Desserts
Chocolate Mug Cake
A rich chocolate sponge for one, mixed in a mug and cooked in the microwave in about a minute and a half, with a few chunks of chocolate pushed into the middle so it comes out with a molten centre.
- Serves 1
- Ready in 5 min
- Serves 1
- Microwave times are for 800–900 W
- British / American
Method
Choose a large microwave-safe mug (at least 350 ml) so the cake has room to rise. Put the flour (4 tbsp), sugar (3 tbsp), cocoa (2 tbsp) and salt (pinch) in the mug and mix with a fork.
Add the egg (1 egg) and beat it in well, then add the milk (3 tbsp), oil (2 tbsp) and vanilla (a little) and mix until smooth, scraping the corners of the mug so no dry flour is left.
Push the chocolate (20 g) into the middle of the batter.
Microwave on full power for 1 minute 20 seconds to 1 minute 40 seconds, until risen and just set on top but still slightly moist. Microwaves vary, so check after the first minute.
Leave to stand for 1 minute (it keeps cooking and the mug is very hot), then eat from the mug with cream or ice cream (2 tbsp).
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
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See also
Chef’s notes
- No egg? Leave it out, use 4 tbsp milk and add ⅛ tsp bicarbonate of soda; the cake will be denser, like the egg-free version on Allrecipes.
- Overcooking makes it rubbery: take it out when the top still looks a little damp.
- Try a spoonful of peanut butter, Nutella or a few raspberries in the middle instead of the chocolate.
- Microwaves differ: for 1000 W ovens start checking at 1 minute.
How this recipe was developed
We compared BBC Good Food’s microwave mug cake with the most-rated version on Allrecipes and America’s Test Kitchen’s molten mug cake.
- Self-raising flour and an egg. BBC Good Food’s version (4.05/5 from 629 ratings) uses self-raising flour, caster sugar, cocoa, an egg, milk and oil.
- Less oil. Reviewers find many mug cakes greasy; we cut the oil to 2 tbsp, as in Allrecipes’ Easy Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake (4.6/5 from 2,483 ratings).
- A molten middle. America’s Test Kitchen pushes chocolate into the centre for a molten core; we do the same.
- A big mug. Both BBC Good Food and America’s Test Kitchen warn to use a large mug so it does not overflow.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
- BBC Good Food (Member recipe by cabrioletbird): Microwave mug cake (4.05/5, 629 ratings)
- Allrecipes (safinabakes1231): Easy Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake (4.6/5, 2483 ratings)
- America's Test Kitchen (Camila Chaparro): Molten Chocolate Mug Cake (4.1/5, 250 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.