This Strawberry Mug Cake is quick, easy, super soft and squidgy and stuffed to bursting with sweet, juicy strawberries. Then for extra decadence, it's drizzled in super simple, free-flowing, thick, sweet frosting!
Is it just me or is it a Strawberry Mug Cake kind of day? And OMG. This strawberry sweet roll in a mug made in minutes and cooked in a mug then drizzled in free-flowing, thick, sweet, white frosting is just amazeballs.
Do you remember my Cinnamon Roll In A Mug? The recipe that totally surprised me and went completely and utterly viral? Well, this vegan mug cake recipe is an adaptation of that, only this is better. It's actually kind of a cross between that recipe and my Strawberry Rolls.
This Strawberry Mug Cake is big, soft and squidgy and stuffed with sweet, juicy, fresh strawberries. It takes only about 5 minutes to prepare and a little over 1 minute to cook in the microwave and it is completely yeast-free.
It is the recipe that you need up your sleeve for when you get an unstoppable decadent dessert craving but don't have the time or energy to make anything super complicated. Plus because you cook it in the microwave your house doesn't get all heated up and uncomfortable like it does when you use the oven to make vegan strawberry muffins in the middle of summer.
This is baking for people that don't bake, or baking for people that do bake but want to make one individual decadent sweet roll in a fraction of the time a whole batch takes in the oven. (If you do want a whole batch though be sure to check out my Strawberry Rolls).
Vegan mug cake recipes for the win!
Honestly, this is all just too easy and too yummy for words. The sweet jammy awesomeness of this Strawberry Mug Cake will be happening in your kitchen very soon.
For more vegan mug cake recipes check out these great options:
If you try this recipe, let me know how you like it by leaving a comment and rating below! And be sure to join my mailing list for more deliciousness!
Recipe
Strawberry Mug Cake
Author:Ingredients
- 9 tablespoons all purpose flour (strong white flour in the UK) , plus more for dusting your surface. I like to use unbleached flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoon sugar , lighter coloured varieties are best
- 1 pinch salt
- enough water , to bring the dough together into a non sticky dough. It will vary depending on your flour brand and humidity. I used 4 tablespoons
- 3 medium fresh strawberries , chopped into small pieces. (Frozen strawberries work too - not defrosted just chopped and rolled up in the dough while still frozen. The flavour will be better with fresh strawberries though).
- 3 tablespoons natural powdered sugar
- a few drops water, plant-based milk or lemon juice , no more than a teaspoon
- a a tiny dab of oil for greasing the mug , I used coconut oil (OPTIONAL _ omit to make oil-free)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Grease a mug and set aside. Straight sided mugs work best for this recipe.
- First make the frosting. In a small bowl mix the powdered sugar with either water, plant-based milk or lemon juice. Add the liquid a tiny bit at a time. It doesn't take much at all. Literally a few little drops. You need much less than you will think you do so do it very gradually drop by drop. The most you will need is ¾ teaspoon of water, perhaps a tiny drop more if you are using milk. Stir well until smooth and pretty thick like in my video then set aside. If you accidentally add too much liquid add a little more powdered sugar to thicken it up again.
- In a small bowl add the flour, baking powder, 1 tablespoon of the sugar and salt. Add the water gradually stirring between each addition to form a slightly tacky dough. Use your hand to knead it a couple of times to bring it together . If you need a tiny drop more water because it's too dry just add it little by little. If you accidentally go too far and it's a bit sticky add a small sprinkle of flour.
- Sprinkle a little flour on your surface and some on the dough ball. Roll the dough out into a long strip about 4 inches wide and a couple of millimetres thick. Don't be afraid to add a little more flour if you need to. (If you don't have a rolling pin a clean wine bottle or beer bottle will do).
- Sprinkle the strawberry pieces all along the dough leaving a clear margin of about an inch all around the edges. Then sprinkle the strawberries with the remaining sugar.
- Fold the long edges inwards to seal the strawberry pieces inside and stop them all falling out when you roll it and put it into the mug. (Watch my video above to see how I did it if you aren't sure). You will be left with a long narrow strip.
- Roll the strip up (see my video above) then gently lift it and put it into the mug.
- Pour over ½ a teaspoon of water then place in the microwave uncovered and cook on full power for around 1 min 10 seconds. My microwave is 1200 watts. You will need to adjust the time a bit up or down depending on the strength of your microwave and the first time you make this it will be a bit of a case of trial and error. All microwaves are different so be careful not to overcook it. If you overcook it it will become tough so be sure to check how powerful your microwave is first and adjust accordingly. The very maximum time it will need is about 1 min 25 seconds and that is only if you have a really low powered microwave. A tiny bit under done is better than overdone as then it will go tough. If it needs longer cook in 5 second increments to avoid over cooking it.
