When there’s just Speedy and me at home — and that’s five days out of every week — I try to refrain from baking. And it’s so darn hard to control myself especially when the itch to patter in the kitchen strikes. But a whole cake or pie (even small ones), a whole tray of cookies or brownies, an entire bunch of cupcakes or muffins… that’s too much for two people.
But you know how most recipes are… A cookie recipe calls for one egg only and the yield is 24 cookies. How does one halve a recipe like that? Even if it were possible to halve the recipe, can you imagine pre-heating the oven just to bake 12 cookies? With the cost of power — electric or gas — well, it just seems too wasteful.
One alternative, of course, is to just go ahead and bake a full recipe and store the bulk for the girls when they come home on weekends. But not all baked products benefit from freezing or storing at room temperature. Some baked goodies just don’t taste and look right after a couple of days. As a result, I rarely bake during weekdays. I wait for the girls to come home and then bake whatever they request.
Then, I discovered the world of microwave cupcakes. Mug cakes, actually, because they are baked in coffee mugs. Baking time? Two and a half minutes. No kidding.
These cupcakes are my first attempt with microwave baking. Really easy. No mixing bowls needed. Just a fork to stir. And the really wonderful thing? My trepidation was that they’d come out hard and dry. But they were soft and moist. Granted, the texture is coarser than that of a cake or cupcake that had been mixed using the regular procedure. But, oh, the effect is really rustic and I love it. The cupcakes rose higher on one side but they were uniformly baked.
For this recipe, you’ll need a measuring spoon with a 1 tablespoon capacity (except for the salt, all the ingredients are measured by tablespoonful) and a microwave safe mug with a one-cup capacity.
Based on a recipe from Steller Kitchen.
Recipe: Microwave chocolate cupcakes
Ingredients
- 8 tbsps. of cake flour
- 8 tbsps. of white sugar
- 4 tbsps. of unsweetened cocoa
- 1 tbsp. of instant coffee granules
- 2 pinches of salt
- 4 tbsps. of whisked egg (I discovered that a medium egg is equal to 4 tbsps.)
- 6 tbsps. of milk (the kind you’d drink)
- 6 tbsps. of oil (I used palm oil)
Instructions
- Into each cup place 4 tbsps. of flour, 4 tbsps. of sugar, 2 tbsps. of cocoa, 1/2 tbsp. of coffee granules and a pinch of salt. Stir well to combine.
- Pour in 2 tbsps. of whisked egg into each cup. Mix. The batter will look like bread dough at this point but that’s how it should be.
- Pour in 3 tbsps. of milk and 3 tbsps. of oil into each cup. Mix until smooth. Now you have cake batter that looks like regular cake batter.
- Bake on HIGH for two and a half minutes. One cup at a time. I don’t know how the cakes will turn out if you cook two cups at the same time.
- Note, too, that the two minute baking time is for a 1000W microwave oven. If your microwave’s wattage is lower, you’ll have to increase the baking time. By how much, I have no idea.
- Once the cake is out of the microwave, just take a dessert spoon and dig in.
- By the time I was almost finished with my cake, I discovered that the bottom was still slightly wet. That was fine with me. But if you prefer not to have that slightly wet bottom, you might want to increase the baking time by another 30 seconds.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 2 minute(s) per cup
Number of servings (yield): 2
Very tempting, Ms. Connie! Thanks for the recipe! I’ll try it tonight.
Have fun!
Hi Ms. Connie. What brand of unsweetened cocoa did you use? is it the tablea (round ones from batangas)? or the powdered ones like Ricoa?
I’ve been doing these mug cakes for quite some time now. They’re my go to recipe for that instant chocolate fix. I love adding chocolate chips into the batter before baking.
hi, ms. connie. try ko to bukas. me nakita ko ready made mix na ganito sa grocery (i’m from canada). pero ako bumili nakita ko lang yun taste test. this is good from scratch… thanks for the recipe…
Hmmm pwede po kaya butter? Instead of oil? Or kelangan talaga oil? Kasi … parang icky. Oil. Ang diet masisira. Hehehe.
great idea connie! very convenient for those late night chocolate cake cravings. hehehe!
Laurie, it’s powdered. I think that’s pretty obvious from the third photo. I don’t do brands, I get the unbranded cocoa powder from bakery supply stores.
Lerker, not all cakes are made with butter. Chiffon type cakes are made with oil, in fact. Diet? You really think palm oil is more fattening than butter?
I grew up kasi thinking OIL = EVIL. Well evil rin siguro ang butter pero masarap na evil.
Miss Connie, matagal na ko naghahanap ng good review about baking on microwave oven…At dahil ikaw ang nagsabi na maganda ang result, I will now give it a try! Bukas na bukas din, gagawin ko ito!
At bukas na bukas din, I’ll post my microwave carrot mug cakes.
wow, this is something new for me though i remember in late 80s, when microwave was just introduced in the market, i tried to microwave a boxed cake mix – the result was ok but of course not the same if baked the traditional way. this is a good alternative esp each of us is on “diet mode.” i don’t need to bake 12 cupcakes in one go
You know, I just made microwave carrot mug cakes using my usual carrot cake recipe. And the mug cakes came out swell. So, I’m experimenting on whether regular cake/cupcake recipes can be done in the microwave, period. Maybe just a matter of getting the setting and baking time right.
