Big flavour, light texture: Try this easy sugar free lemon mug cake with a deliciously zingy lemon glaze. Low carb, gluten free and keto-friendly.
Find the recipe card with ingredients and instructions at the bottom of the page. Don’t miss the extra tips in the post!
I’ve got to admit it. I can be a bit of a smug fraud.
For years I’ve been walking around telling people how we don’t own a microwave and how much better that is for everyone. I declared we were against exposing our precious offspring to its harmful effects and we didn’t mind at all heating our leftovers on the stove. Scrubbing crusty pans was no problem for us, if it protected us all from poisoning our system with whatever evilness microwaves produce.
Well. I’m going to come clean right here and now.
The only reason why we did not own a microwave for years was
1.) because my kids blew up the old one
2.) because we were too lazy to replace it and
3.) we then got used to not having one.
We moved house a couple of months ago, and our new kitchen came with a fitted microwave. We’ve been using it every day. Sod the rays. Microwaves are so practical! We’re living with our mobile phones permanently attached to our ears. We’re breathing in the fumes of London. I drink wine. In the scheme of things, how much more damage are a few microwave rays really going to cause?
In life, you’ve got to set priorities. And in this case, EASY LIFE wins over PERFECT LIFE.
Especially when a microwave can produce such a wonderful thing as a sugar free lemon mug cake!
This cake, my friends, is a revelation. To think that you can make a perfectly delicious cake that’s ready in 3 minutes! It’s almost magic.
My first attempt at making a cake in the microwave was this Low Carb Christmas Pudding. All true Brits know that a Christmas pudding is not actually a pudding but a cake. It’s divine, moist and full of festive flavours, so do give it a try if you’re reading this at a fitting time of year.
This sugar free lemon mug cake is a logical follow-up, because one cannot eat Christmas food in, say, July without it feeling a bit odd. Lemon cake, on the other hand, is an all-rounder and generally a crowd-pleaser. Be it summer or winter, it just works. If you’re adventurous, you can even add some poppy seeds.
It is actually not strictly a mug cake because I’ve made it in a small glass bowl, but you could divide the mixture into two mugs if you wanted.
I think the portion size is quite generous. If you’re not ravenous, you could easily share this mug cake between 4 people, especially if you’re making it with the glaze. In my humble opinion you should definitely NOT skip the glaze, because it propels the cake from a delicious dessert into a decadently delicious dessert. If you wanted, you could even poke little holes into the cake after you take it out of the microwave. That way, when you pour over the glaze it sinks into the holes and makes the cake even more moist and yum.
Mug cakes have been invented for busy people with busy lives.
And especially for busy people like you and me, with a realistic outlook on life (see above – PERFECT is a pipe dream) who deserve instant gratification involving minimal effort.
I want to hug the person who invented the mug cake. There is no blending and hardly any washing up involved. To make your sugar free lemon mug cake, you need just a handful of ingredients, a bowl, a fork and your trusted microwave.
Ah, the microwave. Long may it last. Under no circumstances let your kids play with it.
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Sugar Free Lemon Mug Cake (Low Carb Recipe)
Big flavour, light texture and ready in 3 minutes: Try this easy sugar free lemon mug cake with a deliciously zingy lemon glaze.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 4 tbsp almond flour extra fine
- 2 tbsp double/heavy cream
- 1 1/2 tbsp powdered sweetener
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
For the glaze
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp double/heavy cream
- squeeze of lemon juice
- 1 tbsp powdered sweetener
Instructions
- Grease the inside of a ramekin/2 mugs or microwave-safe bowl with melted butter. I used a glass dessert bowl.
- For the cake: Mix all dry ingredients - almond flour, sweetener and baking powder - in a separate bowl.
- Add all wet ingredients and mix thoroughly with a fork. If you find your dough is too liquid add a bit more almond flour.
- Transfer batter into your ramekin/small bowl and level the top.
- Microwave on high for ca 90 seconds. You can also bake the cake at 180 Celsius/360 Fahrenheit for ca 15 minutes.
- Remove from microwave and turn upside down onto a plate.
- For the glaze, melt the butter, then stir in the cream, lemon juice and sweetener.
- Let it cool until the glaze begins to thicken but can still be poured. Then spoon/pour over cake and serve.
Recipe Notes
If you wish, you could add 1 tsp of poppy seeds.
For my UK readers: If you want to use ground almonds, you need to add 1-2 additional tablespoons as ground almonds are coarser than almond flour.
Heidi says
I made a banana variation of this, substituting banana extract and almond extract for the lemon juice. Amazing!!!
Katrin says
OMG that sounds incredible!!!! Yumyumyum
Carol says
What can you use to be dairy free
Katrin says
Hey, you can replace the cream with coconut cream (if you use coconut milk from a can, only use the firm part) and the butter with coconut oil
Alyssa says
Just made this. Absolutely lovely!! I’m such a citrus freak and have been missing a good lemon cake. This hit the spot.
