Name: No Egg Chocolate Cake in a Mug
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1 min
Ingredients: 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (plain flour or gluten-free cake flour mix); 4 teaspoons sugar (or less if you prefer); 1/4 teaspoon baking powder; 1 ½ tablespoon unsalted butter (or vegetable or sunflower oil); 3 tablespoons milk dairy or non-dairy (or non-dairy - plant based milk); 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (more or less to taste); pinch salt; 1/4 cup whipped cream or mascarparone (white yoghurt or dairy free - plant based cream); 1 teaspoon icing sugar or fine white sugar (optional to sweeten the cream); cocoa powder or chopped chocolate (to sprinkle on the top of the cream)

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Easy to make no egg chocolate cake in a mug recipe baked in a microwave in just a few minutes. Topped with a white chocolate ganache, cream cheese or yoghurt.

This quick chocolate mug cake is the perfect after-dinner treat or quick energy pick me up in the afternoon. Easy to make as a regular chocolate mug cake or gluten and dairy-free mug cake version.

Why make this recipe?

Super easy & quick chocolate mug cake to make in a microwave
Perfect recipe size for one person
No egg recipe (very budget friendly)

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What makes this chocolate mug cake without eggs work

Real butter always makes a difference to the taste of this chocolate mug cake, as does good quality cocoa powder. You can use cocoa powder alternatives, but make sure you use the right amount, so that you get that lovely intense chocolate flavour.

The lack of egg in this chocolate mug cake recipe means that you’ll end up with the lightest chocolate sponge cake ever. No rubbery chocolate mud cakes here!

I’ve developed this chocolate mug cake specifically without eggs because I wanted to make the regular chocolate mug cake recipe more affordable. Egg prices have gone up a lot over the last few years and I’d rather use them in my my main cooking (where it’s difficult to replace them) than to make a fairly non-essential chocolate treat for afters.

My top tips on making chocolate mug cake without eggs successfully the first time round

Make sure you use a regular coffee or a tea cup (mine is about 300 ml volume – about 1 1/4 cup measure) suitable for microwave.

If your cake mixture fills more than half of your cup, swap the cup for a large one. You want to make sure that your shortcake won’t end up overflowing on the sides.

Melt the butter first before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Mix first all the dry ingredients and then add all the wet ingredients.

If your chocolate mug cake without eggs is not done within the time in the recipe, add 10 seconds at a time to make sure that it’s completely cooked through. The sides of the cake should start to part from the cup and the middle should be firm.

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Pro tip

To make your chocolate mug cake without no egg to taste extra strong and intense, add a 1/4 teaspoon of instant coffee granules and mix them in about 1/2 teaspoon of hot water.

Mix the coffee essence into the batter and don’t forget to add a tiny pinch of salt. This should ensure that the chocolate will have an extra deep flavour.

Any specialist equipment needed?

You will need a microwave and a cup that’s suitable for a microwave use. If you don’t have a suitable cup, use a small bowl, large ramekin or plastic beaker (suitable for microwave).

Allergies & dietary requirements

As it is, this Chocolate Mug Cake Recipe without eggs contains gluten and dairy, but it can be easily made into gluten free and dairy free cake.

Dairy free – make sure that you use dairy free butter or vegetable or sunflower oil. Swap the regular milk for plant based milk. Use dairy free or plant based cream or yoghurt or mascarpone.

Gluten Free – use gluten-free flour mix for cakes (plain gluten free flour mix). You might need to add little bit more milk or add just 1 teaspoon less of the flour.

Notes on the key ingredients & possible substitutions

Flour – use all-purpose flour plain flour or gluten-free cake flour mix.

Sugar – white sugar is fine, but dark or brown sugar is perfect for this recipe. You can use healthier alternatives such as coconut sugar, carob syrup or maple syrup

Butter – use unsalted butter (and a tiny pinch of salt) or use salted butter (with no extra salt in the recipe). You can also use coconut oil or vegetable or sunflower oil, which makes this recipe even more affordable

Milk – milk dairy or non-dairy or non-dairy – plant based milk, thinned down yoghurt or cream

Cocoa powder – the better quality, the better flavour your cake will be

How to make no egg chocolate cake in a mug

Using a good size mug that’s suitable for microwaving, first melt the butter.

Measure out the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix together with a fork or a spoon.

Add the milk and mix together well.

