Ready, set, go.
Let’s make cake.
In the microwave. In 90 seconds.
Who doesn’t love cake, with strawberries woven into it, with a puddle a bit of vanilla buttercream glaze added for good measure.
Get your day started off properly.
With cake for breakfast.
And it’s healthy because you’re getting in a serving of fruit. Yeah.
Along with a serving of frosting, which is the best way to start the day, of course.
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Microwave Strawberry Vanilla Mug Cake with Vanilla Glaze (with Vegan and Gluten Free Suggestions)
Makes one very generous portion
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 teaspoon+ if you love vanilla)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (or 3 tablespoons if you want it sweeter)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 to 3 tablespoons strawberries, diced (I used TJ’s frozen strawberries and diced them. Halve or quarter your berries as desired)
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients (except strawberries), and whisk until batter is just smooth, but do not overmix. Gently fold in the strawberries. Prepare a mug by spraying it very well with cooking spray and pour batter into mug, taking care that there is plenty of room for growth. The batter/cake will nearly double in height in the microwave so select a large mug and do not fill more than halfway. (You may have leftover batter or you may get two mugcakes from this recipe, but don’t overfill or you will have a big mess) Microwave on high for 75 to 90 seconds, or until done. Microwave cooking times vary widely and I suggest standing in front of the microwave the entire time. It could be done in 60 seconds, it could take 2 minutes; it’s very hard to say but mine took about 90 seconds. While the mug cake is cooling, make the glaze.
Vanilla Buttercream Glaze
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/2 teaspoon+ if you love vanilla)
1 tablespoon+ cream (or milk)
Combine all ingredients (except for cream) in a small bowl and whisk, adding the cream based on desired consistency of glaze. Spoon glaze over the mugcake while it’s in the mug and allow glaze to soak and permeate into the cake. Or, remove cake from the mug by running a knife around the sides and inverting it onto a plate and spooning the glaze over it.
Notes:
I do not bother with mixing dry ingredients first, then wet; making this in one bowl and everything added at once is fine. You can also mix this all together in the mug and skip the bowl entirely, taking care you’ve sprayed it well with cooking spray. Do not fill your mug more than halfway full as the batter/cake will expand and nearly double in size. Allow for plenty of room for growth.
To keep vegan, use margarine in place of butter, use nut milk in place of cream/milk, and use a flax egg. To keep gluten free, use a gluten-free flour blend. I have not tried making this vegan or gluten free; I am only providing likely suggestions.
I am sure you could bake this in the oven in an oven-safe baking dish or suitable mug, but this is a “convenience recipe” and I have only tried it using the microwave.
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Cake making is as easy as combining everything in one bowl except for the strawberries, stirring, and folding those in last. I don’t bother mixing the dry and mixing wet ingredients separately, and then folding them together.
This is a convenience recipe and it’s much more convenient to just do it all at once. You can even just mix everything in the mug, making it even more convenient because you have one less dish to do, but for the sake of pictures, I used a small bowl.
Pour the batter into a mug if you didn’t mix the batter in a mug.
One huge, big, word of advice: Make sure you mug is TALL enough to support this recipe. Select a nice, tall mug because the batter will expand considerably; nearly doubling in height.
Don’t fill your mug more than halfway full with batter because you will end up with spillover city and a microwave cleanup project and that would be a major inconvenience.
The photo below was taken about one minute after removing the mugcake from the microwave.
Upon initially taking it out, the batter had puffed up very high, even a little higher, than the mug’s rim, but as it cooled, it shrunk down some.
For the sake of pictures, I inverted the mugcake on a plate and drizzled glaze over the top but if it wasn’t for pictures, I would have just poured the glaze on top of the cake while inside the mug, and smooshed it all around with my spoon.
I would have eaten it like hot fudge poured over ice cream in a mug, all messy and blended together, which is the best way.
This was so good because it had the sweetness of vanilla cake but with the bonus of berries woven in, and then that glaze.
The vanilla glaze really enhanced the vanilla cake flavor. I am a vanilla fanatic and this was right up my vanilla alley.
The whole thing is right up my alley because there is cake involved, frosting is present, and the microwave was used.
My kinda recipe.
If you’re a fan of microwave “cakes” you may like:
Microwave Blueberry Banana Oat Cakes
If you like to bake rather than nuke, I suggest Strawberry Banana Bread
Have you ever made a mugcake?
What’s the best thing you make in the microwave?
I know some people don’t like using microwaves but I do. Because I can make cake in it! Or tofu. Or popcorn. Or heat up my coffee. Just one tool in the toolbox.
Thanks for the Baking Supplies Giveaway entries
Awesome good!
just looking at the photos makes me hungry hahas!
thumbs up ya. this is perfect for my cakes craving :x
Oh my gosh, you are GENIUS. This is fantastic and I have a little baggie of strawberries to use!
