April 26, 2018
Chocolate Mug Cakes!
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Easy and delicious chocolate mug cakes with a gooey centre that are ready in minutes!
Chocolate mug cakes
Hello chocolate mug cakes! So it’s an obvious thing if you read my blog, or look for recipes on here, that I adore chocolate… and cake. To be fair, I prefer cookies or brownies over cake in general, but sometimes thats just down to the fact that they’re easier to make. Therefore, I wanted to finally publish a recipe that is SO EASY that it’ll be rude for you guys to not try it. Honestly, six ingredients, no butter or eggs, and ready in less than five minutes.
I’ve tried several mug cake recipes over my time, as they’re just so easy. When you want a slice of chocolate cake, and you either don’t want to bake an entire one yourself, or you don’t want to buy one. Literally, whisking together some ingredients together and microwaving the mug cake, and huzzah you have a fudgey, chocolatey and delicious treat. I went for chocolate for my first mug cake recipe, but don’t worry… I will be posting plenty more as the time passes!
Serves one
I decided to make two of them for the photos to have a little more impact than just one.. but the recipe is designed for just one mug. Obviously, you have to make sure that the mug you use, that it can actually go in a microwave. I once tried to use one of my favourite mugs… but that went a little wrong. Let’s just say it had to go straight in the bin. But anyway, I used these cute mugs that I got from my local Starbucks, and they were the perfect size!
Raising agent
I tried this recipe with some baking powder, and it does work and make it more fluffy, but personally I wanted a denser and more gooey cake. You can add in 1/2 tsp of baking powder, but its entirely optional. I used self raising flour as I preferred it to plain, and then thats enough raising agent for me. The measurements are a difficult thing I find because peoples versions of ‘one tablespoon’ can vary in weight SO VERY MUCH so I have put weights as well. 15g is typically a level tablespoon weight, so don’t do heaped.. it might not turn out as good!
More chocolate?!
I did think that even though these cakes are so gooey already, that they needed a little more oomph. One of my favourite things at Easter was to add a frozen creme egg in the middle of the mug and it was so ridiculously yummy I couldn’t cope, but I never got round to posting it in time. So, as Easter is now long gone and all the treats are out of the shops again… I thought why not just use some actual chocolate?!
I thought I would make mine triple chocolate style by using a couple of chunks of milk chocolate, and then also some white chocolate chunks. When microwaving the cake, these melt as well, and it forms a gooey molten centre that you can devour.
Recipe adaptations
One of the best things about this recipe? It can so easily be made dairy free, and vegan. Honestly, I’ve tried several vegan versions, and they’re just as good. The first time I started making these I was attempting to be dairy free to see if I had an intolerance, and I was heartbroken I couldn’t have one. However, soon after realising I already didn’t include butter, and my cocoa powder is dairy free… why not try a different milk?!
I used almond milk and it heated up and ‘baked’ in the exact same way as the whole milk. Also, the chocolate chunks in the centre can easily be made vegan by using dairy free dark chocolate (which to be honest is most dark chocolates these days!)
Top tips!
Be careful when making these with your microwave as well. Microwaves can vary in power, so my guides for timing can be different for your own. It’s worth giving one a go, and you’ll be able to adjust yourself from there. If you’re doing more than one at once, they will take longer than just one on its own, so be wary of that as well! For the two in these photos, it took 100 seconds. For just one, it took 60 seconds. I hope you love these as much as I do! Enjoy! x
Chocolate Mug Cakes!
Ingredients
- 45 g self raising flour (3 tbsp)
- 30 g caster sugar (2 tbsp)
- 15 g cocoa powder (1 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 4 tbsp whole milk (Or almond milk)
- Chunks of chocolate
Instructions
- In a mug, add all the ingredients, apart from the chunks of chocolate.
- Add in a few chunks of chocolate into the middle. I used two pieces of white, and two pieces of milk chocolate.
- Microwave for 60-90 seconds. And enjoy!
Notes
- My microwave is an 1000watt microwave, and my mug cake only took one minute to do on full power.
- If you want to do more than one, add on 30 seconds or so if microwaving at the same time. Mine took about 100 seconds to do two.
- You can EASILY make this vegan, by using dairy free dark chocolate in the middle, and using almond milk.
- Sometimes it can look a little gooey on top, or round the edges, but it is done!
- You can easily mix everything in a bowl, and simply pour into a mug to bake in the oven.
