There comes a time in everyone’s ketogenic life where you crave something sweet. Cookies, brownies, cake – but there’s nothing that you’ve pre-made and nothing that is low carb laying around.
In under 5 minutes you can have a chocolate cake that’s rich, delicious, and sure to slam those cravings straight into the ground. Cake in a mug! Chocolate cake in a mug, that is. Absolutely divine in taste, just like you spent 45 minutes slaving away baking it in the oven.
I know, I know, you need almond flour. And none of that almond meal, either – only a fine grain almond flour for the soft and non-grainy texture. But it’s worth it, trust me!
I used to make these with protein powder, and the consistency is just nowhere close. The protein powder will give a more rubbery texture, and while it’s still good it’s just not great. The almond flour helps give it that real-cake texture that you’re looking for!
The key to the perfect consistency is the egg. Combined with the absorptive powers of the coconut flour and the rising properties of the almond flour, the egg will coax the cake to rise even higher than you might expect and provide an extremely decadent consistency.
Yields 1 chocolate cake
The Preparation
- 2 tablespoons butter, salted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons erythritol
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons coconut flour
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
The Execution
1. Measure out 2 Tbsp. butter and put it inside the mug you will be using.
2. Microwave the butter for 20-25 seconds until it mostly melted and hot. Add your sweetener to the melted butter.
Note: You can use any low carb/low glycemic sweetener for this. Read more at: the best low carb sweeteners.
3. Add your 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder to the butter.
4. Add your coconut flour, almond flour, baking powder, and vanilla.
5. Don’t forget the egg! It will help the cake rise.
6. Mix the ingredients well, until everything is combined and there’s as little lumps as you can get. If you’re going to make 2 servings, this is the point where you would measure the batter out into 2 mugs or 2 ramekins. If you’d rather have something you can cut into squares and share, the keto chocolate brownies use cream cheese and coconut oil for a fudgier texture than a mug cake.
7. Microwave the cake for 60-75 seconds. It takes 75 seconds in my microwave. If you are making 2 servings, probably 50-60 seconds would do the best – I never make 2 servings because I’m greedy 🙂 If you have more time and want something that serves a crowd, our keto pound cake uses the oven and a loaf pan, with lemon extract and vanilla instead of cocoa powder.
8. While you’re waiting for the cake to cook, whip some cream in a mixing bowl. (Optional)
I do this by using an immersion blender – very quick, easy, and tasty but it will produce stiff peaked whipped cream (and to some it may be over whipped). Pour enough whipping cream into a container to cover the immersion blender blades. Blend for 20-40 seconds until you reach the consistency you want.
9. Let the cake cool for a moment and spoon on the whipped cream. (Optional)
This makes a total of 1 serving of Keto Chocolate Cake in a Mug. The serving comes out to be 417 calories, 36.6g fats, 5.1g net carbs, and 12.1g protein.
If you want the same chocolate hit but with a citrus note, our orange chocolate keto cookies use orange zest and chocolate chunks baked together – a different texture and flavor profile from this mug cake.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 2 tablespoon butter | 203 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| 1 1/2 tablespoon erythritol | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 tablespoon unsweetened dark cocoa powder | 40 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 teaspoon coconut flour | 13 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 2 tablespoon almond flour | 81 | 7 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 2.9 |
| 1/2 teaspoon baking powder | 1 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 |
| 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract | 3 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 |
| 1 large egg | 79 | 5.2 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.4 | 6.9 |
| Totals | 424 | 37 | 12.5 | 7.4 | 5.1 | 12.8 |
Keto Chocolate Cake in a Mug
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon butter salted
- 1 ½ tablespoon erythritol
- 2 tablespoon unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon coconut flour
- 2 tablespoon almond flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Measure out the butter and put it inside the mug you will be using. This should be at least a 12 oz mug.
- Microwave the butter for 20-25 seconds until it is mostly melted and hot. Add the sweetener to the melted butter.
- Add the cocoa powder to the butter.
- Add the coconut flour, almond flour, baking powder, and vanilla.
- Don't forget the egg! It will help the cake rise.
- Mix the ingredients well, until everything is combined and there's as few lumps as you can get. If you're going to make 2 servings, this is the point where you would measure the batter out into 2 mugs or 2 ramekins.
- Microwave the cake for 60-75 seconds. It takes 75 seconds in my microwave. If you are making 2 servings, probably 50-60 seconds would do the best - I never make 2 servings because I'm greedy.
