Ready, set, go.
Let’s make cake.
In the microwave. In 90 seconds.
Who doesn’t love cake, with strawberries woven into it, with a puddle a bit of vanilla buttercream glaze added for good measure.
Get your day started off properly.
With cake for breakfast.
And it’s healthy because you’re getting in a serving of fruit. Yeah.
Along with a serving of frosting, which is the best way to start the day, of course.
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Microwave Strawberry Vanilla Mug Cake with Vanilla Glaze (with Vegan and Gluten Free Suggestions)
Makes one very generous portion
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 teaspoon+ if you love vanilla)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (or 3 tablespoons if you want it sweeter)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 to 3 tablespoons strawberries, diced (I used TJ’s frozen strawberries and diced them. Halve or quarter your berries as desired)
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients (except strawberries), and whisk until batter is just smooth, but do not overmix. Gently fold in the strawberries. Prepare a mug by spraying it very well with cooking spray and pour batter into mug, taking care that there is plenty of room for growth. The batter/cake will nearly double in height in the microwave so select a large mug and do not fill more than halfway. (You may have leftover batter or you may get two mugcakes from this recipe, but don’t overfill or you will have a big mess) Microwave on high for 75 to 90 seconds, or until done. Microwave cooking times vary widely and I suggest standing in front of the microwave the entire time. It could be done in 60 seconds, it could take 2 minutes; it’s very hard to say but mine took about 90 seconds. While the mug cake is cooling, make the glaze.
Vanilla Buttercream Glaze
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/2 teaspoon+ if you love vanilla)
1 tablespoon+ cream (or milk)
Combine all ingredients (except for cream) in a small bowl and whisk, adding the cream based on desired consistency of glaze. Spoon glaze over the mugcake while it’s in the mug and allow glaze to soak and permeate into the cake. Or, remove cake from the mug by running a knife around the sides and inverting it onto a plate and spooning the glaze over it.
Notes:
I do not bother with mixing dry ingredients first, then wet; making this in one bowl and everything added at once is fine. You can also mix this all together in the mug and skip the bowl entirely, taking care you’ve sprayed it well with cooking spray. Do not fill your mug more than halfway full as the batter/cake will expand and nearly double in size. Allow for plenty of room for growth.
To keep vegan, use margarine in place of butter, use nut milk in place of cream/milk, and use a flax egg. To keep gluten free, use a gluten-free flour blend. I have not tried making this vegan or gluten free; I am only providing likely suggestions.
I am sure you could bake this in the oven in an oven-safe baking dish or suitable mug, but this is a “convenience recipe” and I have only tried it using the microwave.
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Cake making is as easy as combining everything in one bowl except for the strawberries, stirring, and folding those in last. I don’t bother mixing the dry and mixing wet ingredients separately, and then folding them together.
This is a convenience recipe and it’s much more convenient to just do it all at once. You can even just mix everything in the mug, making it even more convenient because you have one less dish to do, but for the sake of pictures, I used a small bowl.
Pour the batter into a mug if you didn’t mix the batter in a mug.
One huge, big, word of advice: Make sure you mug is TALL enough to support this recipe. Select a nice, tall mug because the batter will expand considerably; nearly doubling in height.
Don’t fill your mug more than halfway full with batter because you will end up with spillover city and a microwave cleanup project and that would be a major inconvenience.
The photo below was taken about one minute after removing the mugcake from the microwave.
Upon initially taking it out, the batter had puffed up very high, even a little higher, than the mug’s rim, but as it cooled, it shrunk down some.
For the sake of pictures, I inverted the mugcake on a plate and drizzled glaze over the top but if it wasn’t for pictures, I would have just poured the glaze on top of the cake while inside the mug, and smooshed it all around with my spoon.
I would have eaten it like hot fudge poured over ice cream in a mug, all messy and blended together, which is the best way.
This was so good because it had the sweetness of vanilla cake but with the bonus of berries woven in, and then that glaze.
