Y'all......mug cakes are one of the easiest and most versatile recipes to keep on hand.

You know how sometimes you get a craving for something sweet, but you don't want to have to whip up a whole cake?  This is the perfect way to get rid of that craving, and since the possibilities are endless, you can do chocolate, vanilla, caramel, whatever you want.

This Mint Chocolate Mug Cake came about last week, when I was craving chocolate and had none on hand.  It turned out SO SO good and definitely hit the spot. 




1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon mint chocolate chips


In a big mug, add all the ingredients and give them a good whisk to make sure everything is incorporated. 

Add the mint chocolate chips to the middle of the cake batter.  Don't mix, don't stir, just drop and leave it alone.

Microwave on high for 70 seconds. Carefully remove from microwave and enjoy.

This truly is the fluffiest, softest and moistest mug cake, you will ever have.

Bolo Formigueiro.  If I were to give you an exact translation to English it would be something like Ant Hill Cake.  I know, it sounds so weird, but it's because of the way it looks.

Now this version you won't really be able to see it because it's chocolate, but if you were to make the traditional cake, you would be left with a gorgeous yellow cake with tons of little brown spots, which in fact do look like little ants.

It is believe that this cake originated in the Colonial Times.

My kids said the cake tastes just like those chocolate oranges, you know the ones, you have to smack them on a hard surface to separate into slices?

I have to agree, it tastes amazing but then you also have the coconut thrown in and it's just one of the yummiest cakes I've ever had.

Are you ready to try?  I promise that soon I will make the traditional cake so that you can see how cool the little brown spots really look, but for now, let's grab out chocolate and start baking.


Bolo Formigueiro
Chocolate, Orange and Coconut Cake

4 egg
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup of orange juice
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup coconut flakes


For the sauce:
5 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar



Separate the eggs, and beat the egg whites until stiff.  Add in the egg yolks, the sugar, flour, orange juice and mix well.  Make sure you don't overmix as not to remove the air from the egg whites.

Next, add in the baking powder, cocoa and coconut flakes.  Mix well with a spoon.

Grease a bundt cake pan and pour in the mixture.  Bake at 350 until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven, and invert onto a cake platter.


For the sauce, dissolve the cocoa in 1 cup of hot water.  Add in the milk and the sugar, mix well.  Use a fork to poke holes all over the cake, and pour on the sauce.  I didn't use all of mine because it was just way too much, but pour in as much as you would like.

When cool, dust with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!!!

I've been making this one for many years, sometimes with coconut, sometimes with lemon rind.  You may actually know it as Impossible Pie.

My favorite has to be the coconut, but my son doesn't like it so I tend to stick to either the lemon or just the plain custard.

The magic part is how it creates it's own crust, followed by a silky custard filling and a crust on the top.  It's so good, and so easy to make.  A definite to throw together when you have unexpected guests.

For this version, I used the recipe from Hugs and Cookies



4 eggs (whites separated from yolks), room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
8 Tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk lukewarm
powdered sugar for dusting cake
Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Grease and Line 8 inch x 8 inch baking dish with parchment.
Separate eggs and add the egg whites to a mixer and beat egg whites stiff. Place egg whites in a bowl and set aside.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until light. Add butter and vanilla. Beat for two mins. Add the flour and mix it in until fully incorporated.

Slowly start adding the milk and beat until everything is well mixed together. Add the egg whites, a third at a time and gently fold them in using a spatula, repeat until all egg whites are folded in. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for approx 60 minutes or until the top is lightly golden. Cool and dust heavily with powdered sugar.

Victoria Sponge, such a simple treat but amazingly tasty.  I'm not a huge fan of cake, and especially cake with tons of very sweet frosting.  BLECH!

But what exactly is the Victoria Sponge, where did it come from, who first baked it?  Here's a little history for you:



I do love a good sponge cake, there's nothing better than a thick slice with a hot cup of coffee.

I had been craving a Victoria Sponge for a few weeks but just never seemed to have the time, and truth be told, I haven't always had the best of luck with sponge cakes, some have been super flops, much to my dismay.

However, this recipe is one that I have had nothing but success with, and it's now my go to Victoria Sponge.

As for the filling, I like to use homemade whipped cream, but in a pinch whipped topping from the store will work too.

Give this one a go and let me know how you liked it.


1 1/4 cups self rising flour, sifted (if you don't have, just use plain flour and add 2 teaspoons of baking powder)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup soft margarine
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp strawberry jam (you can use blackberry or raspberry too)
Whipped Cream (you can use whipped topping)
Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease and line two 8 inch round sandwich pans.  Put all the ingredients except the jam and powdered sugar into the bowl of a standing mixer.  Beat the living daylights out of them.  You can also use an electric hand whisk.

When the batter is very pale, fluffy and almost mousse-like, divide it between the prepared pans and smooth out.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until they are springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool the cakes on a wire rack.  When they are cold, sandwich them with jam and the whipped cream and dust the top with powdered sugar.

Growing up, some of my fondest memories revolve around the time my grandparents lived with us.

We always had a special bond with our grandfather, not only because we thought he was the coolest man on earth but it may have also been the fact that, at the drop of a hat, he would walk into the kitchen and whip up a simple cake.

Midnight???  Doesn't matter.  If the kids wanted cake, he would make one and then we would all sit up giggling and enjoying the slice of cake still warm from the oven.  It felt like we were sharing a secret, or part of some club that no one else was invited to.

His cakes were never difficult to make, they never included special ingredients, just plain ol' flour, eggs, sugar and milk, and to this day my favorite cakes are the easy simple ones.

This recipe is not the one my grandfather used, but it's pretty close. 



2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, adding them one at a time, followed by vanilla extract. Stir in half of the flour mixture, followed by the milk. Add in remaining flour mixture, stirring just until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf.

I don't even remember when I got this recipe, but it's always been one of my go to, easy cakes to make. Mainly because it always seems to turn out great and since I'm not a huge baker, I don't have to worry about messing it up.

You have no idea how much taking a cake out of it's mold, scares me. I have to talk myself into doing it LOL

I'm sure you've noticed that I don't have a huge collection of desserts on this blog.  Not like 90% of the other food blogs who are filled with yummy sugary goodies.


The reason is simple, not only am I not a huge baker, but I have always preferred salty to sweet, and I will take a plate of comfort food over a slice of cake, any.day.

Anyway, tonight the Pastor of our new church, is coming over with his wife to get to know us.  I'm not a very outgoing person, am actually quite shy and don't really care for people in my house.  Weird huh? LOL

But I decided that I should bake something instead of just giving them store bought cookies.  So after some thinking I narrowed it down to this cake, and so it is.

If you like pound cake, you'll enjoy this one, it's simple, plain but with a hint of lemon.


10 egg whites
pinch of salt
2/3 cup softened butter
1 and half cups sugar
3 tablespoons of milk
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
Juice and rind of 1 small lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a cake pan with butter and flour.

Start by adding the egg whites to a big bowl, add in a pinch of salt and beat until firm.

In a separate big bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar until creamy.   Add the lemon juice and rind and the milk.  Mix well.  Add in the flour and the baking powder and mix until all ingredients are well combined.

Take a spoonful of the egg whites and add to the cake mix, slowly fold them in from bottom to top without beating.   Keep adding spoonfuls at a time and folding in gently until all the egg whites are mixed in.

Pour into the cake pan, sprinkle sugar on top to give it a nice crunchy crust and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and cake is done.

Remove from pan and serve.