Low Carb, Molten Lava Cake!
I hold the record for the world’s largest sweet tooth. It’s been measured! I could eat sweets for every meal of the day and go to bed happy. So when I started eating keto, I obviously cut out sugar altogether and needless to say, I was irritable. But that was to be expected- sugar is highly addictive and when you take it away after so many years, you get withdrawal symptoms. As with all addictions, it takes time and effort to heal the body. After a few grueling days, maybe a week, the sugar cravings started going away. At the peak of my keto dieting, I never even thought about dessert. My body was running perfectly fine without that brownie for dessert daily.
Soon though, I began missing the intricate processes that made up baking, and the warm, delicate textures it brought about. I started to research some keto desserts and came across what seemed like plenty of options to choose from. After experimenting with some low carb dessert recipes and quite a few failures, I decided to instead start with what was already a hit: non-keto desserts (loved by all!). I took a few different non-keto recipes and simply tweaked them to reduce their carb count and ended up with something magical.
A gluten-free, keto dessert is born
It’s a lava cake! But that name doesn’t do it justice. It’s a warm, gooey, sweet, fluffy, molten cool lava cake. It’s insanely simple to make and only has 4g of net carbs for the entire little cake. 4G OF CARBS! Considering this unheard of number, I added a scoop of vanilla Breyer’s carb-smart ice cream (4g of carbs per ½ cup, which is about a large scoop – see nutrition label on the side) to create something like an icy cool lava cake. When you flip it onto a plate and crack it open, the slightly molten center and the melting ice cream underneath join together and create the king of keto desserts! The entire cake has a soft, fluffy and super moist texture- owing to the fact that it’s flourless and gluten-free. It will definitely satisfy anyone’s sweet tooth if it satisfied mine!
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You can also try these amazing mini-cake desserts:
Microwave mug cakes are all the rage right now, but we don’t own a microwave (voluntarily). We find that nuking your food dries it out completely and leaves parts of it uncooked. That being said though, many have microwaved their mug cakes and reported they’ve turned out delicious, so this isn’t something to worry about. If you have the chance though, try doing what we did- toaster oven baking it. We think it preserves the moisture better and bakes it more evenly for a better taste.
Check out the end of the recipe for some paleo substitutions and other delicious desserts!
| Servings: person |
- 2 tbps cocoa powder
- 1-2 tbsp So Nourished erythritol sweetener
- 1 medium egg
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- Preheat your oven, if you're using one, to 350°F. Combine your erythritol and cocoa powder and whisk to remove any clumps. This’ll make the consistency of our cake much smoother.
- In a different bowl, beat your egg until a little fluffy. Since your lava cake is flourless, you need the aeration of the beaten egg to help coax the cake to rise.
- Then add your egg, heavy cream and vanilla extract to the erythritol and cocoa mixture. Add your salt and baking powder as well.
- Spray a little cooking oil into the mug, pour your batter in (ours are ceramic, you can also use ramekins) and put it to bake for about 10-15 minutes at 350° F. Do not overcook the cake or it will not flow lava! The top of the cake should be set but pretty jiggly.
- As an alternative, you can also microwave your mug cake for about a minute. All microwaves are different, so once the minute is up, check up on your cake and if it’s still not solid but jiggly on top, put it back in for 10 second intervals until done.
- Now it’s up to you how to enjoy it. You can eat your lava cake straight out of the mug (let it cool until you can touch the mug without burning yourself!) or top it off with ice cream, whipped cream, or all kinds of goodies. We decided to make it a molten lava cake. While still hot and in the mug, add a scoop of ice cream to the top. Then wedge a knife along the sides of the mug to help the cake unstick and place a plate onto the mug.
- Hold the plate and mug firmly together and flip it upside down so that the mug is now face down on the plate. Tap a few times on the bottom of the mug and the cake should slide off onto the plate without a problem.
- Now your ice cream is smooshed underneath the warm lava cake and will melt just a little. When you break into the lava cake, it warm insides and the ice cream should ooze out beautifully. Don’t delay, scoop it all up and eat it before someone gets to it first!
If you’re interested in making this cake paleo style, there are just a few things to change. First, use raw cocoa powder if not already, and substitute the erythritol for honey! And if your local store sells vanilla beans in their raw form (see pictured on bottom right of the mug) use those!
There’s also been some debate about whether or not you should eat dairy while on a paleo diet. I personally believe it’s fine if you buy organic, grass fed, etc. dairy. But if you’re being cautious, then use coconut milk instead of the heavy cream. Lastly, consider leaving out the baking powder as it has some corn starch it in and is not paleo friendly.
Loved this recipe? Let us know! Something didn’t quite turn out right? Ask us in the comments below or contact us– we respond to comments every day and would love to hear from you and help you out! And check out all our low carb desserts to learn to make more delicious and healthy meals that take no time to prepare!
NUTRITIONAL DISCLAIMER
The content on this website should not be taken as medical advice and you should ALWAYS consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. We provide nutritional data for our recipes as a courtesy to our readers. We use Total Keto Diet app software to calculate the nutrition and we remove fiber and sugar alcohols, like erythritol, from the total carbohydrate count to get to the net carb count, as they do not affect your blood glucose levels. You should independently calculate nutritional information on your own and not rely on our data. The website or content herein is not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose or treat any disease. This website shall not be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or recommendations on the Website or actions you take as a result. Any action you take is strictly at your own risk.
You’ll Love Our Dessert in Five Cookbook!