The vanilla glaze really enhanced the vanilla cake flavor. I am a vanilla fanatic and this was right up my vanilla alley.
The whole thing is right up my alley because there is cake involved, frosting is present, and the microwave was used.
My kinda recipe.
If you’re a fan of microwave “cakes” you may like:
Microwave Blueberry Banana Oat Cakes
If you like to bake rather than nuke, I suggest Strawberry Banana Bread
Have you ever made a mugcake?
What’s the best thing you make in the microwave?
I know some people don’t like using microwaves but I do. Because I can make cake in it! Or tofu. Or popcorn. Or heat up my coffee. Just one tool in the toolbox.
Thanks for the Baking Supplies Giveaway entries
Can’t wait to try this delicious looking Strawberry Vanilla Mug Cake, seems delicious. Thank you for sharing this one with us, will love to try this.
Super excited to try this unique Microwave Strawberry Vanilla Mug Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Glaze, seems amazing . My kids gonna love this recipe, thanks for sharing with us .
I know you all will enjoy it!
I mixed this in a Pyrex jug then cooked it in the jug itself. It turned out easily and made a nice little cake for two to share. Under lockdown, I’m doing a video cookalong with my (almost) 4 year old grandson tomorrow. I’ll be adding the full tsp of vanilla, leaving out the cinnamon and letting him sprinkle in a few chocolate chips, just to make it more to a younger taste. Both versions are great. Thanks.
Glad you are able to do video cooking with your grandson!
I omitted the sugar and used a tsp of honey and 1/2 tsp of baking powder. I don’t like super sweet deserts. Also used just 2 tbs of blueberries. I sprayed the cup with cooking spray and just stirred all ingredients together. I cooked it for 80 seconds. Perfect. I tipped with whipped cream instead. Super easy and yummy!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad it turned out perfect for you!
I just made this because I’ve been sick and I was craving something sweet. I don’t even like food with fruit in it (like cooked fruit), but this caught my eye. It took longer to make than other mug cakes I’ve tried, but this is probably the best one out there. The glaze is so good, and the cake itself is amazing. I cooked my cake for 1 minute and 30 seconds in the microwave, and it turned out perfect. It also made a lot of cake too in my small mug. Saving this recipe.
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you! Glad it’s the best mug cake you’ve tried!
This is super yummy! I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve made it. In my most recent attempt, I added chopped apples instead of strawberries, because we’re out of the latter. SO good. It would probably be better with some pre-cooked apples, though. The microwave doesn’t cook them very well.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it comes out great for you!
I am wondering if this could be made as a pineapple upside down cake.
I’ve never tried that in the microwave so can’t say for sure exactly what you’d want to include and how to do it, but feel free to start experimenting!
Mixed and microwaved a Strawberry banana (flavoring) variation in a 4 inch ramekin tonight. Only one dish to clean. And oh so yummy. I don’t bother with the glaze/icing, and I eat it while it’s still warm from the microwave.
Glad it worked great for you!
I read somewhere that the ratio is 1 teaspoon baking powder to 1 cup flour, an too much baking powder can add a bitter metallic taste. So accordingly, I used a 1/4 teaspoon baking powder. The cake came out great and not in the least bit dry, of course the strawberries certainly helped
Glad it worked out great for you!
I think your formatting got messed up on this one. I’ve been importing your recipes into my tablet cookbook, and thank you for taking the time to use a format that it recognizes to make it so easy. But it balked on this one and there are stray “[print_this]” tags around the recipe, so I don’t think it formatted correctly, in case you’d like to check it out. Thank you again for all the wonderful recipes and making it so easy to collect them!
Some of my older recipes from 2011 and prior have older formatting that I have not had time to go in and manually change. I do my best. Thanks for your support!
Instant success! Definitely needs the vanilla essence – I was naughty and tried to leave it out, which made the cake taste a bit eggy. Great way to use up some strawberries we had that were getting over-ripe.
Glad it was an instant hit and helped you use up the ripe berries!
