Super-Quick Microwave Chocolate Traybake

My microwave mug cake recipe has always been popular with my kids. Now they're teenagers, they can whip up a pudding themselves in record time and have adapted it to their own particular tastes. As they often want to entertain friends and there's a boyfriend on the scene, I thought I'd better come up with a recipe which can me made just as quickly, but can feed several hungry teenagers!

Serves 4+

• 50g/2oz peanut butter (or other nut butter)
• 50g/2oz butter or dairy-free spread
• 1 egg or equivalent vegan egg replacer
• 2 tbsp date, agave or golden syrup
• 25g/1oz unsweetened cocoa powder
• 75g/3oz SR flour
• 50g/2oz soft, brown sugar or coconut sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• Toppings: your choice of chopped (dairy-free) chocolate, vegetarian sweets, dried fruit/chopped nuts, chocolate-hazelnut spread, jam, nut butter or a combination of any of these.

Put the butter and nut butter into a microwave-safe bowl and cook on high for 20-30 seconds to melt.
Stir well and mix in the sugar, syrup and vanilla.
Beat in the egg or egg equivalent and finally stir in the flour and cocoa powder.

Grease and line the base of a microwave-safe dish (around 15cm round or square).
Spoon in the mixture and spread out evenly with the back of a spoon.
Spoon or sprinkle your topping/s over the surface of the mixture.

Cook for 3-4 minutes on high in the microwave, or until the edges are cooked and firm and the middle still looks just slightly undercooked. Check after 2½-3 minutes, to ensure it doesn't over cook.

Leave in the dish and allow to cool for 10-15 mins.
Cut into 4-9 pieces.
Remove from the dish and serve warm or cold with custard or ice cream, if so desired.

Suitable for freezing.

Pin It

Chocolate Microwave Mug Cake (Vegan)

It's a hard job, but someone has to do it... perfect an easy recipe for a vegan microwave mug cake that is! Of course, this took many attempts and I inflicted the varying results on my poor children, not that they complained at the prospect of eating yet another chocolate dessert. 

This is a very economical pudding to make and takes literally 5 minutes to prepare and cook, so it's a great one for kids to make. You can mix the ingredients together in the mug, but I find it easier to mix them in a jug and pour into a mug before cooking.

I adapted this recipe from the standard 4 tbsp non-vegan version (available in various forms on the inter-web) which makes a larger cake. Unfortunately, none of my mugs were big enough to hold the cooked mixture and I ended up with a Vesuvius type eruption in my microwave on one occasion! Half of the standard mixture gave a small cake, which only ¾ filled the mug and looked a little feeble.

This version fits an average 250ml/½ pint mug and serves one teenager/adult or can be split between 2 children.  As you can see, the cooked cake sinks a bit after cooking, but this doesn't affect the flavour. 

• 3 tbsp self raising flour
• 3 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder, sieved
• 1 level tsp Orgran No Egg (or similar egg replacer) - add this dry to the flour  
• 3 tbsp/45 ml dairy-free milk (water would probably work too)
• 2 tbsp vegetable/sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp peanut butter, vegan chocolate/hazelnut spread (or an extra tbsp of oil)
• 1 tbsp dairy-free chocolate chips
• ½ tsp vanilla or coffee extract or a good pinch of ground cinnamon.

Mix all of the dried ingredients together in a jug.

Add all of the liquid ingredients and mix well, making sure there are no pockets of dried ingredients.
Pour batter into a standard mug (it should be no more than half full). 
Microwave on high/full power for 2-2½ minutes or until until firm to the touch - I found that 2 minutes gave a moist, brownie texture and 2½ minutes gave a more traditional sponge cake texture...both tasted good! Watch as it cooks, as it will rise a lot, but don't open the microwave until it has finished rising.
Carefully remove the mug from the microwave using oven gloves...the mug will be HOT!!!
Allow to cool in the mug for about 5 minutes before eating.

Top tips: This cake needs to be eaten warm and does not keep. 
You can easily double the ingredients to make two cakes, but only cook one at a time.

Pin It