Microwave for 1 minute (on 800 V microwave setting) in the centre of your microwave. Check the cake and if the mixture doesn’t look baked (it’s wet in the middle), put it back to the microwave and add extra 10 – 20 seconds. Check again and microwave more if needed. The mug cake should be firm (ish) in the middle and pull away slightly from the sides of the cup.

Top your chocolate cake with cream (or an alternative of your choice), sprinkle extra chocolate on top and enjoy!

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How else you can make this eggless chocolate mug cake recipe?

Chocolate Chip Mug Cake – add 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips (milk, white or dark) or chopped chocolate bar and it to the mixture.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Mug Cake – add 1 tablespoon of peanut butter to the mixture

How to serve your chocolate mug cake

This No egg Chocolate Cake in a Mug recipe is great to eat as it is or you can add cream cheese frosting, yoghurt, ice-cream, whipped cream, extra chocolate or chocolate chips, sprinkles, chopped walnuts or almonds, raspberries or raspberry coulis or raspberry jam or curd, homemade salted caramel sauce, peanut butter or chocolate syrup.

How to make sure that your chocolate mug cake without eggs wont’ be dry

I’ve tested this recipe several times and I always end up with a lovely light chocolate sponge. I wouldn’t call this chocolate mug cake exactly a ‘moist chocolate cake’, but it’s not dry either.

There are several things you can do to make a chocolate mug cake moist, if you find that you’d prefer that. These include adding ingredients like yogurt, sour cream, or applesauce to the batter (start with just 1 teaspoon), using oil instead of butter, not overcooking the cake, and adding a little extra liquid, such as milk or coffee, to the batter (again just 1 teaspoon).

I also find that serving this No egg Chocolate Cake in a Mug Recipe with cream, ice-cream or other liquid toppings helps to make the final cake a lot more moist.

How to make sure that my chocolate mug cake doesn’t overflow from the mug when baking in microwave

To prevent a chocolate mug cake from overflowing when baking in the microwave, you should use a large enough mug to allow for rising and expansion of the batter, fill the mug no more than halfway with batter, and use a lower power setting on the microwave. You can also place a plate or paper towel under the mug to catch any overflow.

How to solve overcooking chocolate mug cake in microwave

There are several things you can do to prevent overcooking a chocolate mug cake in the microwave. These include reducing the cooking time, using a lower power setting on the microwave, and checking the cake frequently while it is cooking to avoid overcooking.

Once you see that the cake batter looks ‘dry’ and starts to peel from the sides of the mug, your chocolate mug cake is done even if there is time left on your microwave timer.

Serving size

This recipe makes one regular size mug cake – a desert or a sweet treat for one person.

Can I scale up this recipe?

Yes, absolutely! This recipe can be easily scaled up. If you want to serve the chocolate cake in a cup, then it’s better to make individual cakes and measure and mix everything separately in each cup.

Alternatively, you can mix everything in one large bowl and then half it between the two cups (I also weigh the cups and the cake batter, so that I know I’m dividing it correctly).

To bake two cups (or more) in microwave, place them all together (you can probably fit up to 4 in one microwave) and bake them for 2 minutes (one minute per cup). They might need more than that, because they are not going to be exactly in the middle of the microwave, so the baking will take longer.

Alternatively, you can make more by doubling or tripling the quantity of the cake mix, bake it in a large square or round microwave container with no more than 5 cm depth of the chocolate cake batter.

Afterwards, you can cup the cake into smaller rounds or squares, plate them up and decorate with mascarpone cheese or greek yoghurt and extra shavings of chocolate.

Can this recipe be made in advance?

This chocolate mug cake with no egg recipe is best eaten straight from the microwave. It’s so quick to make that it really doesn’t need to be made in advance.

How to store this recipe

Eat your cake straight away or keep it in the fridge for 1-2 days if needed (covered to prevent it from drying out). You can warm up the cake a little in a microwave to make it less spongy (5-10 seconds only).

Can I freeze chocolate mug cake?

In theory, chocolate mug cakes can be frozen, but I prefer to always make one fresh rather than freeze it.

Why not stay in touch…

I hope you enjoy making this recipe and if you do, I’d love to know what you think! Let me know in the comments below or find me on Instagram or Facebook and add the hashtag #cocoaandheart so that I can see your post.

Or why not subscribe to my weekly newsletter with new recipes and baking tips straight to your mailbox.

Magdalena