Craving a sweet treat but sticking to your keto or low-carb goals? This keto strawberry shortcake mug cake is the perfect solution! It's ready in minutes, requires minimal ingredients, and satisfies your sweet tooth without the guilt. This single-serving dessert is ideal for those moments when you need a quick and easy indulgence.
Why You'll Love This Keto Mug Cake
- Quick and Easy: Ready in under 10 minutes, start to finish!
- Single-Serving: No need to worry about overdoing it.
- Keto-Friendly: Low in carbs and sugar-free.
- Delicious: A perfect blend of sweet, soft, and fluffy textures.
- Customizable: Easily adaptable with your favorite low-carb berries.
Ingredients You'll Need
This recipe relies on a few key low-carb baking staples:
- Almond Flour: Fine-grain almond flour, such as Bob's Red Mill or Trader Joe's, provides the best flour-like results.
- Whey Protein Isolate: Adds fluffiness to the cake while keeping it delicate. ISO Pure is a recommended brand, but keep in mind that different brands may yield varying levels of fluffiness.
- Granular Swerve or Lakanto: These keto-friendly sweeteners can be used as a 1:1 replacement for traditional sugar.
- Strawberries: The star of the show! Feel free to swap for other low-carb berries like blackberries or raspberries.
- Egg: Binds the ingredients together.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the flavor of the cake.
- Butter or Coconut Oil: Adds moisture and richness.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: For the whipped topping.
- Stevia or Other Keto-Friendly Sweetener (for Whipped Cream): To sweeten the whipped topping to your liking.
- Baking Powder: Helps the cake rise.
- Lemon Juice (optional): Adds a touch of brightness to the strawberry filling.
- Coconut Flour: Used in the cake batter for texture.
- Sour Cream: Adds moisture to the cake.
Making the Keto Strawberry Shortcake Mug Cake
This recipe can be made in a mug or ramekin and cooked in the microwave or oven.
Preparing the Strawberries
- Toss ½ cup of sliced strawberries with 1 teaspoon of erythritol (or your preferred keto-friendly sweetener) in a small bowl.
- Place the strawberries in the refrigerator. Ideally, do this an hour before making the cake, but you can prepare them while you make the cake batter. Microwaving the Strawberries: Add fresh or frozen strawberries to a microwave-safe container and microwave until slightly softened. You can mash them up with a fork if you don’t want them as chunky.
Making the Cake (Microwave Method)
- Melt the Butter: Add the butter to a microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: To the melted butter, add an egg, sweetener, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, and baking powder. Whisk to combine.
- Mix Wet and Dry: Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients mixture and whisk until well combined.
- Prepare the Mug/Ramekin: Spray a large, microwave-safe mug or two microwave-safe ramekins with non-stick coconut oil spray.
- Pour Batter: Pour the batter evenly into the prepared mug or ramekins.
- Microwave: Microwave on high for 60 seconds, check them, then microwave for another 30 seconds. If they are still not cooked through, microwave for another 30 seconds. Mine only took 90 seconds total.
- Cool: Remove and allow the cake to cool for a minute or so before attempting to remove.
Making the Cake (Oven Method)
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Prepare the cake batter as instructed above.
- Pour batter into greased cupcake liners or a small baking dish.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely before frosting.
Preparing the Whipped Cream
- Pour the heavy cream into a mixing bowl.
- Whip using a hand mixer or immersion blender until you get soft peaks.
- Add stevia (or your preferred keto-friendly sweetener) to taste and continue mixing.
Assembling the Keto Strawberry Shortcake
- Slice the cooked cake in half.
- Cover one sliced half with whipped cream and sliced strawberries.
- Top with the other half of the cake.
Alternative Assembly (Microwave Strawberry Shortcake)
- Cut mug cake into two or three slices.
- Place first layer of mug cake on a plate and top with a layer of strawberry filling, followed by a scoop of whipped cream.
Tips and Variations
- Protein Powder Substitute: If you don't have whey protein isolate, you can substitute it with NOW psyllium husk or ground flaxseed. If using one of these substitutes, add 1 tablespoon of almond milk to the batter.
- Add Other Berries: Swap strawberries for your favorite low-carb fruits like blackberries or raspberries.
- Turn into Cupcakes: The recipe makes 2 mug-sized servings of keto strawberry cakes or 4 small low-carb strawberry cupcakes. If microwaving in cupcake form, use silicone or heavy-duty paper baking cups.
- Make a Bigger Batch: Double or triple the batch for brunch, baby or bridal showers, or any party.
- Reheating: You may want to reheat the cake before slicing it for the best texture. Microwaving the Cake: Dot the top with a little dab of butter when reheating to ensure they are moist.
- Storage: Store the whipped cream, strawberries, and cake separately, then assemble just before serving. The cakes can be cooked up to 3 days ahead, but it's recommended to frost them the day you plan to eat them.
Piping the Whipped Cream (Optional)
- If you want a fancy presentation, use a piping bag.
- If you don't have a piping bag, put a star tube into a ziploc bag (freezer bags work best).
- Cut one of the corners out so the star tip protrudes.
- Spoon in your whipped cream, press out the air, and seal it.
- Pipe the frosting onto your low-carb strawberry mug cakes.
Important Considerations
- Cooling: Be sure to let the cakes cool before piping the frosting or the whipped topping will melt.
- Sweeteners: Lakanto or Swerve were used to test this recipe.
- Strawberries and Keto: Most berries are generally fine on keto and low-carb diets. However, strawberries are easy to overeat, so portion them out to help you keep track of the carbs. There are 12 grams of carbs in an entire cup of strawberries.
- Erythritol Recrystallization: Erythritol (and all sugar alcohols) can recrystallize when cold, forming a grainy texture.
A Note on Mug Cakes
Keto mug cakes started out being made in a coffee mug, hence the name. You can make this recipe in your favorite coffee mug, and it will turn out perfectly. Ramekins provide uniformed shapes for decoration. If you want to make them ahead of time, you can freeze them right in the ramekins.
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