Double Chocolate Mug Cake

I happened to be lining up desserts for Valentine’s Day and I happened to come across a dessert called a Mug Cake. I remember seeing a pre-packaged version of this delicious dessert from a great little company at the Fancy Food Show in Washington DC last year, but it’s so very easy to make, why the heck would you buy it?

Out of all of the recipes I’ve shared with you before, I promise that this one is the easiest and one of the most delicious. Here is a great idea on how to make a warm, delicious and creamy chocolate cake that has it’s own pudding sauce baked right into the cake — and what’s even better is that it is ready to eat in less than 10 minutes from start to finish…

This can be made in a microwave in just minutes but the recipe even works in a toaster oven or a regular oven. If you are going to use the microwave, I would suggest starting out with 1 minute on the clock and check it when your timer goes off, then follow up with 30 second intervals until the cake is puffed and firm to the touch. Depending on the strength of your microwave, this will be ready between 1 minute 30 seconds and 2 minutes 15 seconds. Make sure not to overcook it so that it stays nice and gooey. If you choose to make it in the toaster oven, it will take about 8 minutes if you preheat it ahead of time.

I came across many recipes on the internet and they were all fairly similar. I decided to tweak the recipes a little to offset some of the sweetness added by the chocolate chips. So I changed out the milk for buttermilk and added both brown sugar and granulated sugar.

If you only have milk and granulated sugar, well that’s not a problem, just use what you have. The only thing you will have to remember is to switch out the baking soda for extra baking powder instead.

This is truly heavenly, and if you aren’t a baker but want to make something delicious for Valentine’s Day, I guarantee that this will make you look like a superstar…

Double Chocolate Mug Cake
1 egg or 2 egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons agave syrup (or maple syrup)** this helps the cake to stay fudgy
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 tablespoons buttermilk (*or milk)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 level tablespoons cake flour **you can use all purpose but cake flour is the best
2 level tablespoons cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda (*if using milk add ½ teaspoon baking powder instead)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips
pinch of salt

First find a large stoneware mug that is bake proof. I have a few of those big stoneware soup bowls that are perfect for this. Use a good pan spray on the inside of the bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl, sift all of the dry ingredients and add the chocolate chips. In another small bowl add the egg yolks, sugar, agave syrup, vanilla, buttermilk (or milk) and oil and whisk everything together until it is smooth. Add this mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk again, then pour into the mug and place it either in the microwave or the toaster oven. It should take about 1 ½ to 2 minutes in the microwave and about 8 minutes in a preheated toaster oven.

Have your spoon in hand and get ready to float away to chocolate heaven…