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A vanilla mug cake is the perfect fix when you are craving a simple cake but not necessarily the whole shebang of making a full cake. This single serving vanilla mug cake is just as easy to make as my chocolate mug cake; equally light and fluffy, and still has no eggs and fully customizable!
The Very Best Vanilla Mug Cake
If you have been hanging around the blog for a few years now, you’ll know that my original chocolate mug cake that started the whole mug cake trend has been a hit. I recognize, though, that not everyone is a fan of chocolate. If I’m being honest, that’s quite shocking to me but, I aim to please, so if you are a vanilla lover, here is the vanilla mug cake!
Over the years, several of people asked for one and honestly, it wasn’t a bad idea. It’s like having chocolate and vanilla ice cream flavors to choose from. Sometimes you’re wanting chocolate, some days you’re wanting vanilla. Same deal for mug cakes, right?
What is a mug cake?
I still seem to get this question a lot and a mug cake is literally as it sounds. A cake that is made in a mug! They are popular because they’re easy to make, egg-free, and a single-serving. When you are craving cake, you don’t have to whip out all your baking equipment, let alone bake an entire cake. A mug cake is a great alternative to nip that craving in the bud!
Vanilla Mug Cake Variations
Vanilla cake in a mug is the perfect base for your favorite add-ins. Here are some ideas:
- Sprinkles (I suggest using Jimmie sprinkles as the nonpareils will bleed color into your batter)
- Chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, you get the jist!
- Mix in some jam for a fruity surprise!
- Add in some leftover candy like chopped up Reese’s peanut butter cups or a Snickers bar.
- Crush up cookies like Nilla Wafers or Oreo cookies and mix them into the batter.
- Use a nut butter or substitute of choice. Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, etc.!
- Top it off with some whipped cream or ice cream!
Important Vanilla Mug Cake Tips
- Use a microwave-safe mug! This is so important. You don’t want anything shattering in the microwave. Additionally, make sure it holds at least 16 ounces.
- Place the mug on a paper towel just in case it bubbles or spills over. It would make clean up a lot easier.
- Microwave wattages vary thus cook time will vary. My microwave is 950 watts and I cooked mine on 100% power for 130 seconds. Knowing this information, it may help you better judge how long to cook yours for and at what power.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can, but I tested it with self-raising flour and it just came out spongey and not the texture I wanted. I like my cakes light, fluffy, and moist and with the self-raising flour, it just didn’t yield the results I wanted. There have been many people who have used self-raising flour in this recipe and didn’t notice a difference so if you’re up for the challenge, and knowing texture and taste may be off, I say go for it.
No, this was solely developed for the microwave. I have had readers who have baked this but I honestly do not recall how it turned out and/or what temperature or time.
Other Mug Cake Flavors
Very Vanilla Mug Cake
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (31 g) + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (59 ml) + 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.1/4 cup (31 g) + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt
- In a measuring cup, whisk together milk, vanilla bean paste, and vanilla extract.1/4 cup (59 ml) + 2 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients then pour the milk mixture into the center, followed by the melted butter.2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Whisk until no lumps remain and batter is smooth and well combined.
- Pour into a 16-ounce microwave-safe mug.
- Microwave on high for 130 seconds or 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
- Carefully remove and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Photographs by Eat Love Eat
I wanted to make this quick cake because I have leftover lemon cream filling and coconut marshmallow butter cream frosting that i made for a birthday. Didn’t want to throw away the leftovers so I thought I ‘s use it up this way. I’ll let you know how it come out. Also-I will be using lemon flavoring!
I have made countless mug cakes but never a vanilla one. I found this online, and based on reviews it looks promising. I assure you, it is not! I attempted the recipe exactly as described, more than one time. Each time, the 16 ounce mug was way too small to accommodate the ingredients and the mug cake was liquefied after over two minutes and 30 seconds in a very powerful microwave. I highly recommend against this cake as you will ultimately just waste ingredients and end up with nothing savory or delicious to eat.
I just made this for strawberry shortcake tonight and was very impressed. I mixed it a bowl and divided it into 2 custard cups and nuked it for the 2 min 10 secs..it came right out of the cups and we loved it. Thank you for your recipe.
Great recipe! I didn’t have vanilla bean paste, but it was still a great recipe than all the other ones I’ve made. Tip***for a frosting type thing, I melted choc chips with peanut butter for a Reese’s frosting type thing!
Hi!
Please don’t be offended as I love your recipes and have recreated them successfully. But even when I followed the instructions to the T my cake was a rubbery gelatinous gummy lump ☹️ It remained wet and sticky no matter how much I tried to dry it out by microwaving.
I really want this recipe to work.
So could you tell me what are the pressure points where I could have gone wrong?
Does the over whisking cause this?
If so how much to whisk?
Will be highly obliged if you reply back
Thanks & regards.
Hi, definitely not offended. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. Over-whisking could cause this. It’s honestly so incredibly hard to diagnose what went wrong because there are so many factors that could cause this and since I’m not really there with you, I can’t say for certain. Maybe try less liquid if it’s remaining wet.
Well, that was a bust. I’m a huge fan of your moistest chocolate mug cake, so I thought I’d try this out. This batter was not heavy as it was described, but runny. That’s probably why it turned out as wet and undercooked as it did. The microwave is a 1000W oven, so it shouldn’t have been the cooking time. Even with increasing the time, the batter never got past the wet sponge consistency. Bummer. I’ll have to try again with less milk, maybe, and see what happens. (the chocolate recipe, though…that is a keepr!)
I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out completely flavorless and way too spongy. Honestly do not try this.
My microwave is 750 watts and I couldn’t get the cake to rise. It’s delicious flavor, but a spongey mess.
This is a very dangerously delicious recipe…no longer is there a reason to not eat the whole cake! Why did I not know about this before? My very old 600 watt microwave probably needed an extra 10-15 seconds to cook through 100%- but at 70 seconds the top 80% was amazing and the very bottom was still raw batter. I will tweak it a bit and perhaps try a different mug. Thanks so much for the recipe. I will try the vanilla one very soon.
delicious ? i used olive oil (reduced to 1.5 tbsp) and added cinnamon and some chocolate chips