LMK if you try it!
No way! This is too cool!
Yum! I definitely want to try this soon. By the way, I loooove the microwave oat cakes, I’ve been having them for breakfast almost everyday! Sometimes I add pumpkin and/or frozen raspberries to the mix, so good. Topped with PB of course! Thanks for the great idea
Your photos are absolutely breathtaking, seriously amazing!!! :) I love the microwave I have no hate against it! It’s easy and quick, just what I need for my life
Thanks, Lisa, and I’m with you on the micro!
Aren’t mug cakes the best? I’ve only done chocolate based ones so I’m loving this fruit version!
I don’t even recall your chocolate one?! I need to see what you did…
It is amazing to me that something that looks like it took a couple of hours, really only took less than 2 minutes…AND…looks delicious to boot! Simeon (my youngest) said that he is making his own breakfast tomorrow and that is the menu! LOL! :-)
Well, the food styling, photos, editing of them, and blogging about this took about 80899 times longer than the actual recipe did :)
So yes, the recipe was 2 mins..the rest…well, not so much.
I went through a phase in like November where I ate a chocolate mug cake at least once a day (sometimes I ate two and called it dinner) … I used chick pea flour which worked out really well and my roommate who is not vegan or gluten free or weird but just a foodie kinda person really loved it as well. My go-to was something like 3 t garbanzo flour, 2 t cocoa powder, 1+ t coconut sugar (or agave or whateverr), 1 t coconut oil, a splash of water or almond milk to make it cake batter-y, then mix ins like fruit or chocolate chips (usually both). Finish with a dollop of nut butter for the grande finale and … dinner, right??
oh and of course baking soda, flax egg, and salt
Oh man, I’ve been trying (with little success) to make a vegan mug muffin this week. I can’t seem to get the density right . . . it’s always too heavy. Yours, however, is mouthwatering. Lovely work!
higher up in the comments someone already wrote in to say they tried it GF AND with coconut oil rather than butter with success. I think you can skip the egg and use a flax egg and you’re there. LMK if you try it!
I made a vegan version of your mug cake/muffin using your suggestions (flax egg and coconut oil) and it turned out great! Thanks for your help!
Thanks so much for posting this comment, Alyssa :) Glad that it worked for you! YAY!!!
And I literally just finished the strawberries that have been taking up freezer space since I picked them this summer.
I’d say this recipe is healthier than most pancake recipes, even with the glaze, if you factor in that no one uses only 1/4 c of syrup. At least I never did. ;) I do some of my best baking and cooking with the microwave. I love it. I’m not dead yet.
I’m not dead either and you’re right, this IS healthier than pancakes b/c I was playing around with pancake recipes last week and after making those and this, just by ingredients alone, I KNOW this is healthier, syrup factor notwithstanding…and then for SURE this is healthier. 2 tbsp of syrup have like 100 cals or something kinda crazy. And who uses 2 tbsp. That’s PER BITE for me :)
Averie, how can you bake so much and stay so slim?
I eat some of everything I make; but I don’t eat a 9 x 13 pan of bars or a dozen cookies every day…haha. Moderation.
LOVE!!!! i’m obsessed with all your vanilla recipes lately. this mug cake looks divine w/ those strawberries. mmmm! i may have to try some of your microwave recipes Averie! Pinning that blueberry banana oat cake.
thanks as always for the PINS!
ohhh my gosh. read this & ran down stairs to make it. AMAZING!! I may or may have not added mini chocolate chips to it :) Thanks for this great recipe!
OMG Strawberries & mint = GREAT combo!
Thanks for the FAST attempt on this one and for the field report! I love feedback, especially when the recipe is well-received :)
I love microwaves specifically for sweet potatoes. I’ve been into baking them lately but in a pinch I can easily microwave one in 4-5 minutes and its almost just as good and soo convenient. I’ve made one mug cake and absolutely loved how easy it was and was surprised by how well it came out! Has to be a good recipe though because I’m sure they can go wrong pretty easily.
They can go wrong and either not rise or rise too much and puffffffff right out of the mug. lol
this looks great! i love mug cakes because they’re one serving. i prefer single serving desserts…they help my self control since i have an incredibly large sweet tooth! ;)
Single serving is great…I wish I could make 1 dozen, cookies, max at a time. Because after that, I’m ready for a new flavor anyway!
I have never made an official mug cake, but I’m a huge fan of the quinoa bakes for breakfast. My boyfriend just asked me what is for dessert and I’m thinking it may be a mug cake : ) And the banana oat one looks perfect for tomorrws breakfast. Thanks!
LMK if you end up making anything & what you did and used in it and results!