I made this for dessert tonight, I am gluten intolerant so I used Bobs Red Mill All-Purpose gluten free flour with 1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum. It was delicious!!! Thanks for the recipe :)
Glad it worked out great and thanks for LMK that you made it GF! That’s wonderful!
This recipe was a hit! I made it for my dad’s birthday breakfast and he absolutely loved it. Since he isn’t big on anything too sweet, I only used half of the glaze mixture but it was still delicious. Thank you!
So glad to hear you guys enjoyed it & happy bday to to your dad!
Absolutely delicious!! I just made this with some blueberries, because state berries were too much work, and it was AMAZING. Kudos!!
Blueberries sounds great in this! Glad you loved it!
Yum yum-super tasty and super easy to do. I changed out the vanilla for hazelnut extract though….just LOVE my hazelnut :)
For people who are talking about how chewy and tough it is, that’s probably because of a couple things-you may have overmixed it, and it’s VERY easy to do. Second, you might not have the right time on your microwave-I’ve figured out through a few tries that mine is the best at 70 seconds or so. also having some honey will really help keep that moisture in the mix. if you still want it moist, then use some cream instead of butter! did that for mine and it worked awesome.
Probably going to use this base recipe as a jumping off point for future cake mug experiments. :) thanks for posting this!
Thanks for the detailed comment and for offering tips for others, Eski. I’m sure that will be helpful! I am so glad you love this and hazelnut extract sounds wonderful and that you’re going to use this as a jumping off place for other mug cakes. I’ve also found that mere seconds, i.e. from 70 secs to 80 secs, can make a huge difference with results and finding that sweet spot is key.
I also have this mugcake which is a newer recipe and I loved how choclaty and moist it turned out! LMK if you try other mugcake versions!
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/08/fudgy-chocolate-brownie-microwave-mugcake-with-vanilla-glaze.html
This is the first mug cake I’ve ever made and I’m sorry to say that it was kind of gross. It’s so tough and chewy! I would never make it again. I feel like anyone who thinks this is good must have never had actual cake. If someone served this at a party, I would frankly be kind of appalled.
I’m sorry that you didn’t enjoy it. Mugcakes are not like real cake and no one would ever serve a mugcake at a party! They’re a quick little thing to make when you need to satisfy a craving, not impress a crowd. The recipe is 2 years old and since then, I’ve created this one, which I prefer.
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/08/fudgy-chocolate-brownie-microwave-mugcake-with-vanilla-glaze.html
I had a foodgasim when I ate this
Glad it was a big success :)
I just made this. It hit the spot. Nice that the ingredients are things you have around. I had to dig out some strawberries from a fruit salad, but otherwise right handy. Thanks.
Glad to hear it was a success! And digging out berries from the fruit salad…love it :)
I love this recipe so quick and easy and not too sweet !
I love these recipes and everything, but I like it when I find the recipes being friendly in the calorie budget too… This one serving recipe has about 650 calories! If you just substitute the butters and sugars for applesauce and stevia, you cut the calories in half…that would make a happier girl over here!
Go for it and enjoy the recipe any way that sounds good to you and still enables it to turn out!
It is heavenly!! Made it for some guest we had over Saturday night and it was a hit. The best part about it is that you can cook them before hand and re-heat them in the mugs just in time to serve!
Good to know it was a hit AND that you could pre-cook and simply reheat a smidge before serving. Love the feedback!
This cake looks heavenly!
I make a 3-minute microwave brownie (vegan, gluten-free) – it has banana in it to keep it moist, and it works surprisingly well! I also use a lot of liquid. The end result is a little chewy, soft and moist (I don’t get why so many people dislike that word…). I heard honey keeps baked goods moist, you could try that :).
