How to Make Mug Cakes That Actually Work (Not Dry or Rubbery)

If your mug cakes come out of the microwave dry, rubbery, or not even cooked, it all comes down to this. Hi, I'm Gemma Stafford, professional chef and an expert on mug cakes, and I know exactly the mistakes people make to end up with dry, rubbery mug cakes. Tip number one is a big one, that's why I put it first. Overflowing mug cakes. We have all been there. They overflow in the microwave, they make a big mess, and you wonder why. The thing about it is that batter cooks really fast in the microwave, and it gets really hot, and it rises up. And the problem is, sometimes the mugs that we're using are just too small. So here's the fix. When it comes to mug cakes, you go to the cupboard and grab your standard coffee or tea cup. That is totally normal. You're supposed to use what you have to hand. But often a standard mug in your cupboard is around eight ounces or even six, so it's actually quite small. When you mix up the batter in the small mugs, it only goes maybe quarter, halfway up the mug, but then you still have to microwave it. Once it goes into the microwave, that's where the problem rears its messy, ugly head. The fix is very simple. Use a 12 to 16 ounce mug to mix and cook your mug cake in. This will spare you messy microwaves and ruined mug cakes. When you use a larger mug, the mug cake will cook faster and stay where it's supposed to be, in the mug. A lot of you know I've been making mug cakes for years and these are my new Gemma Made Magic Mugs that I use at home. Perfect for mug cakes and mug meals. There you go. Perfect every time. My pro chef tip number two solves a very common problem. Dry or tough mug cakes. We all have made them and they are not nice. So it's gonna happen for two different reasons. Your mug cake recipe had very little to no fat in it, butter or oil or whatever, making the end result quite dry, even though you cooked it for the right time. Or simply over cooking. Now the thing about it is for all my mug recipes, I base it on my microwave. So my timing is based on that wattage. If your microwave wattage is different, you might need more or less time to cook your mug cake. You really need to find that sweet spot. So what you're gonna have to do is check the wattage on your microwave. There's a sticker on there which tells you what it is and you might need more or less time cooking. Most standard microwaves are around 11 to 1200 watts. So the solution is very simple. Err on the side of caution. If your recipe says cook it for a minute, check it at 50 seconds. Take it out, let it sit at room temperature, it will continue to cook and then it will be the perfect texture of mug cake. Or here's a fantastic tip just to buy you extra insurance. On the top of your mug cake batter, no matter what kind of cake it is, put on a tablespoon of water or milk, whichever one you want, then microwave it. What happens in the microwave is that extra liquid cooks down into your mug cake adding extra moisture ensuring that you will end up with a soft mug cake. It's a pretty genius solution. Just look at this dry, tough mug cake. A little bit of over microwaving gave me this result. Nobody wants to eat this. So there you go. No more dry, tough mug cakes. Let's move on to tip number three. ProChef tip number three, we all know this when we smell it, an unpleasant, overcooked, eggy, almost sulfur-like smell. It is quite off-putting. The reason it happens is because the mug cake has short cooking time, it doesn't give the egg enough time to incorporate into the mix and you end up with that like eggy smelling tasting and it's really not nice. So the solution is pretty simple. Some mug cakes call for using like a lot of egg, even a whole egg, and you really do not need that. Stick with using an egg yolk and not the white and you will avoid this unpleasant tasting problem. So my jelly donut in a mug only calls for one egg yolk so it's perfect. You will not get that result with this one and I do on BiggerBolderBaking.com have lots of mug cakes without egg so if you're avoiding egg then try those also. But this one smells great. My ProChef tip number four addresses undercooked, gooey mug cakes. So why does this happen? So it's not always your fault. Every microwave is different. Some have hot spots, some have cold spots, some are stronger than others. So the best thing to do I'm going to say is trust your gut. When you look at something, especially if you've made mug cakes before, when it comes out and it's shiny and wet on top it means it needs more time. The best thing to do is just use what you have and put your finger on top. If it feels firm in the middle under your finger that means it should be firm and cooked all the way through. Different mug cakes take longer to cook dense batters and lighter batters they cook at different times so it's really about trusting your gut and when your mug cake pulls away from the side also that's a good sign that it's cooked all the way through. So your mug cake can trick you when you take it out of the microwave around the edges look like they're cooked but you're not sure about the center but then sometimes you dig in and it's in the middle. The lesson here is trust your gut even if your microwave or recipe says one thing you know when it's perfectly cooked on the inside just like this. So pro chef tip number five is mug cakes sticking in your mug. This is quite common it happens a lot especially if you've over microwaved it. The reason it happens is because maybe your mug cake recipe didn't call for any butter or oil and those guys are harder to get out of mugs. So the solution is number one the first thing to do is grease your mug do oil or butter to just grease your mug to make sure that it'll come out of there really easy making for easy cleanup. Number two is maybe introduce a little bit of fat into your recipe if there isn't any. I made my microwave mug brownie which has vegetable oil in it and that one is really easy to come out of the mug. So to get specific about the sticking to the mug the problem that people had was in the bottom right there when you're mixing. My mugs I created them so they're rounded on the bottom so it can't get caught and you can just mix your batter really evenly. So that's a really good way to avoid sticking in the bottom of a mug. So there you have it my five pro chef tips for making the perfect mug cakes every time. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you back here again same time same place next week with a brand new recipe.