Microwave Molten Cake

By Addie

This decadent chocolate cake recipe is perfect for a late night treat. Add a dollop of peanut butter in the middle for an added bonus!

Ingredients

• 1 coffee mug
• 4 Tbsp. cake flour (plain, not self-rising)
• 4 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. cocoa
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp. milk
• 3 Tbsp. oil
• Small splash of vanilla
• 3 Tbsp. chocolate chips, optional
• 1 teaspoon peanut butter, optional

Preparation

Step 1

Add dry ingredients to mug, mix well with a fork. Add egg, mix thOroughly. Pour in milk, oil and vanilla, mix well.

Add chocolate chips if desired. Push a dollop of peanut butter into the center of the batter if desired.

Put mug into microwave and cook for three minutes on 1000 watts. Cake will rise over top of mug. Allow to cool for 2 minutes.
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REVIEWS:

Looked fantastic when rising in the microwave and I thought wow this will be great but unfortunatly came out like rubber. I have a 800watt microwave so cooked for 3.30mins but way too long. Very disappointing sorry.

My rating for this recipe would be 0 out of 5 stars. What a good way to waste 5 minutes of my life and get excited about nothing. I had high hopes when mixing, and watched excitedly as it rose in the microwave; but shortly after rising if collapsed back into the cup. I removed it from the microwave after 3 minutes and found that instead of the fluffy, decadent cake I was promised, I had a mass of heavy, rubbery, mug-shaped trash. I feel the need to say, "I want my money back!" But at this point I'd settle for just getting the taste out of my mouth...

Please don't be discouraged - this recipe DOES work...it just needs a few tweaks! i used self-raising flour (no peanut butter though), mixed all the 'wet' ingredients separately and then mixed them into the dry - just like making muffins - and then dolloped the mixture into the mug, and trust me it works a treat! i don't have a 1000w microwave either, but 3 mins was just right for a 800w version. have another go.....its worth it :)

I agree with cake monster this does work if tweaked. I also used self-raising flour (wholemeal) and soft dark brown sugar (prefer the taste). Whisked wet ingredients together with fork before whisking into dry ingredients. Mixed in some broken squares of dark chocolate - you can put these in the middle if you want a melted chocolate centre. Used 1 pint pudding basin instead of mug and cooked for 3 mins in 800w microwave. It was good but next time I'll try 2.5 minutes to try and keep texture very slightly gooey even after cooling period - just my preference, if you like standard sponge texture 3 mins is fine as cake monster says. Very quick and easy to make and fun to watch it rising in the microwave. Also pretty instant gratification! It would work well as a pudding with choc sauce, peanut butter sauce, cream, icecream etc. If made in pudding basin can be turned out - easier if grease basin before mixing or line with cling film.

Just used the alterations suggested by cake monster.. YUM! Brilliant recipe :)

To those whose cakes turned out unexpected... please please please use self-raising flour! I made this for the first time tonight and it was 110% spot on! Doesn't fit in a mug; lmao, but spot on. Would be very nice with chips or dark choc... served with vanilla ice cream maybe?

I agree with the others that say to use self-raising flour, it works a treat.

These suggestions for tweaking the recipe are great, but isn't the point of a recipe on a website entitled GOOD food to tell you how to make something that doesn't turn out like a chocolate flavoured wetsuit? I think it needs to be taken off the site in order to prevent anyone else from going through the ordeal. And by the way, that picture is a JOKE.

Mmmmm....I used the tweaks suggested and turned out great! it didn't rise as much as I had anticipated but it looks and tastes ok. Would reccomend some chocolate in the middle as the peanut butter tastes a bit weird, and I agree with BH, you could tottally use this as a kind of jam/choc sponge recipe with the topping on the bottom.

This is delicious but like Cake Monster said it DOES need the Self-raising flour and DON'T cook it for 3 mins! We have a 700W Microwave and 2 mins is perfect. It turns out like a melt in the middle chocolate pudding that is everso slightly bitter but also sweet enough to not be too sickly. YUMMY!