I found this recipe and I knew in an instant I had to make it. However, I always find mug cakes to be a little on the dry side, so I added a tablespoon of plain Greek yogurt, a little more sugar, and a pinch more of cinnamon. Also, I couldn’t find any strawberries in my house, so I used peaches instead! The result? Cinnamony, peachy, heaven. It was super moist and absolutely delicious!! I will definitely be making this again. Except maybe next time I’ll use the strawberries:)
Yes mug cakes tend to be DRY city. I know. Good call on the yogurt and the peaches. Fruit will keep anything more moist. Sounds like a winner!
Loved this!! I used stevia and whole wheat pastry flour and it turned out great!! I can’t wait to try your other recipes!! :D
YAY! Please keep me posted if you try other things!
Morning Avery! I made my first mug cake today. it was a chocolate mug cake(surprise surprise PMS) Am going to make this for my husband when he comes back. he doesn’t like frosting so am thinking of topping it with vanilla ice cream
Sounds like a winner: Chocolate! He doesn’t like frosting? Silly guy!
I know right? crazy is what i think he is!
I just made your cake, followed directions exactly and it turned out perfect!! I asked my Husband if he wanted microwave cake and he was skeptical and kind of had that gross look on his face but took it anyway and I told him to share it with me. I went to the kitchen to wash up the dishes, came back and he ate the whole thing. With a mouth full of food, he said that was good!! It’s a hit!! If I didn’t wash the dishes I would of made one for myself. I did manage one bite before I gave it to him to test and it’s amazing! it’s almost like a strawberry sponge cake. I love it!! Great recipe! This is one I’ll make again!! Do you think you could sub the flour for unsweetened cocoa powder? I’d love a chocolate cake with strawberries!! Your a genius!!!
Because the flour has a specific purpose, you can’t omit it. You could probably add 1 to 2 tbsp of cocoa powder to the mix, but know that if you do that, it’s probably not going to fit into one mug! Well, not my mugs because I was already at the limits of size before I would have had an overflow! So it may be a 2-cake microwave mug cake(s). I have some recipes coming up and you will be happy with them…just sit tight, they’re coming :)
GLAD the hubs approved. That’s high praise…thank you for telling me!
Hey, I just linked this post as one of my favorites from the week on my blog. Thanks so much for sharing!
Wow amazing, I will definitely make this soon! Pinned!
PERFECT!!!! It was super simple to make and super quick. Made it while baby was taking a nap!! Great treat for mommy alone time. :) The taste is absolutely divine!!!!!
Thanks for the feedback!! I love field reports…especially when there is big time success :)
I have never made a mug cake … I guess I have always been a little afraid that they would taste funny or something. Yours looks pretty darn good though!
I am addicted to making popcorn in my microwave (I blame you – remember all the recipes for popcorn you posted a while ago? Yeah well I’m still making it almost every day… Household favorite is cooking spray with Splenda (shhh) and cinnamon)
what a cute and YUMMY recipe! did you say 90 secs… Oh yes please.
The pics get me everytime…mouth watering!
Love the new site/everything by the way. You go girl.. :)
Thanks, Monica! Your site is always…amazing and so inspiring! All this tech stuff takes TIME and patience!
BEAUTIFUL pics!! I’m loving the look of that glaze!!
Thanks, Anna :)
This is such a cute idea! And I love how fast it would be to whip up. Convenient, delicious, and under proper portion control. :)
I have tried to make a mugcake before, but it never really worked out. I don’t know if I was just following bad recipes, or if I wasn’t using the right gluten-free flours or what. Gluten-free nuking seems to be as much of a science and gluten-free baking!
I think your mugcake might replace the cake ball craze. Seriously that’s pretty ingenius. I can see the marketing now.
Like the new layout too!
Cake baked in a microwave? That is magical. And so tempting that I’d want to do this each and every morning. ;)
This looks so fun! I’ve never tried mug cake, but what a cute idea! I have not been making anything nearly as fabulous in my microwave lately, just reheating coffee and steaming veggies. :-)
I. love. mugcake. My life improved once I discovered them! And I love my microwave even though there is some concern about the safety of using it.
