Mug Cakes!

It sounds odd… and the initial thought is to call them “cup” cakes.. but someone else took that name already… for things that aren’t even made in traditional cups.

We made 5 different Mug Cakes tonight. Each of them has the same basic ingredients for the most part, so we don’t need to have a five different shots of measuring out flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, eggs, and butter.

First off, we’ll do the Coffee Cake. This one might have been the most complex.

 

Coffee Cake in a mug

This was the favorite of the people sampling tonight… the most cake-like.

• First, soften 1 TBSP of butter in a mug. Not melted, just softened.
• Add 2 TBSP Sugar and mix until butter and sugar are creamed together.
• Add 1/2 of a egg. (or a small/medium egg)
• Add 2 TBSP Sour Cream

  

• Add a few drops of vanilla (<1/8 tsp)
• Mix in 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
• Add 1/8 tsp baking powder

That takes care of the cake batter:

Now, for the crumb topping…. you need 1 TBSP softened butter, 2 TBSP Flour, 1 TBSP Brown Sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon.

Mix all of that together until it’s well incorporated.

Add the crumb topping to the top of the batter (or give it a swirl in the batter) and toss the cup in the microwave. This took 1 minute, 20 seconds… but check with a toothpick or skewer… it’s ready when it comes out clean.

 

 

Blueberry Mug Cake

This one was voted top 2 of the bunch. This was very moist and cake like.

4 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 tablespoons white granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
7-8 fresh blueberries

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except blueberries in an oversized mug until smooth. Drop in fresh blueberries. Heat in microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes. Cool for a few minutes and eat while warm.

 

 

Peanut butter Mug Cake

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 tablespoons white granulated sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

 

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in an oversized coffee mug. Whisk well with a small whisk until smooth. Microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes and then take it out to check to see if it is done. If not, continue to microwave in thirty second intervals. Mine was done at 2 minutes. You don’t want to overcook it or it will become rubbery. You can also make this into two smaller-sized mugs. You can mix the batter all in one mug and then pour half into another mug. Make sure you cook each one individually.

So.. this one got a little tall in the microwave… and broke…. So I picked it up, popped it back on top, and finished cooking it.

 

 

Strawberries and Cream Mug Cake

1 egg

2 tablespoons strawberry yogurt, well stirred

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup fresh sliced strawberries and whipped cream for serving

1. Coat the inside of the mug lightly with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Mix the egg, yogurt, vegetable oil, baking powder, extract, sugar and flour in a small bowl until completely smooth.

3. Fill the mug to halfway full and place it in the microwave. Bake it for 3 to 4 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Top with strawberries and whipped cream and serve.

 

 

Chocolate-Chocolate-Chocolate-Chip Mug Cake

Ingredients

• 1 - Coffee Mug
• 4 - tablespoons flour......(that's plain flour, not self-rising)
• 4 - tablespoons sugar
• 2 - tablespoons baking cocoa
• 1 - egg
• 3 - tablespoons milk
• 3 - tablespoons oil
• 3 -4 - tablespoons chocolate chips
• Small splash of vanilla extract

How to make it

• 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, and mix again.
• Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 2 minutes at 1000 watts. try 1/1/2 - 2 minutes first so its not so dry ok.........
• 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.
• Top with ice cream and CHOW DOWN.

 

 

 

 

Some Notes

Not a damn one of these is a single serving. They all say that they are, but no-one needs to sit down and eat a coffee mug’s worth of cake.

Also, most of these make more than can fit in a traditional coffee mug. So, general rule of thumb, don’t fill the coffee mug more than 2/3 of the way. The peanut butter one got way too high, and made a mess in the microwave. You can see the residue on the outside of all of the cups.. and most of them, I did leave a good bit of room. I had the best results filling the mugs just over half-way.

Also, everyone will say “DUH” to this… but… these things are HOT when they come out of the microwave. I made a brownie one last night (not good enough to make the top 5 here) and I burnt the hell out of the roof of my mouth. Blister and all…. it was disgusting. (not the brownie.. the blister)

I served the strawberry one with yogurt and strawberries on top. Bad choice. Hot strawberry yogurt is kinda gross. Go with whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.

The coffee cake was probably the most cake like of the bunch… but the chocolate one was pretty awesome as well… my mom didn’t like it as much, because the texture of the cake was a bit different… but that was because half of the cake was melted chocolate chips… I thought that with the ice cream, it was like a big ol brownie sundae.

The peanut butter one was decently tasty, but could use a dollop of chocolate ice cream. Then, you’d have an awesome Reeses peanut butter cup type of magic going on.

The blueberry one… well it was like a big, moist blueberry muffin… it really didn’t need anything.. and it was awesome.

 

So… make some cakes. They’re awesome. They’re fast. You don’t have to dirty the mixer and a handful of bowls.