microwave cake

A while back, I was looking through a church cookbook and, wouldn't you know, they have a "microwave" section in it. Ah, modern appliances. What I didn't expect is that I would find a cake recipe in there.

Fast forward a few months. I'm having a craving for something sweet and there's pretty much nothing in the house. It's cold, and I don't want to go outside. And I remember: microwave cake! I wonder if that's real...

So, I pulled out the trusty church cookbook, and gave it a whirl because it was all normal stuff I have on hand in my baking box.

I find the recipe and it turns out it's actually called "Mug Cake." It says:

In a large mug, mix well:
4 Tbsp. flour
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa

In a separate bowl, mix:
1 egg
3 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. oil (I used canola)
chocolate chips (optional)

Add egg mixture to the flour mixture, stirring constantly, making sure everything is incorporated. (I used a palm of chocolate chips. Also, I did not stir constantly while adding the egg mixture... I dumped it in and stirred until it was well combined.)

So, I did that. It looked like this:

It then says to microwave on high for 3 minutes, then let cool. I don't know how to turn my microwave on high, so assume that normal is high. I set my microwave for 3 minutes and hit start.

I am skeptical that in 3 minutes, that bowl of goo is going to turn into magical cake that will get rid of my sweet tooth craving.

And, you know what? Microwave cake is real. It looks like this:

I didn't cool it, though, as the instructions said because, well, I lack the fine skill called patience.

The result? It did satisfy my sweet tooth. That being said, it's not the best cake in the world... but definitely worth the 5 minutes of my life it took to make a cake from scratch and it was certainly edible. It's pretty dense, but was moist, and if I would have had some vanilla ice cream, it may have even moved into really yummy. And, it's for sure dangerous that I now know a way to go from no cake to cake in 5 minutes flat.

Have you tried this before? Ideas for other microwave desserts?