August 7, 2014
Blueberry Mug Cake
by Kirbie
This simple fluffy cake is not overly sweet and is bursting with fresh blueberries. It works for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or any other time of the day.
Today I got to experience the thrill of actually making a recipe from my book. I’ve been so caught up in the excitement of being a cookbook author that I never really thought of much beyond that, like the fact that being a cookbook author means that one day I will be in the kitchen making a recipe, and it will be my cookbook opened for reference!
I had a craving for something sweet and simple and I thought of my blueberry mug cake. I went on my blog to find the recipe and was surprised that I’ve actually never shared it before. So then I started to pull out my book draft, when it suddenly dawned on me that I no longer need to do so because I already have the physical copy. You can imagine my excitement.
Also you see that dusting of powdered sugar on the picture page? The photo is so sharp that I actually thought I had gotten flour on my new book and attempted to wipe it off. Silly me!
This recipe actually took me a long time to perfect. Getting a white cake base that doesn’t tasty eggy, oily or rubbery was really quite frustrating. But I’m really thrilled with the result and I hope you are too.
What is especially great is that it really works for almost any seasonal fresh fruit. I mentioned earlier that the book offers a lot of alternative variations and this is the perfect example. I wasn’t going to be redundant and make a mango cake, a strawberry cake, and a blueberry cake all with basically the same base and just swapping out the fruit. So I chose one, but there is a nice little cloud note that let’s you know you can swap out the blueberries for other fruit variations.
This blueberry cake isn’t too sweet on its own, making it a yummy breakfast too. Speaking of breakfast treats, I’m so happy the weekend is around the corner!
As a quick reminder, here is list of online retailers where you can purchase my book!
- 4 tbsp (30 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) fat-free milk
- 1/2 tbsp (7.5 ml) vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 10 blueberries
Combine all ingredients except blueberries in an oversized microwave-safe mug. Mix with a small whisk until batter is smooth. Stir in blueberries (Make sure you stir these into the batter. If you leave them on top they might burst open onto your microwave).
Cook in microwave for about 1 minute. If cake is not done, heat an additional 15 seconds. Let cake cool a few minutes before eating. Cake is best consumed while still warm or within a few hours of it being cooked.
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Is it really 2 1/2 teaspoons of sugar? Because that’s only just over half a tablespoon.
yup! like the description states, it’s not an overly sweet cake. it’s sweet, but not super sweet. you can always sprinkle some sugar on top if you find it not sweet enough for your liking.
Wow, this looks amazing! I’ll have to try it this weekend.
i hope you like it!
Can I ask, how many watts is your microwave? Also, how many oz does your cup hold? Because it fit’s that mug cake perfectly. 🙂
1000 watts. not positive on the mug. this is one of my smaller mugs, so it’s around 8oz. I usually recommend when people make one of my mug cakes for the first time to use a bigger mug like 12-16 oz, just because you don’t know exactly how high it will bubble and you don’t want it overflowing out and making a mess. once you have an idea of how high it rises during cooking, you can estimate and reduce the mug size for future ones. you can also 1.5x a recipe or 2x a recipe for an extra large mug too. but keeping in mind you have more than 1 serving in there
Could you substitute the flour for oat flour? Or almond flour maybe? I’m gluten intolerant so…
Also, can you substitute the milk for almond milk? Because that’s all I have at home.
i have not tried with any of those substitutions before so i don’t know.
Hmmm, I have almond milk at home. I’ll try making this with that to see how it comes out. I don’t drink fat free milk (only 2% but that’s for TC). Love how your photos of this recipe turned out! Such pretty colors!
if you can spare some of the 2%, you can use that too.
as an 80 yr old i tell those of you who wish to substitute something else just go ahead an do it / a recipe is a road map / here’s how i did this / well i am gonna make this blueberry cake in an oven bc i dont have a microwave anymore / but i do have the blueberries and a mug / smile
i meant to say it was the “not eggy or rubbery” that got me !
hope it turned out well for you!
I’ve tried this mug cake and it was delicious! It was exactly like the photo, except my blueberries exploded and stained my cake red??? But thanks for the recipe! It was super moist and fluffy and I will be making this often! 🙂
yikes! you need to make sure you push the blueberries into the batter. if they are on the top, they will explode from the microwave.
Delicious! I used GF plain flour and although it didn’t rise as much (only half the mug), it was really yummy. Used raspberries too instead and lactose free milk.
i’m glad it turned out well for you!
Could be possible substitute the vegetable oil for butter?
actually the cake comes out dry if you use butter instead
Also do you think would be a good idea to add some Ricotta?
i dont think so..i mean you probably can make a recipe using ricotta, but you’re going to have to change around a lot of the other ingredients. also i think it would be hard to beat out the ricotta lumps with just a hand whisk
Yummm. Thought I had blueberries. . . . opened up the fridge to find they’re all shriveled and moldy! But I’d already made the rest of the batter! I took some marmalade, swirled it in and yuuummm.
Although next time, I’ll just plop the marmalade/jam on top . . . . it was too dense and the batter so light that it all just settled to the bottom =(
You could probably also swirl in some honey and just make it a sweeter plain white cake.
Love love LOVE the texture!
glad you like it!
Can you put it in the oven? We don’t use the microwave.
I think it should work, but I don’t know how long you need to bake it for.
