Every now and then we want a quick and easy dessert with as little as possible clean-up; something a mug cake is absolutely perfect for. There’s nothing easier than making a cake in a few minutes with the mug you’re eating it out of as the only mixing bowl. Good mug cakes are hit or miss though so here is a review of three mug cakes that looked good from their pictures.
-Land O Lakes Birthday Party Mug Cake- With the name of this mug cake and how it looks in its picture, the first bite of this one doesn’t quite meet the expectations in flavor (it’s bland), but it does get better after a few bites. This cake has a subtle flavor which is a bit unexpected out of something with the name birthday party cake and that has a picture of a fluffy cake with rainbow sprinkles and a scoop of ice-cream to top it, but it’s still pretty sweet and how easy it is makes up for it. It has an incredibly small list of ingredients and they’re all easy to find items that most people would already keep in their kitchen. If you’re interested in a smaller portioned mug cake, this would be the one for you. I used a 12 oz mug as the recipe says but it rose only about half-way up the cup, unlike the picture that shows the cake rising just over the edge of the mug. Another plus is how quick it was to make. It took only around ten minutes to do both mixing and cooking. Another plus is the texture, which was a bit like a shortcake. It’s not exactly what you would expect for a birthday party cake, but seeing as so many mug cakes come out with a chewy texture, any cake-like texture is a plus. The only thing I changed on this recipe was the sprinkles, which was only because I didn’t have rainbow sprinkles.
You can try this cake with the recipe here.
-Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake- This is the best mug cake I’ve ever made; it comes out so well that I’ve made it several times since finding this recipe about a week ago. It has a very sweet, rich chocolate flavor to it with a texture that is a mix between the softness of a regular cake and the thickness of a brownie. And that’s great since this is the first time I’ve found a mug cake that isn’t slightly chewy from too much egg. It doesn’t have that many ingredients and doesn’t take much time to mix up and microwave. This is the only mug cake I’ve ever seen that turns out like the picture, rising to the right level in the mug without going over and having the same cakey look on the top. The only problem I have with this cake is it’s a little too much for its size with how thick and chocolatey it is for a quick to eat dessert; how rich it is makes it a bit difficult to eat it all at once. I did make two changes to it: one, after pouring it in the cup, I mixed in a small handful of semi-sweet chocolate morsels which melted in and made the taste so much richer. The second was dusting the top of the cake with confectionary sugar as a bit of an easy garnish.
Try this one, it really is great.
-Banana Mug Cake- This one was chosen more out of curiosity than a desire for an easy dessert. This mug cake does come out with a banana bread taste without the added glaze. This is great to find in a mug cake, but it isn’t perfect. This one may taste good, but with an egg yolk, a whole banana, and a glaze to soak into the cake, it is very chewy and not at all easy to quickly cut through with just a spoon or fork. It has a longer list of ingredients and requires more clean-up after mashing a banana and making the sugar glaze. I would also recommend making it in a wider mug. I used a regular 12 oz mug and though it deflated back into the mug, it did rise about 4 inches above the top, making me scared to leave it in the microwave any longer. The glaze that went with it as a topper had a good taste to it, but the amount completely drowned the cake in liquid sugar. If you make this, it would be a good idea to use about half the amount of glaze you make from the recipe. It wasn’t bad at all, in fact, it was very sweet, but it’s just not a quick and easy dessert.
You can try this recipe here and might have better luck than me.