We believe that the key to success is simplicity and satisfaction with your diet. That’s why we created Dessert in Five – 30 low carb dessert recipes all using just 5 ingredients and 5 net carbs or fewer!
Enjoy strawberry cheesecakes, brownies, coconut cream pies, raspberry Danish cookies and much more every day of the month.
Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD is an aesthetic medicine specialist whose work focuses on patients who are treated for obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other weight-related issues through nutritional analysis, keto diet programs, and supporting medications.
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Made a double batch to share with my husband, who doesn’t follow a keto or paleo diet, and we both raves at the flavor and texture! Thank you for a keeper of a recipe!
That’s awesome! Enjoy 🙂
Another winning recipe from Tasteaholics! I’ve tried Atkins mug cakes, and no exaggeration, they all taste awful. Just awful. This one was excellent. The proportion of ingredients is perfect. I even added a tbsp of bourbon to the batter to make an adult version. My only advice: if using the microwave, try cooking for only 40 seconds. I cooked the first one for a minute, and while it was delicious, there was no liquidy part. The second one I cooked at 40 seconds was more of a true lava cake.
Wow! I made this last night in my little Pyrex dish in the oven. Perfect reward for keeping on track since Jan 1. I loved this recipe so much.
I calculated way more carbs in this than is listed up top. I used 5 tsp erythritol and that’s 20 grams of carbs right there. So how is this allowed on Keto diet? I have never used erythritol before. Thanks
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol which is indigestible by humans. Since we don’t have the necessary enzyme, it is passed through the body without the negative effects of sugar. Most of it is actually released unaltered through our urine! It has a glycemic index of 0 (meaning it does not spike blood sugar) and it’s not metabolized by oral bacteria so it doesn’t cause tooth decay. It is, effectively, 0 net carbs.
Could this be made with half And half instead of heavy cream?
I think that would be fine 🙂
YUMMO! So I did it in the microwave and of course, overcooked it, BUT it was still very moist and I have to say the best mug cake recipe out there. I hate the ones with the nut flours as they always have a weird taste. This is really good even if I had no ‘lava’ haha. Good enough that these will be Xmas Meal Puddings with some brandy cream. I only used 1Tbsp. Sweetener and it was just right, I used an erythritol stevia blend 🙂
Sounds great! Not everyone can handle the deep chocolate flavor with just 1 tbsp of sweetener 🙂 the less sweetener, the better, we think!
I made this twice. The first time, I followed the recipe but ended up overbaking because I was concerned about the how runny it looked. But it wasn’t sweet enough. So I tried again with 3 tbsp of Swerve. It looked beautiful and it tastes great! This will stay in my rotation for sure for keto/low carb desserts. Can you comment on how runny the middle should be? I don’t want to be eating uncooked batter…
It should be quite runny! It’s a lava cake, after all 🙂
I am brand new to the keto diet and confused by the ice cream suggestion. That would be a lot of sugar and isn’t that a no-no on this diet or have I missed something? Thanks so much!!
We use either homemade, sugar-free ice cream or a store-bought low-sugar brand like Enlightened or Halo Top. Hope that helps!
I would like to make enough for 10 people. Can I mix all ingredients x’s 10 together and then portion it out into ramekins?
I’m new to the Keto diet and am looking for things to help make this a lifestyle. This cake was absolutely incredible! The perfect sweet treat:)
Made this and it was very good.Added some pecans whipped topping and a tad of sugar free chocolate syrup…
Hey! I only have Liquid and powered Stevia but I have no Erythritol but I am serrrrrrrrriously craving baking this up. How much stevia should I use to substitute for the Erythritol?
I would start with 10-15 drops of liquid stevia, that should be sweet enough!
lol Oh gosh I was so scared to use too much stevia and only used maybe like 5 drops and it was super bitter but still tasted soo delicious with the combination of ice cream i am so excited to try this recipe again with 10-15 drops!! :-)))) Thank you so much for this recipe!! About how many teaspoons do you think it should be with powered stevia?
I’m not totally sure of the liquid to powder conversion, but if you search online, I’m sure it’s available somewhere.
Can you substitute cream cheese for the heavy cream? I ran out that’s why and figure almond milk and cream cheese might not be bad.
I guess you could. Cream cheese is so much thicker though, you might have a hard time incorporating it. In the end, it should be fine though!
Fantastic recipe! I can’t cook and I made this with no problem. Served with wipped cream and strawberries it was a huge hit. Thank you!!
Can you substitute the heavy cream with almond milk or coconut milk?
Yes, that should work just fine!
Where can I view the carb content of this recipe, sure looks yummy !
Above the ingredients and under the title of the recipe are all the macronutrients 🙂
Hi – Is it possible to freeze the Lava Cake successfully please?
Hi Clive, do you mean before or after baking?
Happy to find this!!!! Have you ever made this for a group dessert? I have a young adults group that meets once a week here and I’m trying to go Keto…how can i make this for 15 to enjoy along with me? 🙂 Thank you so much for your whole site! So encouraging!!!!
Wow, 15! I would start by grabbing a muffin tin so you can bake them all at the same time easily. Try multiplying the ingredients to get to the amount of servings you need. We’ve never tried that many before so I can’t say for sure it’ll work perfectly. If you do try that many, please let us know!
I tried this tonight and am over the moon happy. I’ve steered away from lava cakes because I’m not a fan of the runny part – but figured why not cook it a tiny bit longer.
I did and it was so good!!! It’s the first low carb / keto cake I’ve tried that wasn’t dry!
Saved to my favorites for always!
Glad to hear you liked it 😀