- When done it will have swollen up nicely and will still appear a little damp and doughy on top. That is normal. It will be cooked in the middle and it will continue to cook for a little while once removed from the microwave. Don't make the mistake of thinking it's not done and cook it for too long.
- Turn out of the mug onto a plate. You might need to give it a little hand with a knife up the side of the mug if it swells a lot but it should come out really easily.
- Pour over the frosting and serve immediately. Do not leave it to cool. It needs to be eaten freshly cooked, and be careful (especially when serving it to children) because the strawberries will be very hot.
Jose Assuncao says
Hi Melanie, this recipe looks delicious and easy to make. Although at one point I got confused. You say, ( 4 inches wide and a couple of millimeters thick). A minor gaffe, I believe. Thaks for the recipe.
Melanie McDonald says
Why a gaffe? That's correct.
May says
Yummy! Made mine with frozen strawberries and lemon juice in the frosting, came out nicely.
Sophie Wilde says
Beautiful recipes..I am now having to control.myself from whipping up a mug cake ...yes folks it's 3.32 am .I SHALL RESIST!lol
One thing I've m very confused with is that it says 9 Tbsp of plain.flour??? When I.make mug cakes ( I' m from England ) I use self raising flour ,the one without raising agent we call ' plain flour' ..I would even.I'm an enormous 10 oz mug ( yes I'm greedy ?;) use no more than say 4 or 5 tbsp.
So in terms of grams ,how much should that be because I' ve got a sneaky suspicion that an English TBSP is a smaller measure than an American one ? ..I.could make a joke there but will refrain..lol
Also...how big is a cup?? Non of us understand that over here and when I'm 've gone to old fashioned chandlers stores that sell all sorts of baking paraphernalia ...their cup measures all vary.Obviously.one could adjust the amount but if something says ..4 fluid is of soya milk & egg substitute ...then if I.was making say pancakes ( our pancakes btw are generally very thin like crepes) then if made say thick pancakes or a traditional sponge cake ( Victoria sponge we call them) then one would need to def know what a cup measurement actually.is!
If anyone can.answer me that would be marvellous..lots of love to everyone too for a much healthier and happier 2021..also to my American cousins..roll on Jan 20th 2021 ..we all need some peace & a few nice cakes too ?
A Virtual Vegan says
I'll try to answer all of your questions:
I'm slightly confused as the recipe doesn't call for plain flour. It calls for all-purpose flour, or bread/strong flour if you are in the UK. We don't have plain flour or self-raising flour here in Canada. We have all-purpose flour and it is somewhere between the UK's plain flour and strong/bread flour. We can bake bread with all purpose flour as well as make cakes etc. That's why it's called all-purpose. In the UK you need to use different flours for those different purposes because the protein content of your flours is different. Plain flour has a low protein content. Much lower than all-purpose flour. And that's why all-purpose flour is suitable for this recipe and plain flour isn't.
For this recipe to work well you will need to use strong flour, sometimes called bread flour, as per the recipe. That's because it has a higher protein content than plain flour or self-raising flour and is more similar to our all-purpose flour than the others. Self-raising flour wouldn't work well for you. If you used it you would end up using way too much raising agent, or not enough if you omitted the baking powder in the recipe to compensate for the self-raising flour, and also the protein content of self-raising flour is too low so your dough wouldn't work out well.
With regards a tablespoon, that's the same in the UK, Canada and the US. It's 15 mls. All measuring spoons in those countries are the same.
9 tablespoons of flour is what you need for this recipe and it will fit well in an average-sized drinking mug. You don't need an extra-large one. This isn't like other mug cake recipes. It's a sweet roll made with dough so it doesn't rise like a sponge does. If you only use 4 or 5 tablespoons of flour you won't have enough dough to roll it up properly and hold the strawberries.
There are no cup measurements in this recipe, but in my recipes that do involve cup measurements, I always include the English measurements too. You'll find grams and mls anywhere that needs them. There are never just cups listed, and a tablespoon or a teaspoon is a standard measurement for writing recipes in the UK, the rest of Europe, US and Canada.
I am English and live in Canada, and in normal times spend a lot of time in the US because I live right by the border, so I'm familiar with ingredients/measures in all of those countries. The majority of my audience are American and Canadian but because I'm English I always include English alternatives and measurements.
Rest assured that all of my recipes are tested thoroughly by myself and a team of recipe testers, a couple of whom are in the UK/Scotland, before they are ever published here, so if you follow them exactly as written they should work well.
