Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Brownie of shame

So there was this thing on the radio this morning about a woman who had a fake engagement/wedding ring that she would wear to go pick up takeout on Friday nights so that people would think "oh, she's picking up food for her family" not "oh, what a sad, sad single girl."  And I know this should cue all kinds of feminist rage about how dare a woman's worth be based on her marital status, how tragic that a woman be embarrassed to eat, etc, but mostly I thought "Wow, that's genius."  Because I, too, suffer from Takeout Shame.  It is actual embarrassment that keeps me from getting takeout more often.  I have been wanting to get a salad and a slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory for weeks, but it is so cliched and the idea of having to stand in front of other people going out to actual dinner with other people and get my takeout is too humiliating.

This is where the Shame Brownie comes in.  Sometimes, you need dessert.  You don't have the energy, desire, or altruism to bake an entire batch of something and share it with your coworkers.  And thus, the single serve brownie in a mug comes into play.  Sometimes, though, this doesn't seem like enough, so you double the recipe, make it in a bowl, and make hot fudge to go with.

This tastes a lot better than it looks.  I promise.

I cut the hot fudge recipe to a fourth, and it was still a ton if you're trying to make this single serve.

Delicious, and cheaper and less shameful than takeout.

As is often the case, my eyes were much bigger than my stomach.  I made it through about a third of this and the rest went into the fridge.  For being microwaved, the brownie has really nice, light, fluffy texture.  It is better the day it's made, so don't follow my lead and make a smaller quantity.  Plus in a mug the brownie looks quaint and not just gluttonous.

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