A rich, tower of chocolate that predictably rises out of the cup and stays there, without all of the work of beating egg whites into peaks, almost no dirty pots and pans – and an optional oooheey gooeey center!
As my daughter Adriana, aka Ada, can attest wearing chocolate on her face, shoulder, and eyebrow! When serving this mug cake to children, or impatient adults, crack the top open and let the heat escape so that the liquid has a chance to cool down.
This recipe was inspired by the ever-popular mug cakes that everyone was microwaving a few years ago. I spent three months making tweaks here and there until I was satisfied with the result.
Pressure Cooker | Accessories | Pr. Cook Time | Pr. Level | Open |
---|---|---|---|---|
6 L or larger | steamer basket | 10 min. | High(2) | Normal |

- 4 Tbsp (40g) All-Purpose Flour
- ¼ tsp Seasoning (orange zest)
- 4 Tbsp (50g) of Sugar
- 1 pinch of Salt
- 1 Tbsp (10g) of Bitter Cocoa Powder
- ½ tsp Baking Powder1 Medium egg
- 4 Tbsp (60g) of Milk
- 2 Tbsp (20g) Extra Virgin Olive oil
- Set-up the pressure cooker by filling it with one cup of water, and the steamer basket (or steamer basket and trivet) and set aside.
- Prepare the cup by spreading a coat of olive oil on inside up to the top edge and set aside.
- In a measuring cup, add the flour, orange zest (or preferred seasoning), sugar, salt cocoa and baking powders and mix with a fork. Then, add the egg, milk, olive oil and mix vigorously until you have a homogeneous mini-cake batter. Pour into mug.
- Place the uncovered cup into the pressure cooker. If you are making more than one cup, arrange them so that they are all straight and not touching the inside of the pressure cooker.
- Close and lock the pressure cooker lid and turn the heat to high. When the pan reaches pressure, turn the heat to low and count 10-15 minutes cooking time under high pressure (cook less for a gooey center with cakey top, more for a solid cake consistency).
- When time is up, release pressure.
- Open the top and with an oven-glove covered hand remove from the pot and serve on a saucer with a teaspoon immediately for the gooey center -- it will keep cooking so if you let it rest the interior will solidify.
Note: I do not own a microwave, so given all of the recipe changes I have made, I cannot confirm whether this would still actually work in one. Just to be sure, I would be wary of using Baking Powder in the microwave!



I am new to Instant Pot so this was the first recipe I tried. I do not understand the sequence:
Close and lock the pressure cooker lid and turn the heat to high. (Is this High Pressure?) When the pan reaches pressure, turn the heat to low (Low Pressure?) and count 10-15 minutes cooking time under high pressure (cook less for a gooey center with cakey top, more for a solid cake consistency).
Is the heat and pressure the same thing? This instruction doesn’t make sense for a newbie.
Dave, these are instructions for stovetop pressure cookers. Simply press “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” (depending on your Instant Pot model) and select the pressure cooking time.
Ciao,
L