My Baking Diary - 5 Minutes Non-Chocolate "Mug" Cake

Cooking (and now baking) is one of the many ways I de-stress. I find it therapeutic to just stir ingredients in a bowl/mug, cut ingredients into neat sizes, & watch the results of my labour coming to reality. As lunch breaks are a short, yet great time to catch a breather, I decided to fix myself a simple salad *bliss...de-stress time for 1st-half of the day*

Lunch is Served!

Toss together some Romaine lettuce, cubes of red tomatoes, mangoes, dry apricots, hard-boiled egg, & top the salad with some pieces of fragrant pan-fried chicken breast meat (marinated with a little salt/soya sauce, pepper, & corn flour). The dressing is just the simple mayonnaise with a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar, dash of pepper, & some mixed Italian herbs :)

Back to the main content of this post....

Since the day I decided to pick up baking, I've attempted many simple, fuss-free recipes that does not require a cake mixer/weighing scale. After a long day at work, I decided to unwind & try out a non-chocolate "mug" cake. "It only takes 5 minutes anyway", I thought to myself. But I've learned some lessons from my 1st attempt last week, so I ensured that I don't make the same mistake this time around, even if it takes me more than 5-minutes to get this simple 'cake' out.

I used my own tip in my previous blog post & mixed my ingredients in a bowl first before transferring the mixture into the mug. It's truly much better! :D It took me more than 5-minutes, no doubt, but the end result is a much smoother & well-mixed microwaved cake ;) Below is the list of ingredients used for this attempt (same recipe with some tweaks):

Cake 1: Vanilla + Mango
Cake 2: Banana + Coffee
Cake 3: Triple Choc - Cocoa powder, chopped blueberry dark chocolates, chopped white chocolates, chocolate rice (optional)

Ingredients:
* coffee mug
4 tablespoons flour - make sure you measure it right - or the cake is a lie!
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (I just omitted this ingredient for non-choc cakes & used 1 tablespoon for the Triple Choc cake)
2 tablespoons whisked egg - 1 egg is too much, 1 egg white is too eggy, 1 yolk is too dense, but 2 tblsp is just right!
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
splash vanilla or other flavoring - try peppermint or cinnamon
1 ripe banana (3/4 mashed & 1/4 sliced to top the cake)
3-5 tablespoons of mashed mangoes (I used the orange ones & you can add as much mangoes as you want into your cake. I have some diced mangoes as toppings too)
2 tablespoons of chopped dark chocolate (I used what I have in my fridge - with blueberries)
2 tablespoons of chopped white chocolate
1 tablespoon of chocolate rice (optional)
1 tablespoon of chopped almonds (optional)
Some coffee powder

* For a fudgier version, omit egg!

*****

Vanilla + Mangoes

Mix the flour (1), sugar (2), & eggs (3)...

Add in milk, oil, & vanilla essence (4 & 5), then add in the mashed mangoes, mix well, & pour the batter into the mug - top it with diced mangoes...

Banana + Coffee Cake & Triple Choc Cake

Banana: Same ingredients & method as above, except that I added some coffee powder after adding the sugar to the mixture. I also added some chopped almonds to give the cake some crunch, before adding the mashed bananas. I topped the cake with the banana slices & sprinkled some brown sugar on the bananas :)

Triple Choc: All the same ingredients as illustrated above, except that I added 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder + some coffee powder into the milk (coffee brings out a richer chocolate taste) & added the 3 tablespoons of milk into the mixture. After adding all the "wet" ingredients, I added the chopped chocolates & sprinkled  the cake with some chocolate rice.

Microwave it for 3-5 minutes

Check out how the Triple Choc bubbled WAY more than the other 2 non-chocolate ones!

Makes me wonder why my non-chocolate cakes didn't really rise...anyone has any clue?

Tadaa!!

My camera battery died, so I took the shots below with my handphone...colour ain't as nice, but oh well...they taste not too bad. MUST be eaten warm/fresh (if possible), lest the cake will feel dry, hard, & floury :S

Lesson learned: Unsweetened cocoa powder, when omitted from the recipe results in a flatter microwaved-cake! I've no idea why (yet to find out as I didn't use baking soda anyway, so I've no idea why the acidic cocoa powder does strange effects on my microwaved cake). Therefore, I shall only bother making chocolate mug cakes in future! :D

Stay tuned for more crazy attempts, recipes, & restaurant-recommendations as well!

"Mug" Cake Crazy,