I hope that helps!
Sandy says
So good!! Started off making one just for me then everyone got jealous and I ended up making 4 in a row! Ha! Great recipe!
Marcelle says
Because I usually flop the simplest recipes, "This is baking for people that don't bake" was encouraging. I tried making this 3 times. As is, at 1min10s in a 1550w mic, it didn't puff or rise and was a ball of raw dough. With a bit less flour, a bit more baking powder, a different mug and ten seconds extra to account for the frozen strawberries, it puffed up in the mic, but receded to its original size as soon as I opened the door -the bottom half was cooked this time. At 1min45s the top two inches were still raw and the rest was a ball of clay that tasted like raw flour. I just gave up at this point.
Jane Jones says
Oh wow! Just had what could be my most delicious breakfast ever! Fab recipe and I'm so glad I found it.
Okay, so I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but riffed off it. No strawberries, so I subbed some blueberry jam I made earlier in the week (no sugar, just microwave the blues till they burst then thicken up with a tiny amount of psysillium). I used spelt flour, coconut sugar (again, what I had available) and I also added chopped hazelnuts. And I didn't want to be bothered with clean-up, so instead of rolling it out, I lifted the dough in the bowl I mixed it in, dolloped blueberry jam under it, and plopped the dough back on top. After microwaving, it was just like an old-fashioned British steamed pudding! Oh, and one more change to the drizzle - no powdered sugar, so I used a scoop of vegan coconut milk mixed with maple syrup and water.
It's the sign of a really good recipe when it can be mucked around like this and still give great results, so thank you, Melanie. :)
Melanie McDonald says
I'm really pleased you were able to adapt it to suit and get a great result Jane!
donna hopkins says
I wonder if I could cook this in the air fryer or the instant pot.... I don't really like to use the microwave....
A Virtual Vegan says
I would imagine in the Instant Pot it would end up soggy and unpleasant and I have no experience with air fryers. I wouldn't imagine it would cook through very well in one of them but I could be wrong. It would probably work ok in the oven in an oven proof dish, but I haven't tried it so am not sure how long it would take.
La Kerie Williams says
Can you substitute flour in this recipe (and the cinnamon roll one as well) with a Gluten free flour? I already seen in your other post that almond and coconut flour would not work. Would rice flourbe okay? I have a family of 6 (4 boys and my hubby) and my youngest son and husband cannot have gluten. Also, would the taste be different if I omitted or decreased the salt? It looks delish but the sodium content is a bit high.
A Virtual Vegan says
I don't really have much experience with gluten-free flour but I believe some people have used an all purpose gluten-free flour to make the cinnamon roll with good results. I doubt very much if rice flour would work on it's own. It would need to be blended with something else. Possibly oat flour but I've never tried it so can't say for sure. You can certainly decrease or omit the salt though if you want to.
Jennie says
Has anyone tried this and substituted jam or jelly for the strawberries? If it works it would be very versatile.
A Virtual Vegan says
It would probably be ok I would think. You'd just have to watch the tops and edges in case it gets a little over caramelized (i.e burnt) while cooking.
Cheryl S. says
Wow - this was great, thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Cheryl. So glad you enjoyed it!
Rina says
How much tome and temp would you put it in the oven?
A Virtual Vegan says
I have never tried it in the oven because the recipe is designed to be microwaved. I would guess about 375F for 15-20 mins but you would need to keep a careful eye on it and be sure to use an oven proof container. I do have this recipe which has a very similar flavour profile and is deigned to be even baked https://avirtualvegan.com/sticky-lemon-strawberry-sweet-rolls/ .
Gwen says
Anything with strawberries and you have my attention and this lived up to my expectations. Really deliciousl.
Becky says
Superb and so easy!
Mary Ellen says
Your cinnamon roll was sooo good that I can't wait to try this one too!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! Let me know what you think!
Sarah De la Cruz says
Oh my goodness, we'll be trying this! We loved your cinnamon roll!
P...... says
Made it! Did not have strawberries on hand, but did have some lovely ripe Georgia peaches -- so can you guess what transpired..? Yes, a peach version happened (adding a little cinnamon as well).....and omg, delicious -- the very answer to recent peach pie cravings (but not nearly as fatty).....!
A Virtual Vegan says
Ooo I bet it is so lovely with peaches. What a great idea!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Sarah!
Cadry says
I'm a huge fan of strawberries in desserts, and so I had to make this ASAP. It was my first time making a mug cake, and it was totally delicious! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Jenn says
Well, I know what I'm making tonight while I watch The Bachelorette. :) This little mug cake looks like perfection. And I LOVE the original, so I know I'll love this one too!