Microwave Cakes

I’ve been stuck indoors a lot more than normal. And when I’m stuck indoors, I tend to get hungry for no real reason. Now, sure, I could always do some exercise or something. I could do something to make my hunger warranted. But I’m a lazy bastard, so rather than exercising in any way, I find myself walking to the kitchen. And then walking back out because there’s nothing I fancy. Then I walk back in and start baking. Before I start rambling however, here’s a recipe for you:

Medic’s Microwave Cake Recipe

Ingredients (makes 2-4 mugs’ worth of cake):

• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 2-4 tablespoons of sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
• 5 tablespoons of flour (plus extra)
• 1/3 tablespoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 Microwave

Flavour variants:

• 3 teaspoons of lemon juice (for plain cakes only)
• Chocolate chips. Or big lumps of chocolate.
• 1 teaspoon hazelnut spread and 1 teaspoon peanut butter
• Mixed spices, cinnamon
• Replace milk with sweetened condensed milk or melted ice cream
• Crumbled up oreo cookies, I guess?

Directions

Melt your butter in a good-sized bowl in the microwave on a medium heat, making sure it doesn’t explode everywhere. Take the melted butter out, allow it to cool for a minute or so then add the milk, whisking it together. Add the egg, whisk some more, then throw in the sugar. Slowly add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well until there are no lumps. Add your additional flavourings if you want to.

You’ll want to pour the mixture into some microwave-safe containers. Fill them to about  a third to be on the safe side. Do not fill the container up more than half way because they will explode and make a mess.

Cook in the microwave for about 1 minute on high. If it’s not cooked or still runny or sticky (especially on top), then give it 30 seconds blasts until the cake looks cooked through.

You can store the uncooked cake mixture in the fridge for a few days.

I love baking, I really do.

I mean, sure, I’ll never be a professional or run a bakery or anything, but there’s something nice about baking some sort of food. It’s my own creation and I can change the flavourings however I want. I’ve always actually seen baking as science for non-scientists as everything you make is (mostly) repeatable.

Cakes are no different, and I have a pretty mean sweet tooth. But traditionally, a cake will take a while. Even basic cookies take at least 8 minutes in an oven.

But what if I want something now? Simple! Microwave it!

While a microwave cake will not have the same texture or taste as a normal oven-baked cake, frankly, it does the job. It’s so simple to make and can be cooked in under 2 minutes. Which means I can make a cake late at night or basically whenever I want. You also have better portion control because each microwave cake IS one portion. If you want more, you can make more, rather than having a whole cake sitting there tempting you.

The base recipe is super adaptable too!

The best thing about a microwave cake is that the recipe can be adapted to pretty much anything. You can play it simple and just add a splash of vanilla if you want a plain cake. Or you can go the whole mile, adding tons of chocolate, sprinkles, caramel and everything!

One of my personal favourites is to add a big splash of lemon juice to make an impromptu lemon drizzle cake. But adding big chunks of chocolate into the mixture is also very nice, especially if you use a dark chocolate to counteract the sweetness.

But really, you can easily adapt this recipe to your own personal tastes.

Just try not to eat too much now. After all, too much of a good thing is always bad for you.