I made mine with the alterations suggested worked well but think next time will try 2 mins instead of 2 1/2 mins, on 800w oven. i used a large mug so think it will be trial and error but will definately make again as it is a quick chocolate fix

Worked perfectly! I used a bit more sugar, though, which made quite a differnce, apparently. A word of warning though: if you aren't going to use a large mug, i suggest you put something underneith it before it goes into the microwave. We lmost couldn't get it out!

I suppose you can't really expect much from this recipe and that is exactly what you get. It reminded me - comfortingly - of the brownies included in the TV-dinners of my youth. Spongy and strange, indeed, but reassuringly chocolaty. Used an 800w microwave, and cooked it for too long to compensate for lower wattage. If I were to make it again, I would cook it for less time. This would be absolutely fine drowned in ice cream and hot fudge. Oh, well: another night, perhaps.

I just had a go at this and it was just perfect with no tweaking other than cooking time, I have 800 w microwave and cooked for 2.5 mins. I will definately make this again but would try in a pudding basin to serve a few people rather than just the one chocoholic!

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I found that the cake was really rubbery so decided to experiment. i melted butter instead of the oil and added 3 tbsp of the melted butter and it worked really well. A little more fiddley and time consuming but i reckon its worth it in the end!!

Worked out ok, next time I would use some milk chocolate in the middle to give it a chocolate flavour. Its not a dreadful recipe but adding a little baking powder made it rise nicely, which seemed to be many people's complaint.

As above, but with added walnuts, raisins and ice cream. 2mins in 900w microwave and it came out really good. (plain flour and sunflower oil used).

I just made it with melted butter instead of the oil, demerara sugar, self raising flour and a handful of black cherries and cooked it in a huge mug for 2mins 30 and it was very nice - light, fluffy and chocolatey - may knock off a little time to get it more gooey next time.

Five stars for fun, and watching it rise is almost as fun as watching popcorn! howves.... little dry no way needs three mins more likes two... still pretty nice friday nine oclock fix to the munchies from store cuboard ingredients ... what a great evening in with the kids serve with a chilly glass of milk to fix all the above problems! DELISSSHHH! still going to go corner shop and get a choccie bar though...

Def needs tweeks from the original: I found this works well: self raising instead of plain 5tbsp of sugar instead of 4 Melted butter instead of oil I also just line the mug with some of the extra butter too. Like others have suggested I mix the dry (inc rasins, cherries and some nuts) and the wet, then combine the two. I layer a couple of spoons of mixture then add a couple of blocks of chocolate in the middle then add the rest of the mixture. I've found that an 800w microwave is fine at 1.50-2 mins, otherwise it tends to dry out. It does continue to cook afterwards remember so its best not to overdo it. Will maybe try with brown sugar when I next make them.

Following a hybrid of the super helpful comments, and driven by the lack of useful things in my cupboards, I've actually managed to cobble together something rather tasty out of this for someone who had none (read, zero!) of the key flavour ingredients! Ingredients 1 Monster bowl. No microwave gunk cleaning for me! 4 Tbsp flour, plain 1 Tsp. Baking powder 3 Tbsp. Muscovado sugar 1 Tbsp. Sugar 1 Tsp. cinnamon 1 egg 3 Tbsp. milk 3 Tbsp. oil As above, I combined the wet ingredients separately before adding the dry, and found that 2.5 minutes was almost perfect in my 700 watt microwave- it did get a little chewier as it cooled, but seeing as I drenched it in treacle, I rather enjoyed the extra bite!

Lovely recipe for desperate cake lovers, BUT 3 mins is too long. My micro is 900w, (not 1000 like specified here) and 3 mins dried it all out. I would say 2 - 2.5mins is enough to maintain its moisture.

