Baking becomes a breeze when it comes to mug cake recipes. They're great for when you want to avoid the messy hassle of preparing a whole cake.

I love mug cakes because they’re easy to whip up, and ready in a flash if that sweet tooth strikes without warning.

And the best part? It results in barely any washing up and absolutely no oven is required.

Having had success making a red velvet mug cake previously, I found a quick carrot mug cake recipe I wanted to try my hand at.

This recipe comes from cookbook author and the woman behind the 31 Daily blog Stephanie Wilson. Summing up this sweet treat, she said: “This carrot cake in a mug recipe is a three-minute microwave mug cake dessert perfect for the season. Sweet, delicious, and incredibly quick and easy.”

Ingredients 

One and a half tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing the mug

Two tablespoons brown sugar

One quarter teaspoon vanilla

Three tablespoons milk

One quarter cup plain flour

One quarter teaspoon baking powder

One quarter teaspoon ground cinnamon

Two tablespoons (28g) carrots, finely shredded

Two tablespoons double cream

Method 

I started by weighing out all of the ingredients and grating the correct amount of carrots.

I then picked out a large enough microwave-proof mug - look for one that comfortably holds 300ml - and lightly greased it with butter.

With the weighed-out butter, I put it in the microwave for around 15 seconds for it to completely melt.

What I love about this recipe is that you can either use a small bowl to combine all of the ingredients, or do so in the mug which is what I opted for.

Within the mug, I combined the melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, milk, flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.

I whisked the ingredients together with a fork until smooth before falling in the shredded carrots using a spatula.

The recipe recommends microwaving the mixture for one to one and a half minutes.

In my microwave that has a wattage of 900, I found that it was best left in there to cook for one minute and 10 seconds.

Begin checking on the cake at one minute though. The cake should look set but be careful not to over-microwave.

Once ready I topped the carrot mug cake with a spoonful of whipped cream and a light dusting of icing sugar.

Alternatively, the recipe also recommends a cream cheese frosting to top off the cake, however, I’m not the biggest fan of cream cheese icing.

Going in for the taste test, the sponge was incredibly moist and full of flavour for something that took so little time to make.