Microwave Mini Cake (or Cupcakes)
I have been often disappointed by microwave vegan keto cakes, finding they end up both soggy around the edges while also dried out within minutes of leaving the microwave. This little cake stays decently moist and, when "baked" in silicone and flipped out onto a plate, is not soggy around the edges. This cake is mildly sweet and rather delicate, especially crumbly if the xanthan gum is omitted. I find it suitable for both breakfast and as a sweet treat. Simply top accordingly. See the notes about increasing the sweetness if the recipe as written doesn't quite meet the mark for you. Happy eating!
Yield: 1 serving of 1 small cake or 2 small cupcakes ✎
Macros (per serving): 250 calories | 8g protein | 20g fat | 4g net carbs
Prep: 5 minutes | Bake: about 2 minutes | Cool: 1 to 2 minutes
Storage: for not more than half an hour. The cake will dry out relatively quickly.
Macros (per serving): 250 calories | 8g protein | 20g fat | 4g net carbs
Prep: 5 minutes | Bake: about 2 minutes | Cool: 1 to 2 minutes
Storage: for not more than half an hour. The cake will dry out relatively quickly.
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons (15g) fine almond flour
- 1 tablespoon (7.5g) coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon (7.5g) golden flaxseed meal
- 1 tablespoon (12g) allulose or equivalent in keto-friendly sweetener of choice ✎
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- a pinch (half of a ⅛ teaspoon) xanthan gum (optional ✎)
- a sprinkle of salt
- 3 tablespoons (45ml) soy or pea milk ✎
- ½ tablespoon (7.5ml) melted coconut oil or neutral-flavored oil of choice
- ½ teaspoon (2.5ml) vanilla extract
Directions:
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix with a small spatula or spoon until no dry patches remain.
- Transfer the batter to a 4-inch (10cm) silicone cake mold/pan or 2 silicone muffin liners. ✎
- Microwave the cake for 2 to minutes and the cupcakes for 1 minute 45 seconds. If using 2 muffin liners, set them either side of the center of the microwave plate. ✎
- Flip the cake/cupcakes out onto a plate, allow to cool briefly, and enjoy soon after making. Top as desired. In the photo, I'm having the cake topped with soy yogurt, berries, chopped walnuts, and ChocZero honey.
Tip: if you like this cake and think you'll make it often, prepare little jars of the dry ingredients in bulk to save yourself measuring these ingredients out each time you want to make a cake. Or, you could make a single bulk container of dry mix and use 44g (about ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon) of this each time you want to make a cake.
Idea: I haven't tried this, but I think this cake would be great for making cake pops, assuming you didn't want to make too many at once. It's quick to make and crumbles easily. Let us know if you give it a try!
Notes:
- If you want to double, triple, etc. this recipe, microwave them in single serving batches. I've found that microwave baking doesn't turn out successfully when there are too many items in the microwave.
- I have made this cake successfully with allulose and erythitol. I think it would also work with pure monk fruit or stevia (powder or liquid). For reference, 1 tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons. This cake is only mildly sweet. I did make it once with additional allulose and an area of it burned. If I wanted it sweeter, I'd opt to add a few stevia drops.
- The xanthan gum can be omitted, but the resulting cake will be quite crumbly without it. If you want a sturdier cake, you can also increase the xanthan gum slightly. I wouldn't sugegst increasing it beyond ⅛ teaspoon.
- If you don't have any silicone options available, the cake can be made in a 6-ounce (180ml) ramekin. However, even if oiled, you will not be able to flip the cake out onto a plate without it breaking apart. You can eat it in the ramekin, but the bottom and sides might be a little soggy from the trapped moisture. Or, you could line the ramekin with parchment paper to prevent sticking, but this is rather tedious task unless you're able to buy liners (I haven't found any online).
- I have not tried this with another milk, but I expect it would work fine. Soy and pea milk do tend to be a bit thicker than other milks, so if anything, you may wish to reduce the milk slightly. The soy/pea milk also adds a little protein.
- My microwave is not especially powerful. You may need to adjust the "baking" times to suit your microwave.
- Macros for this recipes are calculated with American national nutritional data (i.e. NCCDB & USDA entries in Cronometer) for all ingredients apart from the xanthan gum (Now Foods).
- Macro numbers are rounded. Numbers equal to or greater than 10g are rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g. 10g, 11g, 12g, etc.) and numbers below 10g are rounded to the nearest 0.5g (0.5g, 1g, 1.5g ... 9g, 9.5g). Any numbers below 0.5g are given as is (e.g. 0.1g, 0.2g, etc.). Calories are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.