I used self-raising flour as suggested, and switched the oil for 3 melted tablespoons of butter, cooked it for 2 mins and it came out perfect. A lovely indulgent sponge perfect to satisfy a craving quickly anytime!! Next time I'll have with custard..nom nom nom...

I tried this cake as my oven has died and I only have a hob and microwave. I didn't have any cocoa so I used cadburys drinking chocolate instead, which worked fine. The only problem was that as I didn't reduce the amount of sugar it was very sweet. I also used plain flower and had no problems with the cake rising or the consistency. The only thing I didn't like was that the bottom of the cake sticks to the mug and was really hard to get out. I ended up with a lovely shaped chocolate cake (the top half that I cut off) and a pile of chunks of cake. This recipe easily served 2 people as it is stodgy. I served the top nice looking half with a curl of vanilla ice-cream to my mum as an afternoon treat.

I just tried this recipe using the self-raising flour and putting it in the microwave for 2 minutes (1000 watt). The cake came out absolutely perfect and very sweet and tasty. I did use slightly less oil than recommended. Great recipe to do with the kids for a quick cake fix and so simple just throw all the ingredients into a very large coffee cup (think grande cuppuchino) and stir until all mixed together.

Chocolate emergency led me to this recipe! Thanks for all the suggested tweaks. I used all the quantities stated in the recipe but put in 3 squares of milk chocolate. I mixed the ingredients in a separate jug, greased the mug (large coffee-type mug, more like a bowl than mug) and binged for 2 minutes in a 900w microwave. Turned out ok! Slightly rubbery and more like a pudding/brownie than sponge but still goey nice enough for the job. The husband liked it! It served two of us, as it was quite rich. Would try again with different tweaks, maybe less cooking time and some nuts.

This recipe worked for me - a delicious quick treat with handy ingredients. I used half melted butter and half oil, and added 1/4 tsp baking powder. Not sure what wattage this microwave is - it's 'plumbed' into the wall, but I cooked it for 2 mins on high, could probably even do it with a bit less. Cheers! Oh and I'm going to add some coffee to the next one...

Ha ha ha, who took that picture!! it does not represent the garbage that came out of my microwave! i followed it to the letter, i have a 1000 watt microwave and i was getting excited watching it rise over the mug. Opened it up, topped it onto the plate and it pretty much bounced off the plate! rubbery, hard, tasteless, YAKKY Waste of my 5 minutes.

Really good :) used self raising and cut time down to 2 mins....1.30 would have done it I think! Will use butter next time too as was a wee bit rubbery - but still amazing.

Here is what I did...MIXED 4 T flour, 5 T brown sugar, 2 T cocoa together in 'dry' bowl; MELTED 3 T butter in mug, STIRRED 3 T ice cream into butter; (i didnt have any milk) POURED wet ingredients over dry and ADDED 1 egg; STIRRED till blended well, ( i forgot to ADD drop of vanilla ) ; SPRAYED mug with cooking spray; POURED 1/2 mixture into mug; SPRINKLED 1 T chocolate chips then POURED rest of mixture on top. COOKED 1 min 10 sec on high ; DO NOT OPEN MICROWAVE! LET SIT 2 minutes to finish cooking. TOPPED with ice cream. This was awesome! not at all 'rubbery'. Mixture could be divided into 2 mugs as it makes plenty for 2 people.

I made this with a few alterations and it turned out great! I used 4 tbsp of self raising flour rather than plain, 2 tbsp of soft brown sugar, 2 tbsp of sweetener and 3 tbsp of apple sauce instead of the oil. Did it for 3 minutes in a 700W microwave, it didn't have a molten centre, but tastes great!

I used plain flour and added a good teaspoon of baking powder. It worked really well in 2 mins on 900w microwave but even in my biggest mug overflowed onto the plate. I will def make again but in a small pudding bowl next time. I agree it doesn't look a bit like the picture but with cream and fresh raspberries from the garden it didn't matter!