Can I use dark brown sugar? Sure, you can. It contains more molasses, giving a deeper and more complex flavour synonymous with toffee. These magic sponges take 10 minutes to prep and they cook in the microwave in 30 seconds flat – just enough time to plump the cushions, find the remote and make a cuppa! Add boiling water to the dates and the tiny amount of baking soda. This is half the smallest measuring spoon I have! But you’ll notice it bubbles a little and helps the dates to break down. At this point give it a zap in the microwave for 20 seconds to help too. Home-made cakes donʼt come much simpler than this! Spoon through zesty, spiced yogurt to reach the glorious sponge beneath.

So you can use it up in another recipe, or make another one the following day if you’re feeling indulgent! SauceI would definitely recommend stirring the Chocolate Chip one half way through, I didn’t and I had a giant clump of chocolate in the middle. Not a bad thing, but it did make it a bit solid! We decorated our puds with squirty cream and sprinkles, because why not?! Some say it originated at the Sharrow Bay Hotel in the Lake District in the 1960s, from a recipe the owner got from a Mrs Martin in Lancashire, who in turn got it from a Canadian friend. Why is it hard and chewy? It is likely that you have overcooked the cake. 90 seconds will be plenty of cooking time for this cake in the majority of microwaves. If you know that your microwave is more powerful than normal microwaves, reduce the power to 80%. Don't confuse the chocolate sauce for uncooked batter. When in doubt, a slightly undercooked cake is far better than an overcooked cake! The reason for using just two tablespoons of beaten egg is that if you use the whole egg then the sponge has too much of an “eggy” taste, rather than being light and caramel flavoured. Next, chop the dates. It’s possible to buy pre-chopped dates in the baking section of some supermarkets, however, I would still chop them even smaller!

You won’t be able to over-indulge like you might with a whole pudding, or is that just a problem in our house? Sometimes it’s easy to be plain lazy right? Recently on a night in with Mummy Pond we tried out the new Pud in a Mug from Dr Oetker. Start by greasing the inside of the mug with butter. Some of this will melt into the mixture when you cook it but it does still help with getting the pudding out at the end if that’s what you want to do.Make sure when you’re stirring it all together that you mix the dates at the bottom of the mug in. Continue to stir making sure there are no lumps but don’t over-mix it. You could vary the pudding and add a dollop of chocolate spread, some peanut butter or some lemon curd instead of jam. Next, you’ll add the butter and microwave for another 30 seconds to help it melt. You may not need that long if your butter is already room temperature, it just needs to be melted enough to stir in. Then stir in the sugar and leave to cool a little. Economical and basic it may be, but a dollop of whipped cream and strawberries will make it impressively date night-worthy! Scrape the mixture into a microwave-safe mug (one that’s around 250ml is ideal – try to avoid anything wide and shallow) and cook on High in a 900W microwave for 2 minutes. Leave to cool in the mug until just warm – it will sink a little as it cools.

The pudding is made complete by a silky caramel toffee sauce and is often served with a side of ice-cream or cream to cut through the sweetness. It’s one of my favourite comfort foods! Can I use vegan milk? Of course, you can use almond, soy, or oat milk for this recipe without changing anything else. Self-raising flour: This flour conveniently includes salt and baking powder, so you don't have to get those separately.As is always the case with mug recipes, always go for bigger mugs (even bowls will suffice) as they rise far more than usual oven recipes. Always make sure to fill in only about half of the container you're using. Although the sponge was said to resemble an English muffin rather than the pudding we know and love today. Canola oil: Adding oil to the batter will make the mug pudding super moist. You can use any type of vegetable oil. Please note that if you use rich olive oil, it may change the flavour of the pudding. Put the yogurt, sweetener, carrot, orange zest, vanilla extract and egg yolk in a mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Stir in the flour mixture, then carefully fold in the egg white using a metal spoon. Can I use gluten-free flour? Yes, that is not a problem! Use the same baking powder and salt measurements above.