- While you're waiting for the cake to cook, whip some cream in a mixing bowl. (Optional)
- Let the cake cool for a moment and spoon on the whipped cream. (Optional)
This was delicious….I didn’t have the sweetener, but used the sugar free caramel syrup instead..When it was done I drizzled heavy cream over it instead of whipping it…
So glad you enjoyed it Kathy! That sounds absolutely fantastic with caramel syrup on top
Tried it tonight, didn’t mind it at all though I thought it tasted slightly eggy (understandable I guess given the egg to cake size ratio).
Other than that was nice 🙂
That actually sounds a bit stange to me, mine didn’t taste eggy in the slightest (the protein brownie one does taste a little eggy). What type of cocoa powder did you use? If you make it again, add a tiny bit more cocoa powder and it might help 🙂
I just made this and it was absolutely amazing. I just wanted to point out though that in the ingredients you say baking powder but in the step by step instructions you say baking soda, I used the baking powder 🙂
Woops, I’ll fix that! Thanks for pointing it out 🙂
This looks terrific! Wondering if you have actual carbs measured on this too, or just net carbs. My daughter is type 1 diabetic and we need actual carb counts, not just net. She would LOVE this 🙂 Thanks
Naomi,
If you look at the very bottom of the recipe, it includes all nutritional counts of the recipe including carbs, fiber, and net carbs. It’s 13g “actual” carbs but you can cut that down by possibly subbing the coconut flour for xanthan gum. I haven’t tried that, but in theory it should work.
I noticed the ingredients list calls for “1/4 tsp. Vanilla”, yet I don’t see where to use it in the execution. Also, I see whipped cream is used but not included in the ingredients list.
Am I missing something here?
You can mix the vanilla with the egg when it goes in. Since it’s part of the wet ingredients. As for the cream it’s optional but I always put it on so I included it in the pictures/recipe. I’ll update the post to include the vanilla with the egg and the whipped cream as optional. Some people go with sugar free syrups and things like that, so you’re welcome to add your own creative spin on it if you’d like.
So divine, and inspiring, thank you for sharing. I’ve turned it into a Cappucino Cup Cake and posting on my blog, giving you full credit for inspiration, of course! I’ve also added a link for readers to check out your blog! Much love and gratitude, oh and happy Nibbling xox
Thank you, glad you like the site! 😀
Can one die go to choc heaven and still live? Thanks, you saved the day with this one!! Great Wonderful Try It!! I’m telling you try it!! My mico runs quick.. 40 sec works.
Haha Christine I think if I ate these often I’d be in a chocolate coma! Super happy it turned out, I think I forgot to mention that some microwaves run hotter than others – so sorry about that!
I just wanted to say thanks for this recipe! I made this for dessert after turning your almond flax slider buns in to mini pizzas for dinner (delicious). I didn’t add whipped cream, but I did drizzle over a generous amount of Da Vinci Caramel syrup….it soaked right in to the sponge, yum! I didn’t share either, oops!
Thanks Laura! I normally don’t share either 😛 Glad you liked the flax slider buns too!
I made it today and the consistency was great! My problem is the coacoa powder. I just used about 1/4 of what you wrote in the recepie and still ended up with a black cake and it made the cake bitter as heck. Going to try it tomorrow with even less powder.
Lars, may I ask what brand of cocoa powder you’re using? That sounds kind of strange to me.
This is basically a paraphrased version of I Breathe I’m Hungry’s recipe
Abbie,
While it is similar, it’s not really the same thing. To be quite honest with you, there’s always going to be a similar version of every single recipe ever. Cooking has been around for a very long time. I guest posted over on Mellissa’s site (the Dirty Blondie Pancakes) so I respect her enough to cite her work if I used it, but I did not actually use her site to come up with the recipe.
Just bought ground almonds and erythritol because I wanted to try this mug cake recipe!! ^.^ I usually made my mug cakes with just coconut flour but adding almond flour and using less coconut flour brought it closer to an actual cake-like texture and flavour. It’s a little high calorie for a snack that I can gobble down just like that – but what can I say. Who would want to share? It tastes better than normal flour and sugar mug cakes!!!! :p Thanks Craig!
Great recipe, but it could be faster to put together. Here’s the easy-mode bulk dry-mix version.
