Let them eat cake! My mug cake recipe

When your plans of moving abroad have been delayed, and the days in England are short, cold and the sun never seems to shine, I feel like I need to hibernate for the winter. All of my aches and pains intensify and getting out for a walk when it's not raining can be a battle of wills with my own body. This is one of the main reasons we are moving to Barbados. The warm weather and the (slightly) longer days in winter immediately make me feel better. But when you can't start your new life in the sun just yet, what do you do? Well, my answer usually has some form of chocolate involved, and maybe a last-minute holiday somewhere warm.

So, in a bit of a break from my usual stories, I just want to share this lovely recipe with anyone else who might need it. It's one I have been using for quite some time with great success.

I love anything that includes chocolate, and I love something quick and easy that will tick the sweet tooth box if I feel the need. I used to buy some pre-made sachets of those cakes you make in a mug, but they were so expensive for what they were, and they always left me with a bit of a chemical taste in my mouth. They would do in an emergency though😉! One day while staring into the cupboard and realising I didn't have one of the sachets left, I thought to myself how hard could it be to make my own from the baking supplies I have in the cupboard? I like to bake, so I had the basic idea of what ingredients go into a cake and had things like flour and cocoa in the cupboard. I just had to find a substitute for eggs, as I didn't think such a small cake would work well with them.

A bit of a search on Google and I found that the use of vegetable oil might work for what I had in mind. After many attempts at what I thought would work, and varying the amounts of ingredients and cooking times each time I think I have a pretty good recipe now. It truly is a hard life having to try them all 😋. Have a go at making them and see what you think.

Keep scrolling down if you would prefer to follow along with a video rather than read the text.

Ingredients for One Chocolate Mug Cake

3 tbsp Plain Flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)

5 tbsp milk (or milk alternate) I have made it many times with oat milk and it tastes just as good as the regular milk version

2 tbsp cooking oil (I have used Sunflower, Olive oil and Rapeseed and all work well)

Method

1) Measure all your dry ingredients into a regular-sized mug

2) Add your wet ingredients

3) Give it a really good stir (I've found a fork works best for me)- sometimes you get some clumps, try and get rid of what you can, but don't worry if you still have a few, as they seem to work themselves out in the baking process

4) Cook on full power in the microwave for about 60 seconds (my microwave is a 900w so adjust accordingly as all microwaves vary)

5) Open the microwave and have a look - You want a little bit of still runny batter on the top as this acts like a sauce, but you don't want too much (If you are not sure, you can watch my video of how to make, a link is embedded below).

6) Cook for an additional 5-10 seconds until you get to the correct consistency

7) Add toppings if desired

8) Eat and enjoy ☺️

9) Repeat as often as necessary to get your chocolate fix!

CAUTION: The mug and the cake are very hot when you remove them from the microwave so please be careful! We don't want any burnt fingers or burnt mouths.

It can take a few tries to get to the perfect cake in a mug. It's about 70 seconds for mine, but as I said your microwave might vary slightly. The trial process is all part of the fun and you get to eat the attempts along the way.

Here's the video as promised to show how I make mine, so you can work along with me if you aren't sure about the method above.

Back to my regularly scheduled travel posts soon. I'm just working out the last few details.