Making microwave cakes and muffins is pretty much the only method of “baking” that I do. :)
My favorite is probably one made with coconut flour, cocoa powder, liquid stevia (chocolate flavor), egg whites, pumpkin, almond milk and baking powder. And either chopped up strawberries or peanut butter chips. SO GOOD.
This is genius. You are my new personal hero!!!
Thanks, Melissa :)
I am always on the lookout for single-serving treats. Thanks! This one looks great!
single-serving is key sometimes!
Awesome good!
just looking at the photos makes me hungry hahas!
thumbs up ya. this is perfect for my cakes craving :x
Oh my gosh, you are GENIUS. This is fantastic and I have a little baggie of strawberries to use!
LMK if you try it!
No way! This is too cool!
Yum! I definitely want to try this soon. By the way, I loooove the microwave oat cakes, I’ve been having them for breakfast almost everyday! Sometimes I add pumpkin and/or frozen raspberries to the mix, so good. Topped with PB of course! Thanks for the great idea
Your photos are absolutely breathtaking, seriously amazing!!! :) I love the microwave I have no hate against it! It’s easy and quick, just what I need for my life
Thanks, Lisa, and I’m with you on the micro!
Aren’t mug cakes the best? I’ve only done chocolate based ones so I’m loving this fruit version!
I don’t even recall your chocolate one?! I need to see what you did…
It is amazing to me that something that looks like it took a couple of hours, really only took less than 2 minutes…AND…looks delicious to boot! Simeon (my youngest) said that he is making his own breakfast tomorrow and that is the menu! LOL! :-)
Well, the food styling, photos, editing of them, and blogging about this took about 80899 times longer than the actual recipe did :)
So yes, the recipe was 2 mins..the rest…well, not so much.
I went through a phase in like November where I ate a chocolate mug cake at least once a day (sometimes I ate two and called it dinner) … I used chick pea flour which worked out really well and my roommate who is not vegan or gluten free or weird but just a foodie kinda person really loved it as well. My go-to was something like 3 t garbanzo flour, 2 t cocoa powder, 1+ t coconut sugar (or agave or whateverr), 1 t coconut oil, a splash of water or almond milk to make it cake batter-y, then mix ins like fruit or chocolate chips (usually both). Finish with a dollop of nut butter for the grande finale and … dinner, right??
oh and of course baking soda, flax egg, and salt
Oh man, I’ve been trying (with little success) to make a vegan mug muffin this week. I can’t seem to get the density right . . . it’s always too heavy. Yours, however, is mouthwatering. Lovely work!
higher up in the comments someone already wrote in to say they tried it GF AND with coconut oil rather than butter with success. I think you can skip the egg and use a flax egg and you’re there. LMK if you try it!
I made a vegan version of your mug cake/muffin using your suggestions (flax egg and coconut oil) and it turned out great! Thanks for your help!
Thanks so much for posting this comment, Alyssa :) Glad that it worked for you! YAY!!!
And I literally just finished the strawberries that have been taking up freezer space since I picked them this summer.
I’d say this recipe is healthier than most pancake recipes, even with the glaze, if you factor in that no one uses only 1/4 c of syrup. At least I never did. ;) I do some of my best baking and cooking with the microwave. I love it. I’m not dead yet.
I’m not dead either and you’re right, this IS healthier than pancakes b/c I was playing around with pancake recipes last week and after making those and this, just by ingredients alone, I KNOW this is healthier, syrup factor notwithstanding…and then for SURE this is healthier. 2 tbsp of syrup have like 100 cals or something kinda crazy. And who uses 2 tbsp. That’s PER BITE for me :)
Averie, how can you bake so much and stay so slim?
I eat some of everything I make; but I don’t eat a 9 x 13 pan of bars or a dozen cookies every day…haha. Moderation.
LOVE!!!! i’m obsessed with all your vanilla recipes lately. this mug cake looks divine w/ those strawberries. mmmm! i may have to try some of your microwave recipes Averie! Pinning that blueberry banana oat cake.
thanks as always for the PINS!
ohhh my gosh. read this & ran down stairs to make it. AMAZING!! I may or may have not added mini chocolate chips to it :) Thanks for this great recipe!
