How to Make a Cupcake in a Mug (Nom Nom, Microwave Cupcake)

Edit to add: Been following the comment explosion on this post. To all the people who see random ideas on the internet, then go off and try them out: I salute you!

This recipe has been floating around the Internet for a while but I had not yet been brave enough to try it. Blog reactions vary from “gross” to “amazing.” Let’s admit it: a single serving cupcake, made quickly and with the minimum of supplies? A cupcake whenever you crave one?! It must be too good to be true! Here is what I discovered…

Procedure:

Ingredients and Tools: Flour, sugar, egg, cocoa powder, milk, oil, mug, and recipe. Also, you’ll need a teaspoon (not shown) for measuring and mixing.

First, mix four tablespoons each of sugar and flour, and two tablespoons cocoa powder in the mug of your choice.

Crack one egg into the mug. (If you are not practiced at this, you may want to crack the egg into a separate dish and then transfer it – but don’t worry, cracking eggs IRL is not as hard as in Cooking Mama.) Mix the egg very well with the dry ingredients.

Almost done! Add three tablespoons of milk and three tablespoons of oil. Mix completely.

Microwave the mug and its contents for approximately three minutes.

Edit: Your cook time may vary. I should have mentioned, my microwave is incredibly underpowered and you will probably need less time then I did. Watch it, and when the cupcake stops rising above the lip of the mug it should be time to take it out.

This part looks scary. The cupcake is going to rise in a large column out of the mug…oh god…

…only to collapse when you take it out of the microwave.

Results:
At this point I was looking at the unattractive top of my “cupcake” regretting this experiment. It looks awful.

Guess what? It tastes great! I was afraid it would be dry and rubbery, but it wasn’t – it was moist, and delicious too! The consistency was different than an oven-baked cupcake, more dense then I expected, but nonetheless chocolaty and satisfying! I will definitely be making this again.

Conclusion: Huge success!

Microwave Mug Cupcake

Servings: 1
Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 Egg

3 Tablespoons milk

3 Tablespoons oil

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients in mug.

Add egg and mix together.

Add milk and oil and mix.

Microwave mug and contents ~~for three minutes~~ until cupcake stops rising above the lip of the mug.

Gone are the days when we must plan ahead for our cupcake cravings!

TAGS: chocolate, cooking, cupcakes, delicious cake, howto, microwave, mug, recipe

http://www.traingeek.com Derek

made of win.
The hawk

HAHA Thats awesome
http://www.yahoo.com The Man

I MADE THEM AND THEY ARE AMAZING LAWLZZZZ I MAKE THEM ERY DAY SON!!!!!
http://www.toasterlabs.net ToasterFaerie

I know, so good!
Anonymous

This recipe is GROSS!!!!
I nearly choked on my own vomit trying this coco flavored tar in a mug.
Are you trying to poison people or what?
http://www.toasterlabs.net ToasterFaerie

Aww. Maybe you need to work on your microwave skills?
Jessi

Mine wasn’t great. It tasted like it needed more sugar or something b/c it’s a bit bland.
jax

mine wasn’t the best…… it needed more of something but I could not catch what it was
http://www.toasterlabs.net ToasterFaerie

Hmm…if the recipe’s not sweet enough you could try adding chocolate syrup or ice cream to the finished product. Let me know if you have any luck.
Sarizzle

I too have seen this recipe a couple of times and thought I might like to try it….. then I analyzed the recipe on calorie-count.com and, holy cow. 770 calories for one little fake cupcake.

No thanks.
http://heatknivesandchemicals.wordpress.com Presley

Love the ingenuity here. I’m betting that it’s denser than a normal cupcake because it has no baking soda or baking powder, probably so that it will adapt to the microwave better. Besides that, this recipe is more or less just a regular cupcake recipe that’s been scaled way down, but you can’t scale down the eggs nearly as much as the other ingredients, so I wonder how that affects the taste and texture. Maybe if you used some kind of egg substitute you could use the equivalent of a fourth of an egg!
http://www.toasterlabs.net ToasterFaerie

Yah, it is denser, which was off-putting at first but it tastes great. Fortunately it is not dry of rubbery like you might fear. Your cooking blog makes me hungry Presley!
Anonymous

this was nottttt good.
Maggie

This looks amazing, I’m going to try it tonight!!
Anonymous

im kinda scared to try this. Sum ppl said its good and others didnt,sooo…….
sammy

this was the best cup cake i have ever made i suggest those that failed should give a anther go !
Chuck

Hey, it’s a pretty good cupcake considering you don’t need to heat up the oven, wash pans, etc. however, If something i had baked in an oven came out like this, I would be angry.
Orion

Found this recipe through Stumble Upon and thought it sounded like fun. Within 5 minutes we had cupcakes in a mug and they’re WONDERFUL! Tons of fun to make with your kids!!!
Orion

I think what’s missing is a TINY pinch of salt. Other than that, we loved it!
Alex

