Staying in the Christmas spirit – it’s time for a simple recipe for those who don’t have much time but want to get in the festive spirit through festive food.

A simple gingerbread mug cake! Ready in under 5 minutes.

I have to say, you won’t often catch me making these 5-minute microwave cakes. I love to bake and I use every opportunity I can to prepare some scrumptious goodies “the right way” – in an actual baking tray and an oven. However, there are times when that’s not an option. Sometimes I crave a piece of cake now, not in an hour. Sometimes I only need one serving, not a whole tray. And sometimes – and that’s what happened this time – we’re in that funny time when every proper baking by default falls into “don’t touch that, it’s for Christmas” category. I didn’t want to wait until Christmas. I wanted to make and devour some cake as soon as possible.

Trapped in that conundrum, I figured out I could, for once, enter that mysterious microwave baking world. To make it fit in this festive season, I used whole wheat flour (I believe whole wheat flour gives that subtle – though rich – scent of… nuts, almost?), honey (always present in gingerbread cookies) and, of course, gingerbread spices.

The cake turned out as expected – soft and aromatic, sweet and warm, and – most importantly – ready in under 5 minutes. One thing that made me puzzled was the colour. I expected the cake to turn brown-ish, like most gingerbread cookies and cakes are. But it didn’t! I don’t know what weird spice mix I used – the flavour was very much there, just the colour not so much. Oh well. Not like it matters, really, but it was unexpected, I have to say.

For 1 mug you’ll need:

• 1.5 tablespoon of plain flour
• 1.5 tablespoon of whole wheat flour (can be replaced with plain flour)
• 0.5 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of gingerbread spices mix
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• 1 tablespoon of milk
• 1 teaspoon of coconut oil, liquid (or any other vegetable oil in liquid form)

Mix all ingredients in a large, microwave-safe mug (250ml) with a fork.

Microwave for around 1.5 minutes (the time might vary depending on the wattage of your microwave oven). You’ll see the cake grow a lot – far above the brim of the mug – when you start baking it. Once it stops growing, it needs about 30 seconds more – and then it’s done.

Oven alternative

The same cake can be prepared in a regular oven. Bake it in 180ºC for about 15 minutes. Make sure you’re using an oven-safe dish!

Sprinkle the cake with icing sugar when it’s done. Eat warm.

Enjoy! 🙂

• Christmas
• Sweet