I substituted the milk for almond milk and upped the sugar to a tablespoon and it was perfect!
i’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I accidently used 2 and half tbsp of sugar! Was nice but sweet ahah! I also used raising flour as usually my mug cakes dont rise when i use plain flour( it might be because i used a gluten free flour blend)! Other than that a lovely cake! Have you considered doing a ‘healthy’ version with less ingredients! Do you know the calorie content?
this is a great source to analyze calorie count https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
Looks delicious! I love blueberries and the idea of being able to make a cake in a single serving.
i hope you try it out!
Can you replace milk with water?
i dont recommend it. the cake will be dry and somewhat rubbery
Tried this cake and was disappointed. It’s spongy as opposed to fluffy & cake like. If you want a good microwave cake recipe… Try the 2 min coffee cake!!
perhaps you made a mistake in your measurements? or did you change the ingredients? because this is one of my most popular recipes and it comes out fluffy every time I make it.
can I use 2% milk instead of fat free that’s the only kind I have?
yes
My cake did not rise much at all. Was I supposed to use self rising flour?
No, the recipe is for all purpose. did you check your baking powder to make sure it isn’t expired? When you say it didn’t rise, do you mean it is really dense, or that it’s not reaching the top of your mug? The cake should be a one serving-cupcake like serving. So depending on the size of your mug, your cake won’t necessarily rise all the way to the top.
Ok, so i made it and it only filled 1/2 the big mug. i used gluten free flour and a little more p owder. it did come out nice and fluffy though and i put butter on iit like a blueberry muffin.(baking powder) my tablet is being a pain to. Type tthis comment
It might not rise as high with gluten free flour, but i’m glad you got it to work!
Thanks so much for sharing, I really liked it. However, I had to add more milk as it was not liquid enough to stir in the blueberries and on my microwave I cooked it for 2 min 20 sec (although I know that may be because of the watts). Cheers!
I’m glad you got it to work! That’s odd you didn’t have enough milk though.
This cake was ok. A bit too dense and gluey for my liking…. Next time I’ll add a little extra milk because the batter was quite thick, and double the baking powder… Maybe a touch of cinnamon? This time I doubled the vanilla and used 15 blueberries because I love the stronger vanilla flavor and extra berries
hmm, did you use fat free milk? if you use other higher fat content milks you will need to add more otherwise the batter isnt as fluffy.
Came out pretty well, even without blueberries, thank you!!
that’s so great to hear!!
Wow! This is amazing!! It reminds me of the muffins I made in my teens!! I used 1.5 recipe for a larger cup, doubled the blueberries and instead of making my usual butter streusel this time I just sprinkled a little brown sugar with some cinnamon on top! It was divine and a lot less fat cutting out the butter!! This will definitely be my go to fruit mug cake recipe so fluffy and light!!
so glad you enjoyed it!
I had the same problem with a rubbery texture. I was meticulous in my measurements and ingredients, I did double check my baking powder’s expiration but it’s 2017, so I have no idea why it didn’t work. I don’t know the wattage on my microwave, maybe that’s the issue
Did you by chance use any other type of milk? Believe it or not, it make a difference. for example, full fat milk makes the texture gummy and not as fluffy because it’s too thick and not enough liquid.
Absolutely delicious! Best mug cake I have tried (and I have made many). The recipe tastes extra good with unsweetened vanilla milk instead of regular milk! 🙂
so glad you liked it!
would coconut oil work instead of vegetable oil?
Hi Janelle- I have not yet tried it with coconut oil. Sorry! Please let me know if you do try it
Hi Kirbie, I just stumbled upon your blog and this recipe. I adore blueberries and having found your mug recipe, naturally I had to make it. Well let me first say YUM!! I am actually eating it now with my afternoon tea. I have written it down in my little home cookbook of keeper recipes. I used 2% milk( all I had at the time) and it turned out perfect. Thank you for sharing the recipe, I will be making this often to enjoy with my afternoon cuppa.
Liza
yay!! so glad you enjoyed it! thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment =) =) =)
Husband was skeptical, thought I was crazy…but it turned out really well!! I used frozen blueberries, and lactose free milk but next time I’ll use almond milk. I used a bigger mug and it came up to half way. I also microwaved it 1 minute 15 seconds because after a minute it didn’t look the greatest. I have a 1000 watt microwave. AND…most importantly, make sure your batter is all mixed! Really scrap the bottom of your mug to grab all that flour! I’ll make this again for sure, and next time I’ll switch up the fruit. It was just sweet enough too, by the way. Not too much sugar at all.
glad you enjoyed it! yes you def need to get all that flour from the bottom of the mug. some mugs are easier to mix with than others.
I only have frozen blueberries. If I let them thaw, will they still work in the recipe?
they should. you might want to dust them with a tiny bit of flour so the don’t sink as much
I used 1/2 whole wheat flour 1/2 all purpose. I also swapped out and used blackberries and almond extract instead of vanilla.
Very fluffy couldn’t even tell I used whole wheat. Definitely a keeper! Shared on Facebook so my friends could try it. YUM, Thank you
so glad you enjoyed this!
Do you have the nutritional info?
I do not yet have the nutritional information for this recipe. But there are several websites out there that let you calculate nutrition info for a new recipe
Made this tonight with coconut milk beverage instead of dairy milk. Came out nicely. Thanks for a quick, easy, tasty dessert during family beach vacation!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Kirbie!
You are amazng, good job!
I tried some of your ecipes and are lovely!
Could I make this recept with no gluten Flour? Wich one will be better?
Thanks!
I have not tried this with gluten free flour