- You can add in 1/2tsp baking powder if you want it to be more light and fluffy, but it can raise up a lot more and explode over the edges!
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J x
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This was the best chocolate mug cake I’ve ever tried! I have deleted all of the other ones I had saved as I don’t need any other. I love how it has a deep cocoa flavour and isn’t too sweet.
I did have to add a about 2 tbsps more milk to the mixture as it wouldn’t mix with being too dry, my scales are accurate so not sure why this was. I also added a little vanilla essence and a tiny sprinkle of salt into the mixture. I used nutella in the middle which worked beautifully. I may try biscoff/golden blonde/oreo cookie spread etc the next time I make it for my children. The possibilities are endless!
My microwave is only 800w and this was fully baked through at 1 minute 30; I suspected I’d have gotten away with 1 minute 15/20 though for a slightly moister cake.
Great recipe, easy and extremely tasty, we add square of dark chocolate to the middle before putting in the microwave, delicious!
I bought your book for a friend and then found your website, tried this mug cake recipe, made it in ramekins with crunched walnuts and Terry’s chocolate orange chunks and OMG this is amazing! When it’s just two of us making a whole cake is wasteful but this is definitely going to be my weekly treat for dessert! Lovely thank you so much for sharing! Xx
Made this because I was craving something sweet & being 15 weeks pregnant, decided to make it at 11pm.
Absolutely wonderful recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Hi, I’ve been recommended this recipe – do you think I could swap the flour for coconut or almond flour?
Hiya! I personally have not tried this – but its definitely worth a go! Let me know! x
Best Chocolate Mug Cake recipe ever xxx
Omg just made this , it’s the best thing ever
First time make mug cake I wanted a cake (but didn’t wanna share with the bf a 11 yr n a 15month old mummy wanted something that she didn’t wanna share lol) I loved it next time tho I’ll only put it in for 60second not 90 seconds I also but milk chocolate white chocolate n caramilk chocolate it was so good n top with fresh raspberries… will make again maybe even share (only if there nice to me lol) 5* from this Aussie!!! Thanks
Hi! I made the recipe but I must have made a mistake since everyone has left incredible reviews.
I decided to make this with brown graduated sugar as I didn’t have caster sugar at home and followed the recipe exactly and left it in the microwave for 60 secs.
The mug cake still looked like the flour as opposed to a cake sadly and tasted like it had bits within it, I’m not sure whether the granulated sugar caused it or maybe I left it in the microwave longer than I should have.
This will have happened due to the sugar – granulated has much larger crystals than caster, and a microwave won’t ‘cook’ the cakes for long enough.
This is the best mug cake recipe I’ve seen so far! Absolutely delicious. It goes very well with vanilla ice cream or nutella! Definitely using this recipe again. Thank you so much for this recipe!❤️
Hey! Aw I am so pleased you love it as much as I do. You are very welcome xx
I made this just now to fix my chocolate craving. Using baking powder as you mentioned in the notes. And the taste is AMAZING! Not too sweet and super soft chocolate cake texture. Thank you Jane ❤️
Ahh yayy this makes me so happy! I am so so glad you loved them as much as I do!xx
Super! Just like the recipe says. Mine came out great and it’s the first time I baked a mug cake in the microwave. I added some vanilla essence for taste.
Didn’t have any chocolate to put in so I just ate it with vanilla ice cream.
So glad you enjoyed!xx
I made it exactly as described, amazing.. how many calories would it be?
This was amazing! I followed the recipe exactly and drizzled a little custard on top once cooked. It was delicious, the only mug cake recipe that I’ve liked, thanks Jane.
Absolutely delicious recipe! I adapted it a bit for my family’s tastes using Lindt Lindor balls. I did a milk chocolate one for my mum, a chocolate and hazelnut one for my sister topped with a spoonful of Nutella and a white chocolate one for me (replaced cocoa powder with white hot choc powder) topped with Biscoff spread, all served with a scoop of ice cream on top. I love the original of this recipe but I 100% recommend having a play with it if you like other flavours too!
My niece recommend I use this recipe. Oh wow it turned out amazing 😊 I substituted the oil and used rapeseed oil instead but it still turned out good. Will definitely be making this again 🥰
Is it possible to use semi skimmed
milk?
Do you know how many calories are in this?
That was the nicest mug cake I have ever had!
