Mug cake

Best mug cake recipe so far - it still needs tweaking though, as it's a bit too moist, and inclined to mash to a lump under the pressure of the spoon.  Needs a little less liquid. 

4 tbsp self-raising flour
1 tbsp oil
2.5 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tsp (!) of vanilla extract

It may be cheaper to use vanilla sugar.  The extract is expensive.
(Must try a chocolate version of this - I'm thinking 4 of flour, 2 of cocoa, 3 or 4 of sugar, leave out the vanilla but add 1/4 tsp cinnamon, but more experimentation required.)

You'll notice there is no egg.  This is not a mis-print.  Leaving out the egg removes the rubbery sponginess that often results if the cake is over-cooked.  (I'm not sure if this was an innovation by Julie at Table for Two, but that was where I first saw an eggless mug cake so she gets the props for it.)

Mix all together, transfer to a large, greased cup, and cook on high power for 90 seconds.
(Our microwave is 800W, your mileage (and cake) may vary.)  Get it out of the cup and into a bowl ASAP so that steam can evaporate from it and not condense and make it soggy.

Caaaaaake!

Today's is Paul's birthday, so I baked a cake. This is the first cake I've made in months, and the first two-pan cake I've cooked in years - in fact, I can't remember the last time I did. It was our ninth wedding anniversary on Thursday, and I might have made a Victoria sponge at some point in the last nine years, but I don't remember.

Three years ago, for his 40th, I made a large carrot cake for the party. This year, I did coffee and walnut, just to ring the changes. It didn't turn out too badly...



...so I thought I'd put the recipe down so I can remember how I did it.