Hot Chocolate Mug Cake

Hot chocolate and chocolate cake are two of our absolute sweet treat favourites (can you blame us?), so you can imagine our excitement when we combined the two to make this gorgeous Hot Chocolate Mug Cake. It’s a joy to make and tastes as good as it looks! But don’t just take our word for it… here’s how to make your own.

Step 1 – gather your ingredients

For the sponge

• Lakeland 4¼” Loose-Based Round Deep Cake Tin
• 100g margarine
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 70g self-raising flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• ¼ tsp baking powder

For the decoration

• 2 x 250g Renshaw Red Flower & Modelling Paste
• 1 x 400g tub Renshaw Chocolate Flavour Frosting
• 2 x wooden cocktail sticks
• Piping bag
• Icing nozzle
• Whipped cream
• Cocoa to dust
• Mini marshmallows

Step 2 – make the chocolate sponge

Heat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/Gas 5.

Line the base of the tin with a circle of baking parchment, and the sides with a strip of parchment that’s 5cm deeper than the tin, so your cake can rise above the height of the tin.

Make a standard chocolate sponge mix the usual way (beat together the margarine and sugar, beat in the eggs, then sift and stir in the dry ingredients), and pour into the tin. Bake for about 45 minutes, until well risen and cooked in the centre. Turn the cake out to cool completely before decorating.

Step 3 – time to decorate

Now you’ve got the main part out of the way, it’s time for the fun bit… making a mug out of it.

To make the handle of the mug, roll some of the red flower & modelling paste into a thick sausage, and bend it into a ‘C’ shape. Trim the ends with a sharp knife and leave to harden.

Put the cooled cake onto a cake plate, attaching it with a blob of frosting on the base, before using the chocolate flavour frosting to crumb coat the cake.

Measure the circumference of the cake.  Roll out a strip of red paste about 3-4mm thick that’s long enough to go around the cake, and slightly deeper than the cake itself. Cut the bottom edge straight before wrapping it around the crumb-coated cake. Smooth the icing all around with a cake smoother, then trim the excess icing at the back.

Use scissors or a sharp knife to level off the icing at the top to make the rim of the mug. Attach the handle on one side of the cake using two wooden cocktail sticks to hold it in place.

Then, add a couple of drips of melted chocolate down the front of the mug. Pipe whipped cream on top, using a piping bag and icing nozzle. Finally, dust with cocoa, sprinkle over some mini marshmallows and finish it off with a straw.

It’ll look so good you won’t want to cut into it… but it’ll taste so good you’ll have to!

More hot choc bakes

Feeling inspired? If you’re a fan of all things hot chocolatey, we haven’t just stopped at a single hot choc flavour bake… you’ll find recipes for Hot Chocolate Cupcakes and a Hot Choc Swiss Roll right here on our blog. Happy baking!