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I have made this so many times and think it is the best one out there. You have to really mix it all in together for about 2 minutes to get the best taste I think.
Quick and easy, my sons love them! A little bit too rich for me but I do love the melt in the middle chocolate centre, my fave to pop in is 2 rolos and 2 squares milky bar.
Just perfect, easy, quick and delicious. Have no oven at home, so I’ve tried this recipe, honestly I’ve been sceptical about the result but the doubt was silly 😊 I’m curious if there is possibility to eat the cake when it’s cool, and have you ever tried to put some baking paper in to the mug so you can take it out and serve on the plate? 🤗
Ahh so glad you liked it! And I haven’t actually – I imagine it would still be tasty, just need to make sure it’s not over cooked so it doesn’t dry out too much!
Have tried many a mug cake recipe and all have been awful, but this was amazing. I added triple chocolate chunks and mini fudge pieces…and a few squares of milk chocolate poked into the middle for good measure! No idea what the wattage is on my microwave but 90 seconds was about right. Oh dear, you’ve started something in this house….!
Absolutely delicious. Was craving chocolate cake but didn’t want to make a whole one for time and size reasons. This recipe came with 5 star ratings so decided to give it a go – it did not disappoint! Not too dry, not too gooey – perfectly moist! I used all the ingredients listed and left out the baking powder as Jane suggested. It rose to the perfect level using self raising flour. I added in milk choc dairy milk and white choc dairy milk into the middle and they melted beautifully! Mine is an 800w microwave and took 70 seconds. Served mine with whipped cream and a hot cup of tea! Highly reccomend for a quick, tasty treat.
Wow been looking for a good mug cake recipe since lockdown in March. This is delicious and the gooey chocolate bits are a real treat 💕
Made this with my 2year old son earlier and he loved it – we used chunks of white chocolate. Then I made it as a cheeky evening treat for my three daughters but with smarties hidden inside and a dash of vanilla extract. Also lovely, and they got excited when they found the smarties treasure lol. And now I have finally made one for myself with a dollop of nutella and oh my goodness it was beautiful. I usually find they go from half liquid to totally dry in a couple of seconds but these came out perfectly each time. Only criticism is they are so easy and lovely that I am going to struggle to stop eating them hehe! Thank you for sharing x
Just made this absolutely delicious. Used butter instead of oil and added some nutella on top.
I’ve made cakes in different size coffee mugs before and it came out super. I honestly don’t think you necessarily need a special brand name mug.
I will definitely make this recipe.
Maria
I was NOT disappointed. Don’t mess around and get this whipped up now!
My go to chocolate quick fix. I use lactose free milk and put a splodge of Nutella or smooth biscoff spread in the middle! Even better with a bit of custard or cream. Making one right now!!
Was amazing been looking for a mug cake that taste good and this was definately a 10
I’ve made a lot of mug cakes in the past – this tops them all. Not too dry, not a liquid mess, and if you don’t have any chocolate you can just make a little chocolate icing, haha. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Jane, can I make a “vanilla” version of this too by removing the cocoa and maybe replacing with cornflour or maybe adding in 15g more of the flour? Thank you
I would remove the cocoa and add in 15g more flour! x
I only have frylight in terms of oil.. I’m guessing that this wouldnt work. Would butter work instead?
Ooh I’m not sure! You could definitely try the butter! x
Butter consistency is different to oil , so how do you measure the amount of butter equal to oil ?
I had it with blackcurrant jam and tasted like doughnuts too! If I had blackcurrants in the freezer I would of added them, I shall do that next time! Thanks so much, me and my daughter really enjoy your YouTube channel!!!
Can’t wait to go to my mum’s in UK and make this for her every night and experiment with adding different things In!!!
Love fro all the way in Sunny DUBAI!!! 😊
Best recipe ive tried for mug cake!
Oh my goodness! These look incredible! I’m about to go bug my mum into letting me make these😂😂😂🤭 quick question: does it have to be sunflower oil? Could it be another type instead? Thank you so much for all of your delicious recipes (I get a craving just looking at your pics, let alone reading the posts) I love them!😍😍😍😍
It’s my 12th b’day tomorrow and I’m gonna try talk my mum into making one of your cakes. I was thinking your funfetti one…………
Vegetable oil is probably the best alternative!! And thank you so much!!!
i made it and it barely rose😭
As mentioned in the post it doesn’t rise that much – but you can add an optional bit of baking powder if you want it to rise more!
