Dr Oetker Caramel Mug Cake, reviewed

Most cake recipes are going to bake up a full sized bundt, sheet or layer cake, which means that your options are limited when you want to have just one piece of cake to satisfy your sweet tooth. If you already have leftover cake sitting around, of course, you won’t have a problem. If don’t already have cake available, you may be tempted by a microwave cakes for one that you make in a mug for a single-serving of cake. I’ve made this type of cake before (and have seen similar ideas on many other blogs over the years), and it’s essentially a small, steamed cake that isn’t going to beat out a slice of devil’s food layer cake, but will certainly satisfy a craving. I recently picked up a box of Dr Oetker Caramel Mug Cake, a cake mix that promises to simplify this simple cake idea even more. I wanted to see how it stacked up to the homemade version.

The cake mix is poured into a mug and mixed with a small amount of milk before being microwaved for less than 90 seconds. The cake rises up to the top of the mug as it bakes, then falls slightly as it cools before it is ready to eat. Mine looked just like the cake on the box, although I suspect that I used a slightly larger mug than the “standard mug” recommended. It was very moist and very tender, more than I expected that a steamed cake would be. It also had a very pronounced caramel flavor, as though you had poured a generous amount of warm caramel sauce over it before serving. It is sweet, but very good for a cake that takes just over a minute to make!

I turned mine out of the mug and topped it with a little whipped cream to dress it up, but if you happen to give these a try (they’re sold at many specialty stores, as well as Cost Plus World Market, which is where I got mine) you can eat it right out of the mug with a spoon.