Big flavor, light texture: Try this easy, moist and sugar free lemon mug cake with a deliciously zingy lemon glaze. Low carb, gluten free, keto and suitable for diabetics.
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?
Especially when a microwave can produce such a wonderful thing as a sugar free lemon mug cake!
Why you'll love this sugar-free mug cake
This mug cake, my friends, is a revelation. It is such a treat. To think that you can make a perfectly delicious, super easy lemon cake that's ready in 3 minutes! It's like the super-speedy cheat's version of this Keto Lemon Pound Cake.
By the way, my first attempt at making a cake in the microwave was this divine Low Carb Christmas Pudding.
A sugar free lemon mug cake was 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.
I have a bunch of keto mug cake recipes on my website. Try this keto triple chocolate mug cake, which is a must for chocolate lovers, my Keto Vanilla Mug Cake or this divine Keto Peanut Butter Mug Cake.
How to make a keto lemon mug cake
1.) Mix your dry ingredients - almond flour, powdered sweetener and baking powder.
Powdered sweetener works better than granulated sweetener in this recipe. You can make your own powdered sweetener by blending your granulated sweetener in a food processor or in the attachment of your stick blender.
2.) Add your wet ingredients - lemon juice, cream and an egg and mix with a fork.
3.) If you want to turn your lemon mug cake out onto a plate later, transfer the mixture into a bowl or ramekin which you have greased with melted butter. Or separate the mix into 2 mugs.
4.) This is how your cake looks after it's been microwaved on high for 90 seconds! It's moist and spongy - perfect 🙂
5.) Now you turn your lemon cake out onto a plate and top with your lemon drizzle glaze, which you have made with melted butter, cream, a squeeze of lemon juice and powdered sweetener.
6.) Serve and enjoy! Hard to believe this is a sugar free cake, right??? My kids, who are by default brutally honest, absolutely loved it.
The cake I shot the recipe video of I shared with a diabetic neighbour who popped by. She also gave it a thumbs up 🙂 I think this is proof enough - lemon mug cake is officially a THING!
Baker's notes
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. I have, however, calculated the nutrition for 2 servings.
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 your lemon 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.
If you're adventurous, you can even add some poppy seeds or grate some lemon zest into the batter.
I've made this cake with both fine almond flour and with ground almonds. If you use almond meal or ground almonds, which are coarser than fine almond flour, add 1-2 additional tablespoons of it so your batter isn't too liquid.
Microwave timings
My microwave operates at 900 watts and my cake took 90 seconds to cook. Here's a quick overview of recommended baking times for this low carb lemon mug cake recipe:
- 600W = low power. 110+ seconds.
- 800W = 100 seconds.
- 900W = 90 seconds.
- 1000W = 80 seconds
- 1200W = 60-70 seconds.
Oven instructions
To make this sugar-free mug cake in the oven, bake for circa 15 minutes at 180 Celsius (160C fan) or 350 F (320F fan assisted).
Made this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
Love lemon? Try these zingy recipes:
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Sugar Free Lemon Mug Cake (Low Carb Recipe)
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary. ***As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 4 tablespoon almond flour extra fine
- 2 tablespoon double/heavy cream
- 1 ½ tablespoon powdered sweetener
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
For the glaze
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon double/heavy cream
- squeeze of lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon 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 circa 90 seconds. You can also bake the cake at 180 Celsius/360 Fahrenheit for circa 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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Sharon Zimberoff
Is the nutrition information With or Without the glaze? Thanks
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Sharon, it's including the glaze. I've added the carbs and calories without the glaze in the recipe notes section.
Alison
Made this with rasps in place of lemon yum it was lovely gonna do lemon this week. Only comment to make is we found two portions were massive so I am going to half ingredients next time
Thank you Katrin for being so clever with these recipes it means we can have foodstuff without worrying about sugar or carb intake
Katrin Nürnberger
Glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Ria
Thanks this was very nice"! Will definetly make it again.
Fei
Will this work in oven ? What is the suggested temp??
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, I would go for 180C/350F (conventional) and start with 15 minutes, then check.
Karen
Katrin, this is a winner!! The glaze puts it over the top and keeps it moist… even the second day, which normally is not a good thing for mug cakes. Thank you!
Lauren
Hi my glaze curdled any thoughts on what I did wrong?
Kindly Lauren
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Lauren, this is probably a temperature issue. My guess is that the butter was too hot when you added the cream (which was too cold). Try keep ingredients at similar temperatures. Then this will to happen.
adele
I am new to low carb baking but a pretty good baker otherwise and so it was a relief to find a more palatable alternative than many other low carb recipes. I think next time I will try separating the yolk from the white and whisking the white, possibly with a second white to give it a bit more lightness as I found this one a bit heavy/stodgy. Also would add a few blueberries into the mixture to vary the texture a bit. Do you think that would work? Congrats on your very good site.
Maybe state whether the nutrition info is per serving or per total recipe and also add grams/ounces to the ingredients measurements?
Katrin Nürnberger
Thank you for your feedback. Glad you like the cake!
Molly
Gorgeous cake. I also used a bowl but mine needed much longer in the microwave. The glaze finished it off nicely
Thecla
Yessss,
this is very delicious. I made it just as a treat in the afternoon. Will make it more often.
Thanks for this recipe.