Just one question. Is this reciipe a single serving? I split it into 2 mugs and it baked halfway up. Sorry not a great baker or cook
Katrin says
Hi Alyssa, it’s 2 servings – I always find almond flour to be quite filling. You could try using ramekins next time, if you have a couple (I did this for my chocolate chip mug cake), or tea cups. Glad the cake hit the spot!!!
Amanda says
I only Have granulated sweetener. Would that not work for this recipe?
Katrin says
You should be fine using granulated sweetener too. Because it’s heavier, you might need a little less of it. Just try your batter and see what you think!
Pru says
Absolutely delicious, I’m on a keto diet and was craving for a cake, I made it and it was gone in seconds. Thank you.
Katrin says
That’s great to hear! Thank you for your comment 🙂
Linda Reichert says
this was great..and I mean great!..made it tonight. Company worthy to make! added the poppy seeds..elegant look..so fast to make…..
Katrin says
Glad you liked it Linda!!
Laura says
What an exceptional treat! I’ll be making this again…maybe in an hour!
Katrin says
Ha, this sounds like you’ve found a winner 🙂
Trish says
This looks yum!
Great idea 🙂
Kathy says
Oh my goodness this was delicious. My husband and I shared it but I think next time we will each have one. I might use some lemon zest to add a zing. Couldn’t post a picture because it didn’t last long enough lol. Enjoyed it with a cup of Lady Grey tea. Thank you!
Katrin says
You’re welcome! We also found it hard to share, haha 🙂 I agree adding lemon zest would be great here. I might add that as a suggestion in the recipe. Thank you for your comment!
Jane says
Added poppy seeds and followed the recipe step by step. This cake is really moist and so easy to make. A keeper!
Katrin says
I love poppy seeds in lemon cakes as well. Happy the cake turned out well and that you like it!
Garbo says
It turned out perfect! Delicious
Katrin says
Brilliant! Thank you for your comment. I’m glad you like it 🙂
Sarah says
This looks delicious! And I use powered swerve instead of erythritol? Swerve is the only powdered sweetener I have right now my erythritol is granulated. Can I use regular butter for the glaze? Or will it mess it up? I only have regular butter right now. I can’t wait to try this!
Katrin says
Hi Sarah, any powdered sweetener would work fine. As for the butter, do you mean salted butter? If so, then I’m not sure – I can imagine salted butter with chocolate, but not with lemon 🙂 Maybe use more cream instead?
Kate Watson says
I tried this out got the first time tonight. It also turned out wet and crumbly but on reading the author’s comments about the almond flour, I realized mine was quite coarse – not fine and dry. It was delicious all the same. I didn’t even wait for the glaze to cool down… but I will try this again until I get it perfect!
Katrin says
I love eating my cakes straight out of the oven… Glad you liked it, even if it was crumbly. Almond flour can differ so much in texture. Fingers crossed next time you’ll nail it!
Holli says
I also had the problem of it coming out too wet. I tried putting it in the microwave a bit longer and it didn’t really seem to help. I wondered if it had anything to do with size of egg maybe? I used a large egg. Do you think that would make a significant difference? The flavor is still really nice. I loved how simple and quick it was to make as well.
Katrin says
Hello Holli, I think it cannot really have anything to do with the egg, because if you’d microwave it for long enough it would set eventually. If the recipe contained too much egg if would taste eggy, that’s the only disadvantage I can think of. I think it may have something to do with the almond flour you used. Brands can vary quite a bit in texture. The one I used is super fine. If you used almond flour that is ground coarsely it would absorb less moisture and your cake might end up soggy. Next time you use the almond flour you have in this recipe, try reducing the amount of liquid (a bit less cream, a bit less lemon juice).That should do the trick. Or try out the almond flour I used (Sukrin) – you can get it on Amazon. I hope this helps.
Louise says
I used a duck egg which is very late and mine came out wet as well but tasted great.
Shari says
This was delicious! My favorite mug cake so far. I made it in two ramekins and the only problem I had was that it came out quite wet and fell apart a little BUT it may have been my fault because I didn’t have heavy cream and had to use 1/2 & 1/2. It was still absolutely delicious and held its shape well enough, was just very soft. For the glaze, because I didn’t have powdered sweetener I used stevia drops and to keep it from being even thinner (due to using liquid), I subbed lemon essential oil drops for the lemon juice. It was a thin glaze, but very delicious. Can’t wait to make this again. I topped it with a little bit of whipped cream and shared it with my non-low carbing husband and he said it was very good and he’d love to have it again. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
Katrin says
Great news! I’m glad you liked it.
Julie says
This looks very good. Can I use coconut oil, or butter instead of heavy cream?