16x Dry Mix
=============
2 cups Almond Flour
2 cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 cups Erythritol or Splenda
2/3 cup Coconut Flour
2 2/3 tbsp Baking Powder
Single Serving From Dry Mix
=============================
2 Tbsp. Salted Butter, microwave for 25s
1 Large Egg
2/3 cup Dry Mix
Mix ingredients into melted butter, microwave for 60-75s
Awesome Jeff, thanks for posting this – I’m sure that people will appreciate it!
The nutritional breakdown does not include the carb count (or even mention) the sweetener.
C,
I’ve mentioned in other comments before that I don’t include erythritol because it’s not processed by humans. Splenda is, but as mentioned on the site I don’t use it anymore. I mainly use erythritol and stevia now. Erythritol can’t be broken down by humans and is mainly excreted by us in our urine. Many people don’t know this and would see a large carb count for the sweetener and automatically be drawn away or think this website is not low carb.
A very nice recipe, thank you!
By the way, what is the wattage of your microwave? Saying ‘microwave on high’ is not as immediately useful as saying, for example, ‘microwave at 1000W’. Using specific wattage would allow the reader to make timing adjustments to their own microwave.
Img, I was on vacation and I just came back. My microwave is 1100 watts – at least that’s what it says on the lavel. Hope that helps 🙂
Dear God, this is good!!! I used Nectresse for the sweetener since that’s what I had on hand. It came out absolutely PERFECT. I actually felt like I was cheating!
Glad you liked it Rachel! It’s always awesome when something’s that good!
Hey Craig, I made 2 of these the other night, along with some homemade Whipped Cream….it was soooo good!! But had a question…mine was pretty dry…what could I do to increase the moisture? Add a little more butter? Thanks ahead of time 🙂
Lara, it might just be different wattages in our microwave. Try cooking it for 10-20 seconds less this time and check it out 🙂
If I don’t haveva microwave how long in the oven?
Susan, you can do this in the oven at 350 at the 8-12 minute range. I haven’t done it myself but this is based on the feedback others have given. Hope that helps!
craig, can I use stevia for this instead of splenda? if so, is there a specific brand you prefer? I use truvia for coffee/tea.
You could, sure! In the navigation bar at the top of the site it says “Store” – there’s a list of all the products I use 🙂
I just made this. Delicious!!! I added a bit of organic instant coffee crystals and 1 tsp coconut oil to mine. Also only used 1 T cocoa powder bec I don’t care for super dark chocolate cakes. Baked perfectly in my oven in 1 minute. Drizzled w/ SF choc syrup. The only thing that could have made it better would have been some whipped cream (or coconut cream). However, the first spoonful was so good, I didn’t want to wait any longer to enjoy it! Something to look forward to next time, lol. Thanks for posting, Craig!
Wow Julie, that sounds delicious 🙂 Glad you liked it and thank you for posting your feedback!
How can this be so delicious? I’ve paid ridiculous money for low-carb desserts that tasted just awful. And all this time a delicious treat was just 5 minutes away in my own kitchen! Love to see all the erythritol recipes. Been using it for years (buy in bulk online). Just saw all the variations on “cake in a mug” on your site… peanut butter chocolate! Are you kidding! Thank you for the inventive, tested and delicious recipes! I know getting them right takes a ton of time and effort. I bought both of you books too!
Thanks for all the hard work!
Wow Kurt – that means a lot – thank you! I’m glad you’re liking the mug cake (and hope you enjoy the others too, as much as I do). The peanut butter chocolate one and the churro ones are 2 of my favorites. Let me know whatcha think of them!
I’m planning on trying this tomorrow 🙂 I was wondering If I can double the almond flour and omit the coconut flour since I don’t have any at this time. Otherwise If using xanthan gum as suggested in another reply, how much should I use?
I think 1 tbsp. more almond flour would do it. Otherwise you could add just a pinch of xanthan and see where it takes you. Xanthan is extremely powerful (1/4 tsp. for a whole pot of a soup to thicken). So for a mug cake, it would only be a small pinch at a time until you are happy with the thickness.
Just started keto two weeks ago. I found your website and this is the first recipe I have tried. I didn ‘t think this could be that good….. Cake in a cup?? It was very good. I ate it warm with Land O Lakes sugar free whipped cream on top. YUM. Thanks Craig. I will be trying more recipes soon!!!
Glad to hear it Shelli! I love mug cakes, they’re so easy, taste awesome, and they’re mostly fats. Hope to hear more from you soon!
