Homemade Desserts: Mug Cake Obsession

While looking for a birthday cake recipe, I happened across the phenomenon known as the “mug cake”. Where have I been, right? Seriously, I had no idea that this was even a thing, let alone that it could be made low carb, low sugar, gluten- and dairy-free, vegan…something for everyone’s dietary needs. Since I didn’t want a full-sized cake sitting around the house, I decided to try making a single-serve (paleo if you use coconut milk, gluten-free) coconut mug cake and am hooked!

For those of you rolling your eyes and thinking “this is so yesterday”, I may be late to the game, but I think there are others out there who haven’t stumbled upon mug cakes yet, so bear with me. A mug cake is so named because it is usually intended to be made in a microwave-safe mug (hence the single serving). I’m not generally a fan of microwave cooking, and have really never done much microwave baking, but these are intended to be cooked in the microwave. In like 90 seconds. 

To recap: these are single serving desserts meant to be made in the microwave and eaten out of the mug. Win-win-win! The first recipe I tried was so easy, too: whisk together coconut flour, coconut oil, baking powder, egg, maple syrup, and coconut milk (I subbed whole dairy milk because I had it handy). Once mixed, add in the shredded coconut. Into the microwave for 90 seconds, and it’s done. What’s easier than that? One note: as the recipe notes, the baking container needs to be large enough to allow the cake to expand (it will recede), so I used a small bowl and it worked perfectly.

Even more amazing, this cake is delicious: soft, moist, a bit like spongecake with great coconut texture. It gives a baked cake a run for its money, taste-wise. And it is so satisfying! The recipe makes one serving, but it could easily be shared between two people without anyone feeling deprived. Naked, frosted, or topped, these are seriously toothsome desserts that I’ll be making more often than I want to admit (already several times!).

Last night, just to mix things up, I made this chocolate chip keto mug cake. I used two ramekins, as the recipe instructs, but both cakes rose very high during cooking and one totally overflowed the ramekin. I’ll definitely use a larger bowl next time to contain the rising cake.

The cake was moist, very chocolate-y, and rich, reminding me of a fudgy brownie. I used about 3/4 Tbsp Pyure (stevia/erythritol blend) and (regular) chocolate chips, and it was a bit too sweet for my taste – I’ll just skip the chips next time. Fortunately, the banana slices and whip helped camouflage the sweetness a little…and it’s good with cherries, too!

4 thoughts on “Homemade Desserts: Mug Cake Obsession

  1. Nice one! I’m on a 250 today so it will take me a year to get there 😉

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