I’ll explain in the revised version.

Side note: the day before I’d made an easy cherry almond crumble – seen here:

And, I had some leftover cherry filling I’d made.

Super Easy “Sugar-Free” Cherry Filling

1 Cup – Fresh Pitted Black Cherries

2 tsp – Unsalted Butter

2 tsp – Stevia powder

1 tsp – Cornstarch

Dash of Nutmeg

Dash of Salt

Good Splash of water

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and heat on medium until thickened.

So, I had about 1/2 cup of refrigerated cherry filling left since my crumble was an individual portion. I knew I could make a killer Gooey Chocolate Cherry Cake in a Mug with what I had left.

Here’s my healthier, cherried-up version of the cake:

Gooey Chocolate Cherry Cake in a Mug

¼ Cup Flour

3 tsp Stevia Powder

2 TBS Cocoa Powder

1 Egg

3 TBS Almond Milk

3 TBS Melted Coconut Oil

1 tsp Mexican Vanilla Extract

Dash of Salt

Dash of Chipotle Chile Powder (substitute or add a dash of cinnamon for more depth)

Super Easy “Sugar-Free” Cherry Filling

Whisk all but the cherry filling together in a medium sized bowl until well combined. Add cherry filling into the bottom of a large mug. Pour combined cake batter over cherries. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. I like mine gooey, but you can microwave for another minute if you want yours without the muddy goodness.

My substitutions are the healthier alternatives and don’t take away any of the decadence or flavor. The addition of the chipotle chile powder is also just another layer of depth that adds to the cake. It’s that extra “something” that tickles the throat without creating a burn. Since the cherries already had nutmeg in them, I didn’t add more cinnamon. If you wanted to remove the cherry filling altogether and just add cinnamon, you’d have a wicked Mexican Chocolate Cake in a Mug! Plus, you probably won’t need that additional minute in the micro to avoid the gooey. And, you could add some sweetened condensed milk or cajeta (caramelized condensed milk) over it to really take it to another level!

Enjoy whatever version you decide to make!

I know I enjoyed mine, especially with my cafecito!