I have tried many different types of muffin/cake in a mug recipes and I did not care for any of them until now. This was fantastic! I was too lazy to make the whipped cream so I drizzled HWC on it instead. So good. Stopped my craving dead in its tracks. Thank you for this recipe.
Glad to hear it Bernice – I know some mug cakes can get dry and eggy 🙂
This was fantabulous! So freaking easy and so freaking delicious. It was done in 5min! Thank you for such a life-saving, amazing recipe!
Glad to hear you liked it Mackenzie – it’s quick and easy 🙂
Made this tonight and am looking forward to trying out more of your recipes. Delicious!
Glad to hear it Debbie – hope you like the others, too!
Hi Chris! Just wanted to let you know that I made this for dessert tonight and it was AWESOME. I’ve been doing keto for a bit and had kind of resigned myself to the reality that I would probably never enjoy the sweet decadence of my favorite chocolate brownies or cakes ever again. I tried other keto treats, and found them to be either bland and boring or just completely unpalatable. After taking five minutes to prepare the mug cake, I took a bite and let out a completely involuntary groan of pure deliciousness and proceeded to scarf the whole thing with no reason to feel guilty after. THANK YOU!!
Glad to hear it!
Hi Craig,
I am about to go and make this cake right now but I just wanted to let you know that it looks like you left out the Erythritol in the nutrition calculation. Adding it in causes the cake to be 18 net carbs which seems a little high to me. Is this correct? Or am I the one missing something somewhere. Love your site! Thanks!
Nicole,
Actually, erythritol isn’t absorbed by the digestive system. We mainly excrete it through urine since us humans don’t have the enzymes to be able to break it down. It is 0 GI and doesn’t affect blood sugar, so I leave it out of the nutrition information because I don’t count it. Hope that makes sense – I’ve made a long post about it in the forums also 🙂
This was so good! Lots of mug cakes are eggy but this one wasn’t. I added espresso powder and Swerve for the sweetener but otherwise made it as is. So grateful to Jeff below for writing out a bulk recipe – when my new batch of almond flour comes in, I’m making a bag full. This is a great recipe that will become part of my rotation. Chocolate chip cookies next!
Thanks Noelle and glad to hear you liked it! Hope you enjoy the cookies also 🙂
This was the first recipe I tried from the site and I’ve made it for the past three nights! The whipped cream is a must! I haven’t wanted to try other low-carb recipes because I don’t trust them for keto plus I don’t want to spend the money on expensive ingredients and know that it might not turn out tasting great. I don’t have to worry about that with the recipes on ruled.me. They NEVER disappoint. Keep ’em coming Craig!! And thanks for reintroducing me to dessert I can actually have and enjoy.
Haha, I’m so happy to hear that Mindy – glad to hear you’re loving this one! Will definitely keep them coming 🙂
My word!! I’m trying hard not to use swear words to describe how EASY & DELICIOUS this is. How have I been living all this time????
Heh, glad to hear you like it! Give some of my other mug cakes a try, too – you won’t be disappointed 🙂
Hi, I have all the ingredients I need to make this chocolate cake except the coconut flour. Is it possible to make it without it? I’m sure the texture would be off a bit. If not, I will make it another time unless you have one with just almond flour.
Yep – you should be fine without the coconut flour. It will be slightly less dense, but should still taste great 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if I omitted coconut flour, will this cake work? I have almond. I’m thinking the texture would be changed, maybe more dense?
It usually is more fluffy without the coconut flour – go ahead and try it!
Would this recipe if I don’t add the almond flour and maybe added an extra Tbsp. of coconut flour? I don’t currently have almond flour unfortunately.
Hi, can Truvia be used instead of just Erythritol? If so, how much would you recommend using? Thanks!
I make this at least once a week to tame those chocolate cravings. Its absolutely delightful. Thank you for developing recipes I can actually make easily enough and still keep on track with my diet. I am forever grateful!!!!!
Hello everyone, I don’t have a microwave and don’t really want one. Any idea how I could make this in an oven? Thanks for any suggestions.
From most commenters that have tried it, 350F for 8-12 minutes seems to be the sweet spot.
I recently found your site, and just made this last night for the first time…won’t be the last time. It was really, really good. My experience so far with low carb baking has been very hit or miss, but this is definitely a hit. The only change I made was to sweeten with Jordan’s Skinny Syrup (I used salted caramel) instead of erythritol.
I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Hi Craig, I used stevia as the sweetener and I found that it didn’t taste sweet at all. 😢 Would erythritol be sweeter?