I tried this recipe and it turned out all rubbery and not at all moist. It seemed like a good idea, but it just wasn’t satisfying. A bit of a waste, but I loved the concept!
sophie

great idea…tastes great butpossibly a bit bland! i would suggest using drinking chocolate instead of cocoa! thanks for the recipe!
Laura

they REALLY work!!:) they’re terrific!
Abby

I didn’t have any cocoa, so I improvised using Cinnamon. I replaced one tablespoon of milk with a tablespoon of Vanilla, one tablespoon of cocoa with cinnamon and the other with an extra tablespoon of sugar. It turned out pretty good I’ll say. If you like cinnamon its very nice!
Anonymous

I just tried them and they were bland and dry and not good. I think its cause under the first picture you say 4 tablespoons of cocoa or its implied. Then at the bottom it says only 2 tablespoons. I think the 2 is what you meant. Otherwise this is the cutest idea I have ever seen!!! Im going to try it again with only 2 tablespoons of cocoa and if its good, I cant wait to make it in my dorm room with my roommates!!!
http://www.toasterlabs.net ToasterFaerie

Anon – I double checked my recipe and I used 2 tablespoons of cocoa. You are right that my walkthrough implies 4. Went back at fixed that, thanks!

Abby – That sounds delicious. I am going to try that!
oobydooby

i messed up the recipe first try, but it came out great the second time!
Anonymous

maybe with drinking chocolate it’d be better. At first it was surprisingly good, but then the scrambled eggs texture got to me. Couldn’t convince myself to eat more than half. Could be great with some tweaking.
http://www.youtube.com/j0ames James

Just made these tonight. They were great. The first time I made them, I forgot milk. They came out a lot more like cupcakes (texture wise) and I actually preferred it. The second time I remembered milk and wasn’t as impressed. Will definitely make again, but without milk!
palythoa

I love the recipe. To spoil myself completely, I added some vanilla icecream to the top of the cupcake *yummy*
First try

I tried the recipy today for the first time – but I could not find out how many W I should program the oven? Maybe that is why some people got bad results and others did fine.
palythoa

@first try
my microwave has a maximum of 800W – and I think I left it inside for 2-3 minutes.
Actually, I checked with a stick if the inside was fine, just like with regular cakes
Toni

Omg . . . this is sooo stunning . . . Heard about this from a friend . . . Dont regret trying this absolutely stunning.
Ashley

I love the idea. I don’t like chocolate, so I use vanilla. It was massively dry and bland when I used this recipe, so I actually make twice the recipe with the eggs, flour and sugar, and a little over twice the milk and oil, plus an 8th of a cup of vanilla (it’s not as much as it sounds, and you can use less) and spices like cinnamon. At the moment it is around thanksgiving for me and I got some pumpkin puree and used 3 heeping spoonfulls of that in the mix and it came out like spice cake, and very very moist. However, when I made it in a mug there was a bit that burned in the bottom. I would suggest a small glass/ceramic bowl. I used a recycled plastic Betty Crocker Warm Delights bowl and it came out great. Smother it with icing and you have an adorable little cake! I just used a little cream cheese to lighten the taste. Have fun experimenting!
Poster

I bet what is missing is Vanilla. 1/4 tsp would be good!
Anonymous

i tried this and it was like rubber in texture. it wasn’t good either. Idk what Ive done wrong.
http://www.eatshit.com TEN POUNDS OF SHIT

THIS SHIT IS AMAZING, REMINDED ME ONCE I TOOK A RECORD SETTING 10 POUND SHIT, THEN FINALLY ATE A HUGE BLACK DICK. it was awesome
Greg

I just made this for a fun project with my son. It came out great!
I posted the recipe on the fridge and he can now make it whenever he wants.
Awsome
Gauchos

I was having a sugar craving so I mixed the sugar, flour, cocoa, egg, milk, and oil into my tin camping cup (I just got back from a year of camping/ backpacking in Somalia), put it in the microwave, and went to the restroom. About 10 minutes into the cook-time, I came back and the microwave was sparking and filling the room with black smoke. Panicking, I ran outside to find someone who knew WHAT TO DO in this situation. In my desperation, I ran into the street and got hit by a speeding car. When the paramedics arrived, I came to and tried to tell them about the cupcake, tin cup, and Somalia, but before I could get to the microwave, they put an oxygen mask on my face. 12 broken bones and 2 months in the hospital was followed by a year of rehabilitation. My rehabilitation coach was so sweet, strong, and patient. We fell in love. We’re getting married in August. Thank you, thank you so much for this recipe that brought us together.

The cupcake was a bit dry, though.
http://www.toasterlabs.net ToasterFaerie

Gauchos, you made my day! Best reply. Gold star!

Everyone else, thanks for all your replies and suggestions. I’d like to try them all and review them in a new post.

To people who are getting dry cupcakes: Thanks for the feedback. My microwave is really underpowered and you probably needed a much shorter cooking time then I suggested. Post updated to include this suggestion.
S

Dlob a table spoon of nutella on it as soon as it comes out.

Stops it being to dry and gives it that peng nutella taste.
Cierra

i make this everyday its so good thank you!!!
dibbler!

this is really good! i make it like everyday, for yall that say its gross, yall are haters!
http://learning.com Popcornian

this is pure crap!

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How to Make a Cupcake in a Mug (Nom Nom, Microwave Cupcake)