Thursday, May 29, 2014

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake



Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake

When I was in college, I would crave sweetness and desserts in the middle of the night (yes, I have an insane sweet tooth). When I didn't have anything in the fridge that I could munch on that would satisfy my sugar-loving taste buds, I looked up recipes on how to make a simple and easy cake. Yes, it had to be simple enough that I didn't have to run out to buy groceries at 12AM and easy enough that I wouldn't be spending the entire night slaving away in the kitchen.

And lo' and behold, I found the mug cake. It's a phenomenon that's been all over Pinterest, baking blogs, and recipe websites. Basically, the main attraction is that it's very simple and easy. No eggs. No oven. No worries whether it'll be fully cooked or not. Not (very) messy. Not many ingredients. What results is a mini cake that fits into your mug that you can easily transport with. No slicing the cake and all that mess! Saves so much work and satisfies your cake cravings without overindulging! How great does that sound?

Although I started experimenting with this a year ago, I'm still working on perfecting the recipe. So far, here's what I've come up with:
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1/8 tsp baking powder
  • 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • a pinch of salt (1/8 tsp)
  • Optional: a spoonful of peanut butter or a handful of chocolate chips
Add all ingredients in a mug and microwave for 2 minutes. Allow to cool.

Tips:
  • Mix the dry ingredients first! Then add all the wet ingredients in.
  • Too much baking powder will make the cake explode and leave an extremely bitter taste. Too little will result in a flat cake. Disappointing either way. 
  • Adding too much salt also makes the cake very bitter. I tried this once and had to throw out the entire cake. 
  • Too much oil/liquids make it soggy and makes it look undone. Too little will make it dry (you want a moist cake!)

No comments:

Post a Comment