• 1 1/3 oz chocolate, semisweet or darker (tried the 99%, was a bit too dark…)
• 2 2/3 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/6 cup of cocoa powder.

melt chocolate and butter together, (in double boiler if you like) and stir until smooth, remove from heat.

beat egg and sugar together until the mixture is significantly lighter. 4-8 minutes with electric mixer. somewhat longer if you are doing it by hand. (n.b. beating by hand will expend *just* enough calories to justify eating this…)

by this time the chocolate should have cooled somewhat, but still be pourable. needs to be cool enough not to cook the egg.

stir the chocolate/butter mixture into egg/sugar mixture. if you used a double boiler, be careful not to spill any water into the mixture.

sift the cocoa powder over the mixture and fold it in until just dampened.

pour into well buttered cake pan, ramekin, or cupcake tins. the recipe as written should make 2-3 cupcakes.

bake at 375º for 17-23 minutes (less time means more pudding like…)

recommend eating it warm, with ice cream.

(interesting variation to try would be to separate the egg white, beat until stiff and fold it in just before the cocoa powder. should probably make a decent soufflé, if anyone tries it, let me know…)

update: a little bit of orange zest is a welcome addition, also tried the beaten egg whites. didn’t rise quite to the heights I was hoping, so probably more trouble than it’s worth.