OMG Strawberries & mint = GREAT combo!
Thanks for the FAST attempt on this one and for the field report! I love feedback, especially when the recipe is well-received :)
I love microwaves specifically for sweet potatoes. I’ve been into baking them lately but in a pinch I can easily microwave one in 4-5 minutes and its almost just as good and soo convenient. I’ve made one mug cake and absolutely loved how easy it was and was surprised by how well it came out! Has to be a good recipe though because I’m sure they can go wrong pretty easily.
They can go wrong and either not rise or rise too much and puffffffff right out of the mug. lol
this looks great! i love mug cakes because they’re one serving. i prefer single serving desserts…they help my self control since i have an incredibly large sweet tooth! ;)
Single serving is great…I wish I could make 1 dozen, cookies, max at a time. Because after that, I’m ready for a new flavor anyway!
I have never made an official mug cake, but I’m a huge fan of the quinoa bakes for breakfast. My boyfriend just asked me what is for dessert and I’m thinking it may be a mug cake : ) And the banana oat one looks perfect for tomorrws breakfast. Thanks!
LMK if you end up making anything & what you did and used in it and results!
Yes, anything with fruit is automatically healthy, love that rule and that’s why I love banana cream pie – so healthy ;) Love these easy little cakes!
We share the same logic, clearly :)
You are making this too easy!!!
Just means you have to make it :)
How could this possibly be bad? Strawberries AND vanilla. YUM. I’ve never tried a mugcake. About the only thing that happens in my microwave is reheating something or defrosting something.
Couldn’t possibly be bad :)
I have a feeling my microwave and I have a cake date very soon – too tempting, Averie!!
That. Looks. Insanely. Good. I. Might. Freak.
I made an apple cinnamon mug cake before I sat down to pull up your post–what a coincidence! I needed something sweet and fast and mug cakes fit the bill! Yours looks so nice with the strawberries and glaze–I’ll have to try that next.
We’re on the same wavelength and then some!
okay…. I am drooling now
Ok, made a GF one! I used almond flour and coconut flour to make 1/4 c total, coconut oil instead of butter and stevia. Turned out sooooo yummy.
I make the ‘skinny muffin’ in the micro with flax meal. Yours is better tho!
Thank you so much for the FAST field report! And that you made it GF and with coconut oil, too. GREAT INFO!!! Thanks, Stephanie!
I’ve never done a microwave style mug cake before… i love the idea of whipping something up quick without compromising on the yumminess factor! Must try! xo
I love this averie! Yum!
I’ve had mug cakes on my to-make list foreverrrrrrr! This sounds SO GOOD. Love the sugary glaze. Glaze is my favorite and so easy to make. YUM!
Glaze makes EVERYTHING better!
Yes, we do make mug cakes, it’s a traditional around the Easter. But not in the microwave, in the oven. As for us, we decided about two years ago not to have microwave at all. Strange, ha?! :)
Not strange b/c I know a lot of people who don’t use one..but…I love the convenience!
YUM! You are on an awesome strawberry kick. I’m loving it!! I haven’t made a mug cake. Its such a fun dessert idea!
I know…I went months without anything but lately, been going gangbusters!
What a great cake! Single serve, so no one has to know I had while they were at work and school!
LOL I like the way you think!
We don’t have a microwave but I think I am going to try baking it, and maybe making it vegan. Love this!
I knew someone would say they don’t have a microwave…never thought it would be you! LMK if you do end up trying it and the outcome!
We just never bought one after we moved and we honestly haven’t missed it. I have been using double-boilers more than ever! I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Ahhhhhh mugcake!!!! LOVE! I’ve only tried chocolate before…but this looks incredible!
Brooke
http://www.MarvelousLoveBlog.com
Thanks, Brooke. Chocolate is next on my agenda I’m thinking.