The Microwave Mayonnaise Mini-Cake (or Brownie)

“Were you going to bake something today?”

This was my mother yesterday, as I was poking around for the yeast to get my sourdough starter re-started (it's nice and bubbly and chillin' in the fridge now, by the way, and hopefully I'll get to those biscuits next week). This is Mom's hint that she wants something sweet.

But I have a plan, and that involves using up some baking mixes next week when family is in town. So I had no intentions of actually baking anything until Wednesday. In steps the microwave mini-cake.

I got the original recipe from a chain email, which burst over the top of a 12oz mug and made a mess of the microwave (not to mention, it was a tad rubbery). Then I found this recipe at Instructables. It recommends using 2 tablespoons of beaten egg, rather than a whole egg.

My mind had instantly gone to my mother's mayonnaise cake recipe, which replaces the oil and egg in the recipe with mayonnaise. The first time I tried this, it came out wonderfully, but more brownie-like than cake-like. I blame this more on the light mayonnaise than anything else.

So I decided to bake us one (split 3 ways) with a little bit of baking powder. However, because of my lack of baking lately, our baking powder is a little old. It still came out delicious, but more brownie-like than cake like.

Not that that's a bad thing – I like brownies too. Mom did appreciate having a little bite of chocolate. Using regular mayonnaise or better baking powder might yield better cake results, though, so I don't guarantee texture. I like this recipe too because it's easy to mix whatever in – the original two recipes call for chocolate chips, but I could also see nuts, candy pieces, and for some reason I want to try mixing pretzels in. You could also use different extracts to flavor – almond or peppermint would be wonderful as well.

So without further ado, here's the recipe:

Microwave mayonnaise mini-cake

Serves 1-4, but who am I kidding?

Ingredients

1/4 cup All-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbs cocoa powder

3 tbs milk

5 tbs (1/4 cup+1tbs) light mayonnaise

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

1. Mix dry ingredients together in either a small microwavable bowl or a jumbo microwavable mug.
2. Add wet ingredients, mixing thoroughly
3. Microwave on high for 3 minutes (time is for a 1000w microwave, you may need to adjust time)
   
   
   
   
   

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