You may have not used enough stevia, then. I’ve used only stevia before (around 12 drops) and it was fine in terms of sweetness. Erythritol would help, though, as if you use too much stevia it can be a bit bitter.
I accidentally made this without the baking powder and it still came out well. I don’t have Erythritol and I used Stevia in the Raw, so it was a wee bit bitter, but the consistency is AWESOME! I want to try this with the erythritol, but I can never find a small amount to try.
For those having issues finding coconut flour, I used dried desiccated coconut that I whirred around in my Vitamix till it was almost powdery (like 10 seconds). too long and it becomes coconut butter, so be aware.
With this batch, is the 2/3 for one whole serving, or is it the 1/2 serving?
You can either cut it in half and eat it as a 200 kcal serving, or eat the entire thing and it will be 400kcal. It’s really dependent on you and your macros.
Always! Glad you liked it!
wondering where the Erythritol is in your nutritional facts? the carb count would definitely be different
The erythritol isn’t absorbed or broken down in the human body, so it mostly just goes straight through our system. Blood sugar is not effected either by erythritol so essentially we don’t absorb any of the carbs in it. Feel free to check out this article for more information: http://www.ruled.me/keto-di…
Thank you
Sure!
I wish recipes were in grams as the US/Cad/Iimperial table spoon and tsp are different gram amounts. I have no idea if the utensils in my kitchen are measuring US/UK/ Are Canadian measuring utensils when purchased in Canada actually different from the same brand in the USA? Crazy. Grams will work everywhere!
I try to write recipes that most of the main audience will respond to. 90% of the traffic to the website comes from North America, so I try to write recipes in terms they will be able to measure out easily. I would highly recommend purchasing a set of US measuring cups/spoons as they’re cheap and will make everything much easier. Many blogs use cup/tbsp. measurements, so it’d be much easier for you in the long run.
Wow, fast response I didn’t expect one. I usually write mine in both, but I honestly never realized there was a difference in the tsp and tablespoons but realizing it did allow me to figure out the difference in some cooking directions also. I had plugged this on in to my nutrition log and realized that I had a different calorie and carb total than you. That was when I realized the tsp’s and tablespoons were the difference. I believe I do have US measures on but I’m really not sure. I’m really quite surprised to find they are different. I enjoyed the cake very much so it came out fine.
Yeah I am a little weird where I use tbsp. and tsp. where most people use T and t. Sorry about that!
How can I convert this recipe to a full (pan) cake? Any suggestions? Thanks!
Make a lot of servings at once and cook in the oven at 375F for around 15-18 minutes (my guess, you’d have to test with a toothpick).
I REALLY LOVE YOUR WEB SITE. I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT KETO ACADEMY NOT SURE HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU. DO I HAVE TO GO THROUGH DISQUIS? NOT SURE HOW TO USE SITE. THANKS
You can just e-mail me at [email protected] ; sorry it’s taken so long to reply, I was in the middle of a cross country move.
This cake changed my life! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
No problem at all – just glad you enjoyed it!
I made this for my birthday today. It was great. After I mixed the melted butter, xylitol, and cocoa it was not sweet enough. So I added more xylitol and a few drops of liquid stevia. Made it just right for me. All of your recipes have turned out great. Thanks for helping us keep up our therapeutic ketogenic lifestyle. Keep up the good work.
I substituted the cocoa powder with Avalanche Sugar Free Drinking Chocolate. This product uses stevia and erythritol so no need to add extra and it cuts out a few carbs. Totally enjoyed the result… yum.
Sounds great – I’ll have to look that chocolate up!
Halp me!
I’ve made this twice now and the cake keeps coming out bitter and really dry.
What am I doing wrong?
Possibly the microwave settings are high. Try using power level 5 and cook for less time.
Lowered power from 100 to 70 and cooked for the same time.
Perfect, thank you.
Awesome – glad to hear it turned out right this time. Sorry it wasn’t as evident in the directions!
how would i make this into a cake pan say 8 inch. and bake in the oven? also coconut and Vanilla i am not able to eat so could you x those out in your responce.
Check out the other mug cakes on the site (there’s 1 or 2 coconut ones). You could just x8 the recipe and put it into a cake pan. 350-360 for 18-30 minutes? I haven’t tried a large version so I’m not 100% sure, but if you just kept your eye on it in the oven no doubt you’d be able to tell when it’s done 🙂