Katrin says
I think that would work, too. It’s all about getting the wet/dry ratio right.
Michelle says
Wow! Awesome fluffy cake recipe; and low carb, too. Super impressed!
Katrin says
Hurray! Glad you enjoyed it:)
Sheila French says
Delicious! It turned out perfectly. I am happy to have this sweet treat.
One question: is the fat content correct in the nutrition section? It looks off to me.
Katrin says
Glad you like it! I’ll double-check when I have a minute regarding the fat content. I use a free website called sparkrecipes to calculate the nutrition. Do bear in mind though that almond flour is relatively high in fat – unless you use a reduced fat version like the Sukrin almond flour. If you add the butter and double cream…
Rosanne Gonzalez says
Lemony, buttery, light and moist!! Delicious! Thank you for the recipe! I did use 1 tbsp coconut flour in place of one of almond flour. I find that it gives it a better flavor.
Katrin says
Glad you liked it! And good to know it works to mix flours.Thanks for sharing!
Caryn says
Just tried this..was a bit grainy is that typical of almond flour? I did use super define.
Katrin says
Almond flour is a bit more grainy than regular (wheat) flour. That said, brands differ a lot. Some are ground coarser than others. From my experience, the finest flours are the ones that are cold pressed, i.e. where the fat has been extracted. It is lighter in colour and very fine.
Allison Wenger says
1/13/18 QUESTION… I LOVE this Lemon Mug Cake recipe. I’ve made it three times already. It’s turning out very acidic for me. I don’t want to lose the lovely texture of this cake, so how can I lighten up on the lemon juice but keep the cake the same? Maybe minus 1 Tbsp lemon juice, and add 1 Tbsp half-and-half/cream? For sugar I am using Swerve brand confectioners sugar (sugar-free sugar).
Katrin says
Of course, you can try that. A long as the dry/wet ratio remains the same, it would turn out the same texture. Everybody has different preferences, so it’s always great to experiment with recipes a bit until you figure out exactly how they work best for you. I’m glad you like the cake!!
Deborah L. McDonough says
Oh, my. I just tried this and followed the recipe to a “t.” It was very mushy and fell apart when I tried to remove it from the bowl, so I scooped everything back in and microwaved it another 30 seconds for a total of two minutes. I have a large, powerful microwave, so it’s not that. Any ideas as to what I can do to fix this?
Katrin says
Hi Deborah, I’m sorry to hear this. It must have something to do with either the quantities (did you use measuring spoons to measure the almond flour/cream) or the type of almond flour? The almond flour I used for this recipe is very fine, so if you were to use regular ground almonds like the ones you can buy in the supermarket baking section, for example, you would end up with a grainier texture that might tend to fall apart. I hope this helps?
Theresa says
Can’t wait to try this and several other recipes of SFL!
Katrin says
Awesome! Write me a comment when you’ve tried it. I’d love to hear how you liked it!
Anny says
Hello from Paris, France!
I had a craving for it as soon as I saw it! But no almond flour so I used chesnut flour… amazing! So subtle… thanks for the recipe!
Katrin says
Mmmmmh, chestnut flour! Makes it kind of Christmassy, too… nice.
Kads Life says
Looks delish! Is there an alternative flour I could use?
Katrin says
Hi there! You could try replacing the almond flour with 2 tbsp of coconut flour
joe says
I was wondering the same thing. I don’t see why not.
joe says
I just read another comment that coconut flour was used and it turned out great.
Doreen Jaeger says
Another great recipe, Katrin. Thank you so much. I never thought I’d get into mug cakes, but you have certainly changed my mind!!!
Katrin says
They have kinda changed my life, haha!
Janine says
I made this cake this afternoon when my mum came over and we loved it! She’s a type 2 and still loves her sweets.It was great to be able to serve her something that’s good for her AND tastes great.
Katrin says
How wonderful! What I love about these mug cakes is that you can make them with minimal effort and at short notice (provided you have the right ingredients). If you see her again during the Christmas season, you could try my Low Carb Christmas Pudding, which is also a mug cake!
Heather says
Can you make this in the oven, too? I don’t have a microwave
Katrin says
Yes you can! I haven’t tried it but would go with 180 Celsius (nut flours bake at lower temperatures than wheat flour) for ca 15 minutes, maybe a little longer. Check if it looks nicely browned and if it’s done inside!
shirley says
I doubled the recipe, and only one t. Of Stevia for cake and glacé. Had to cook extra 15 min. Even though separated into two ramekins. Turned out great with these adjustments.
Katrin says
Great! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Vendela B says
I love mug cakes! This one looks good. Will definitely try.
Katrin says
Thank you!! Let me know how you get on!
Audra Lee says
I made this tonight. It turned out great! Thanks
Katrin says
Brilliant! Thanks for commenting 🙂