Carrot Cake in a Mug

I'm one of those weird ladies that likes sweets, but doesn't always want chocolate. Since we are talking all about mug cakes this week, I thought I'd throw a non chocolatey mug cake into the mix.

Sure, there is the ever delicious Coffee Cake in a mug.  That is a great substitute for a sweet, cakey, but non chocolate craving.  But what if you want to pretend to be healthy? With 2 Tablespoons of butter and 3 Tablespoons of sugar, no amount of squinting and hopping on one foot will enable you to pretend that dessert is any kind of good for you.

But do you know what IS good for you?

Carrots.

So I looked for a microwave carrot cake recipe.  Most of them call for eggs.  I did find two without! 
One from Spicy Treats and another from Mix it Up.  The recipe from Spicy Treats only called for 3 T  shredded carrots, 2 T oil, and 2 T sugar.  The recipe from Mix it up required 1/4 c (4T) shredded carrots, 1 T oil and 1 T sugar.  As the purpose of this experiment was to find a healthier non chocolate microwave mug cake, I went with the recipe from Mix it up.

The resulting cake was not as moist as a normal carrot cake, but still pretty tasty.  I found myself missing the pineapple, walnuts and coconut that are usually in the full size carrot cakes made from scratch, so I tried a different version.

This one I added 1 T chopped walnuts and 1 T sweetened coconut.  I also used pineapple juice instead of milk.  Because of the added sugar in the coconut, I decreased the sugar from 1 T to 1/2 tsp.

Sadly, I couldn't taste any pineapple flavors in this cake.  What would have been better would have been to add 1 T crushed, drained pineapple in place of the oil, AND swap the milk for juice.

The coconut was a bust as well.  Microwaving this cake completely dried out the coconut shreds.  They were almost chewy and rubbery at the same time.  Not so great.  What would have been better would have to make a simple glaze and top it with toasted coconut.  Of course that would add more sugar.

I think the verdict is still out on this cake...going to have to do a bit more experimenting if you ask me!

Carrot Cake in a mug from Mix it up (original recipe with none of my experimental changes)
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
A pinch salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/6 tsp ginger
A pinch cloves
1 tbsp applesauce or oil
3 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup shredded carrots

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl.  In another bowl mix together wet ingredients. Add the shredded carrots to the wet ingredient bowl.  Then, gradully mix the dry ingredients into the wet ones until combined.  Pour batter into a ramekin or mug and microwave for 2 minutes. (This was the first time I actually followed the recommended baking time for a microwave cake!) If cake is still gooey, microwave for 20 seconds longer, or until the cake is fully baked.