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Easy Vanilla Mug Cake - Ready in 90 seconds! This mug cake is moist, delicious and topped with a lovely vanilla icing that soaks into the cake and infuses it with sweetness!
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So, eating healthier and getting in shape are part of my goals each year. . .mine and a bazillion other people's no doubt. It has to be the reason I'm craving sweetness now more than ever. You always want what you can't or shouldn't have, right?
Well, to satisfy my sweet tooth but keep the portion size in check, I made this yummy and easy Vanilla Mug Cake.
This little cake is moist, delicious and topped with a lovely vanilla icing that soaks into the cake and infuses it with sweetness! Pretty smart, right?
I've never really "trusted" mug cakes. So many have turned out dry and tasteless. It took a little experimenting until I achieved the sweetness I was looking for.
And in my opinion, cake isn't really cake if you eat it out of a mug. Cake out of a mason jar, now that's a different story. You can "see" through a mason jar so it can still be "pretty." You following me?
So, this is usually my hot chocolate mug from which I drink the most wonderful hot chocolate in the world. Alright, so I'm a little biased, but you can't get much better than ice cream AND white chocolate.
Oh, man. I need to make more of that this winter. . .
What were we talking about again? Oh yes. This mug cake. . .
All it takes is 90 seconds in the microwave, and you'll have a little "mug" o' heaven. Classic vanilla cake is just the best. In fact, vanilla truly IS our favorite cake flavor here in the house.
One of the most important tips I can offer if you're going to make this cake is to make sure that your mug is at least 14 ounces or it may "bubble" over while baking in the microwave.
Watch that mug closely!! If you use a big enough mug there's nothing to worry about. My cake took up about ¾ of the cup, which was perfect.
I made sure to spray the mug generously with cooking spray before adding the batter and baking it. That way, when it was done, I just ran a butter knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the mug and flipped it over!
Here's the disclaimer. This is not about perfection. It may not look "perfect" when you flip it out of the mug. But in my opinion, it looks much prettier out of the mug than in it.
Top it with some sprinkles and you'll begin to fall in love.
Add some sweet icing, and you'll forget the cake was ever even in a mug. What mug? See.
I let the icing soak in a little bit while I filled a glass of milk. . .AND. . .put a few more sprinkles on top.
Just look at how moist this is. Drag the cake right through that little pool of icing. Holy moly. Seriously now. Promise me you'll try this. Believe it or not, the cake is fairly sweet without the icing.
If you wanted to switch out the icing for some whipped cream, you could do that, too. Heck, next time I may add some sprinkles to the actual cake batter!
So, yeah. There you have it. An easy vanilla mug cake perfect for one. . .or two, if you really wanted to share. But when it comes to cake is that even a consideration?
I'm going to go and grab an extra mug just to be safe. I'll make you your own. Do you have 90 seconds to spare? After that, we'll do PiYo in my basement. You in?
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Easy Vanilla Mug Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 4 Tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- ½ Tablespoon butter (softened)
- 4 Tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
For the Icing
- 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon butter. softened
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
- Pour into greased mug (at least 16 ounces).
- Microwave on high for 1 minute 30 seconds (or 90 seconds).
For the Icing
- Mix all ingredients together and drizzle over cake either inside the mug or pop cake out of mug onto plate.
Notes
- Mind the Mug Size: Use a mug that is at least 16 ounces in size to allow for the cake to rise without overflowing during microwaving. Using a smaller mug may result in the batter spilling over and creating a mess in the microwave.
- Check for Doneness: Microwave cooking times can vary depending on the wattage of your microwave oven. After microwaving the cake for the recommended time of 1 minute and 30 seconds, check the cake's doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, the cake is ready. If not, microwave in 10-second intervals until done to avoid overcooking.
- Customize Your Icing: Adjust the consistency of the icing to your liking by varying the amount of milk added. For a thicker icing, use less milk, and for a thinner drizzle, add more milk. Additionally, feel free to add a drop of food coloring to the icing for a pop of color or swap vanilla extract for other flavor extracts like almond or lemon for a different flavor profile.