Ms. Connie,
This is great. At last, a recipe for REAL FOOD in the microwave oven. Till this recipe, I used my microwave for heating left-overs.
I sort of imagined a compact bread pudding like consistency for cake baked in the microwave oven but surprisingly, your “mug cakes” look great and they rose nicely. They also look so rich and fudgey.
I suppose you didn’t have any left overs for this- I was just wondering how the texture of the cake was when it cooled.
I will be waiting for your microwave carrot cake recipe. We have been feasting on home baked carrot cake ever since carrot prices went down considerably from its high Christmas season prices and have already baked it twice these past two weeks. We just can’t get enough!
Another note Ms. Connie-
Last December, our 35 year old TIGER OVEN TOASTER broke down and I bought a replacement oven toaster. The model I got was slightly larger than the usual oven toaster but smaller than a table top oven. It also has controls for bottom heat, top heat or both. Wow was I happy when I found out that my muffin pan fit into it. Since then, I have baked many muffins and cup cakes for breakfast and snacks with out heating up the whole kitchen and using only half of a usual recipe which would make just six muffins- perfect for three people.
It’s been decades since we had an oven toaster in the house. From what I’ve seen in appliance stores though, they’ve comes a long way, thermostat controls and all.
It looks like a souffle! Looks sooo yummy!
simple and yummy….thanks for the tips Connie….
How about banana mug cake with walnut? Have you tried? Sana puede kasi I love banana cake.
Connie, this is so exciting! I’ve seen a friend post a recipe like this on facebook but since I am on an eternal diet mode I resisted (but I am sooo tempted to make this one but don’t have instant coffee granules at the moment). What excites me more though is the microwave carrot cupcake recipe you are posting tomorrow. I was planning to make those this week for my son to take to school but wasn’t looking forward to the many leftovers since there’s just the 2 of us (my husband has enviable self-control when it comes to sweets). Puede mag-request ng microwave corn cupcake din, hehehe, that was on my to-do-list too and was in fact eyeing your Kenny Rogers style corn cupcakes. You can be starting a revolution here Connie. Pretty soon those muffin pans might become a thing of a past because of you esp for those of us who don’t have big families =)
Good morning, Ms Connie…. will using ramekins work too? Thank you
Wow! I use the microwave only for heating leftovers and popping popcorn…not anymore.
I will try this,actually….right now.
Wow, who would have thought that this would be such a hit post.
hi ms. connie! i made this last night and it was so good. i added chocolate chips which made it even better. i’m sure it will also be good with whipping cream
Wow… Connie, this is something good, really good! Lalo na sa mga chocolate people like us!!!
Finally cooking with your microwave! And it’s a real hit! Will try this too!
I make something like this all the time, only I add vanilla and omit the coffee, and I use a giant mug so it’s a single serving that I share with my niece.
and here’s another yummy one!! sa weekend ko na to gagawin. our microwave definitely won’t leave our house anymore.
hi Con…. wow another great microwave recipe!!!! ur the best con….. thanks…..
Thanks for this! I love your recipes!
I’m working with just a 1-burner stove, oven toaster and microwave oven and I really miss having a regular oven especially on those days when I’m in a baking mood and want homemade cookies/brownies/cupcakes.
Excited to make these in the weekend!
This is a perfect recipe for a college student’s limited kitchen
Yum!
Thank you for this recipe! We just did this a few minutes ago. It averted a possible meltdown of my 11 year old boy who has Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s so frustrated in doing his crochet project in school. He can’t find a logical reason for learning how to crochet! I had to distract him by making him mix the batter! It worked. He liked the cake! My 3 year old precocious little girl loved it too!
Thank you for your blogsite’s numerous eggplant recipes. He loves eggplant too like your daughter.
More power and God bless!
“He can’t find a logical reason for learning how to crochet!”
I can’t either so I sympathize with your boy. Shouldn’t crocheting be an elective or something? I mean, it’s not a survival skill like cooking.
He’s fully integrated traditional school and he is expected to do it like everyone else even though they know he has fine motor skill coordination problems. Sadly, our country’s school system still doesn’t make use of differentiated learning techniques
Oh, he did well in last trimester’s cooking class. He’ll survive!
I agree — our educational system is still so largely medieval.
At last, a cake recipe for 2! My husband keeps telling to use half recipe only ALL THE TIME, This should please him. On second thought, he doesn’t like chocolate, so I’ll just make this to please myself. Afterall, it’s only 2 servings. Thanks thanks!
Ms. Connie you’re the best! Your blog is one of my greatest discoveries online. I tried making your carrot mugcake last night, it was a success!!! whooo! more microwave recipes please?!!!! wala kasi akong oven sa bahay… so i love the idea of making pastries in the microwave. yummy and fast!
love it,but i made it with a chocolate ganache topping, yummy
Ms. Connie…ask ko lang kung all-purpose flour lang ang available sa house but the recipe needs a cake flour. Can we add cornstarch to the all-purpose flour? How many tbsp of cornstarch?
Re your microwave recipes-carrot,chocolate and banana-can I reduce the amount of sugar? Will reducing the sugar have an effect on the texture of the cupcakes?
I don’t know. I’ve never tried that so I have no basis for comparison.
Thanks for the recipe! Made it tonight and hubby loved it! Super yummy. Also, I love your blog. Spent most of spring break reading it. I’ve already made your soba & edamame dish. Planning to make your pan de sal soon. Thanks again and God bless.