Really wanted a chocolate fix tonight, this was amazing. used dark chocolate and white chocolate in the middle, really rich and filling, think this will be a regular in our household, thank you so much for posting
Was looking for a good mug cake recipe but this one is by far the best! Just right amount of ingredients and I used a Terry chocolate orange and some popping candy and it was lush! It even tastes great raw! Xxx
I made this today, as I really fancied a quick sweet treat and it lived up to my expectations. Unfortunately, I ended up splitting it with my two children.
I made it for my daughter’s 11th BDAY. She loves it <3
Can you use semi skimmed milk instead of whole?
You can do, I simply recommend using full fat ingredients to prevents splitting!
Loved it! Replaced the veg oil with butter and ate with some cream. Absolutely delicious but so simple!
amazing! tried on a whim during lock down and wanted chocolate. delicious! had with custard. xx
Ahh yay!!
Hi ! I made this recipie without the oil ( by accident ) but with a splash of rum. It was brilliant ! Thank you for the inspiration !
I love you! I was craving chocolate cake and found your recipe (the only one rated 5 stars) and 2 mins later I’m eating a delicious warm chocolate cake. I love the way it doesn’t use eggs as I haven’t been able to get any since Covid-19 lockdown. And I used Kinder chocolates too. So delicious. My soul feels super happy. Thank you 😋
Ahh yay! So glad you’ve enjoyed them!
Hi! Can you use coconut oil instead of Sunflower? Thanks. Can’t wait to try!
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not if it’s been melted!
Was craving cake this evening and this really hit the spot! Fab, quick and easy to follow recipe. Thanks for sharing 😊
I added marshmallows to mine! This is amazing !
Excellent recipe … Quick question … Would it work with plain flour?
It would, but they won’t rise up at all really!
Easy and tasty! Just what you need on a wet afternoon when you are craving something sweet during a box set binge!
I used oat milk as that’s what I has in, added the baking powder as I fancied the rise and put a blob of Malteser spread in the middle as I happened to have an open jar.
Thank you!
Absolutely filthy! Made these for OH and myself for the first time and we are bowled over! Definately new favourite pud and worked perfectly using skimmed milk instead of whole. Gorgeous, thank you Jane, you are a Godess 😊
How I do wish you had not printed this recipe, it is now my go to fix , it’s brilliant and so simple😁, but is not helping the weight loss ☹️
I’ve just tried making these and it came out lumpy and a bit dodgy looking. I mixed the ingredients together and didn’t think there was any lumps but there seemed to be. Any ideas? 🤷
If the mix was lumpy then you didn’t mix out all the lumps – try mixing it in a bowl first to make sure there aren’t any x
I added kinder chocolate to the middle and a blob of chocolate ice cream on top. Best mug cake ever and so simple to do.
Ohh my gosh I love this. Made it for me my bro and my dad and it went down soooo well
Definitely a go to.
I love baking but today didn’t have enough
ingredients to do a whole cake (as I had just made ur nyc chocolate chip cookies, amazing
btw) so tried this tysm Jane ur my idol I would love to do something like u do or own a cafe
thank u
already preordered ur recipe book as soon as
it came out so excited to read that one. 🥰
Hi, this is truly the best microwave cup cake recipe ever. The whole family enjoyed them.
Thank you 😍
Ahh thats amazing!
I put a teaspoon or peanut butter in mine instead of chocolate chunk and it was delicious! The best mug cake recipe I’ve tried 😍
Yesssss!!! I haven’t tried peanut butter yet, will do next time! Also works well with Biscoff and Nutella… 😍
Made them for a 6 People dinner party and they were delicious 😋
Yay! I’m so glad!
I just made this recipe and i thought it was lovely! However my chunks of chocolate in the middle didn’t seem to melt 🤷🏽♀️ I put it in an 800w microwave for 70 seconds. How do i fix this next time?
What chocolate did you use? Sometimes due to how microwaves can work it can just happen that way because of how they heat. Try smaller pieces of chocolate maybe so it needs less time. Or put the chocolate on top!
Wow. These look so good.
Quick question, how do you calculate the calories?
Do you us a website/app etc?
Thank you
It’s part of the plugin that creates the recipe cards – its all from there.
Cannot wait to make this!! Xx
Enjoy!! x