Cake In A Cup

This is my first recipe I have made following a request from a friend. She wanted me to make a cake in a cup....you know the ones, they are all over Pinterest and other cooking websites where you make and bake a cake in a cup in the microwave! Here is my BIG problem....I hate cooking in a microwave, and to me baking is not real baking if it does not involve an oven! Call me a snob, or a weirdo who reads and believes too many negative articles about cooking in microwaves, but I just don't like it!

Don't get me wrong, microwaves have their place, and I'm still not sure how I spent so many of my childhood years without a microwave (my parents first one was my microwave that they inherited when I moved to California....I was 27!).  They are great for reheating....just don't reheat in plastic or I freak out...for defrosting etc.....but baking a cake....a whole cake in a minute just seems wrong, very wrong!

However, this friend had asked, maybe even challenged me, so I couldn't refuse.

I actually set out convinced that it would not work and would be an utter failure....however I was proved wrong, the very first time!
The recipe I used I adapted from the most traditional white cake recipe which follows the golden rules for baking in England.  You use equal amounts of egg, sugar, flour and butter, then add a little baking powder, mix and bake......very simple!  That is until you try and apply that same measurement using US cups which results in some very crispy, buttery, concave, disks which should resemble cupcakes (yes that actually happened the first time I baked in the US...disaster! Insert-all Americans laughing at me for being so stupid, and hopefully all British people reading this thinking "why would that be a problem!"

Anyway, after a few cupcake disasters, and many cake triumphs both in England and in the USA, here is my Cake In A Cup recipe:

In a small bowl, add all the ingredients

mix with an electric hand mixer

Spoon into a cup/mug/small bowl, ensuring the cup is no more than half full of cake batter.

Microwave on full power for 1 minute.  Timings will vary depending on the microwave power, we have a powerful one so you may need to cook it for a little longer.  I suggest you cook it for 1 minute, then in 10 second intervals as required. 

Obviously the cake will cook fully but will not turn brown at all, to ensure the cake is fully cooked insert a toothpick into the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is cooked.

Allow cake to cool for about 5 mins, enjoy!

White Chocolate Cake

Yield: 2 Cakes, which you can share with a friend, loved one or eat them both yourself...we won't judge!

Ingredients:

1/4 C butter, softened
1/3 C sugar
1/2 C flour
1 egg
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 drops vanilla extract

For Lemon Cake add the following ingredients:

juice 1/2 small lemon (add to the ingredients and mix well)


1 tbsp lemon curd (when the cake batter is in the cup, make a small hole in the batter and spoon in the lemon curd)

For white chocolate cake:

add white chocolate pieces or chips before cooking

For double chocolate cake:

add 1/2 tsp cocoa powder to batter and stir well,

then add chocolate chips, chocolate pieces or a spoonful of nutella to the center of the mixture before cooking

Directions:

In a small bowl, add all the ingredients, mix with an electric hand mixer.  Spoon into a cup/mug/small bowl, ensuring the cup is no more than half full of cake batter.

Microwave on full power for 1 minute.  Timings will vary depending on the microwave power, we have a powerful one so you may need to cook it for a little longer.  I suggest you cook it for 1 minute, then in 10 second intervals as required.

Obviously the cake will cook fully but will not turn brown at all, to ensure the cake is fully cooked insert a toothpick into the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is cooked.

Allow cake to cool for about 5 mins, enjoy!

The cakes are best eaten within 30 mins of cooking, while they are still warm!