Super soft chocolate mug cakes

Mug cakes first reached fever pitch virality during the late 2000s - early 2010s as a popular dessert recipe shared widely over Pinterest, food blogs and social media. Beloved for their convenience, speed and single size portion made in the microwave, mug cakes had many reasons to be popular. Made with simple pantry ingredients and minimal washing up, this social media favourite has every reason to make it back onto your table for those looking for simple, but effective desserts to share with friends.

• serves

  10

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  1:30 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Stream free On Demand

The Make-Ahead Menu

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

PG

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

PG

Ingredients

Mug cake mixture

• 2 cups (300 g) self-raising flour
• 2 cups caster sugar
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 vanilla bean

For each mug cake

• ½ cup mug cake mix (above)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• ¼ cup (60 ml) milk
• ¼ cup (60 ml) boiling water
• Vanilla ice cream and berries, to serve

Instructions

1. Combine the ingredients for the mug cake mixture in a large zip lock bag and mix gently to combine. You don’t need to split the vanilla bean. It will perfume the mixture as it sits in your pantry, and you can still use the bean for something else another time.
   
2. To make each individual mug cake, combine ½ cup of the prepared mug cake mixture in a large mug (or small bowl) with the oil and milk. Whisk to a thick batter, then pour over the boiling water. Microwave at 1000W for 90 seconds, then remove and allow to stand for 30 seconds. Serve the super soft chocolate mug cake with ice cream and berries. Repeat for as many serves as you like.

Note

• The cake mixture will rise as it cooks in the microwave, so choose a mug or bowl with plenty of room to prevent it from overflowing!

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

The Make-Ahead Menu

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

PG

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

PG