Yasangi
Made this without the icing and added some chocolate chips instead. Very fluffy and yummy without the eggyness. Thanks for the recipe. Love this.
Sara
I love the addition of chocolate chips. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Marushka
Definitely the best vanilla mug cake! I've tried so many recipes and hated the consistency! This one is a winner 🙂
Sara
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!! Yay!!
Jessica
This mug cake is definitely the best I’ve ever had and I’ve been making mug cakes for about 10 years! I doubled the recipe, subbed butter and milk for vegan butter and almond milk, and subbed 1 tbsp milk for lemon juice in both the icing and the cake. I cooked it in a glass Tupperware container and it was amazing!
Tanya
This is such an amazing resipe. I loved making it and it came out perfect. Totally made makimg dessert easier?. I was wondering though if you can make the vanilla cake a chocolate one by just adding cocoa powder or is it going to mess up the cake?
Sara
I've never tried adding cocoa powder, Tanya, but you can try!
LunaBella123
Loved it so much just one thing I always add a little more milk because 4 spoons isn't enough so I addon't another spoon full.
Zion
So moist and delicious ?!
I tasted great with this homemade apricot jam?. Thank you for making this. What would be the measurements if I wanted to use this for a full cake ?
Sara
Oh, gosh. Hmm. . .I've never made this into a full cake so I'm not sure of the measurements. Glad you enjoyed the recipe in mug form!
april
I've had some garbage mug cakes but this one really blew me away. Easy and delicious. I replaced the white sugar for turbinado sugar and added a few drops of orange oil to the icing, omitted the sprinkles. Amazing!!
Sara
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, April! Thanks for leaving a comment!
Monique
I know this is an old blog post, but I recently came across this because I was looking for a simple recipe that I can mix up ingredients for different flavors of fun. Everyone has different recipes for their mug cakes and you can't always change ingredients.
I used olive oil instead of butter and 1/4 teaspoon of lemon extract instead of 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. After I microwaved it, I topped it with some strawberries and my homemade lemon icing. Oh man! I had to write this down. This will be my go-to when I need a little sweetness.
I want to thank you for sharing this recipe. It's super simple and versatile.
Sara
Wow, it's great to see the recipe stands up to so many substitutions. Thanks for sharing, Monique!
Ronnie
So...i bought mini ramekins from Michael's and tried this recipe. I was pretty tasty but VERY tough and chewy. Almost like eating warm bubblegum?. I'm going to try to adjust the time and maybe power...
Sara
The problem could be the ramekins. Make sure you're using a large mug. I'm thinking the ramekins are too small.
Ronnie
Update! I played with the recipe. The ramekin is a good size, around 5x3x2. 4 Tbs. of mix, 4 Tbs. of milk, 2 drops of vanilla extract and then microwave for 1 min....its perfect!
Maddy
I made it with almond milk instead of regular milk and maple syrup instead of vanilla (I'm a college kid so I have weird ingredients on hand) and I also put some canned chocolate frosting on top and it's really good!
Sara
Maddy, I love your substitutions. I know all too well what it was like to be in college and use whatever you have on hand to make a quick snack. So glad you enjoyed it!
Josiah
Delicious, everything about the recipe is WONDERFUL! Would Definitely Recommend!
Sara
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
joe standard
this is an abomination unless you wanna make fluffy Nutella
olivia
it's really moist but it doesn't really taste like anything. I was really hoping that it's would have some kind of taste to it
Sara
Hmmm. Maybe add more frosting if you really like sweetness. Place a dollop of pre-made frosting on top of the cake in the mug as it comes out of the microwave and it will melt around it.
Cheryl
I made this recipe today but found that the kids had polished off the milk earlier in the day. I substituted vanilla coffee creamer powder. It worked perfectly!
Sara
What a great idea to substitute the creamer!
Kate
This didn't work for me at all, it was either under cooked, or overcooked. No in between. The frosting was more like a glaze, and they both tasted.... bad. Sorry for the hate, but this recipe really, REALLY doesn't work
Sara
I'm so sorry it didn't work for you, Kate.