Chocolate Lava Cake in a Mug

I stumbled across the idea for this recipe by accident.

For graduation this year, one of my friends gave me a cookbook for recipes that you can make in a mug. Flipping through it, we found a recipe for a Fondant au Chocolat (aka French Chocolate Lava Cake). Deciding to give it a go, we added all the ingredients to a mug and stirred them together. And kept stirring. And kept stirring. Because unfortunately, we found that the batter hadn’t reached the “thin” consistency promised.

So, being the creative, adventurous bakers we are, we decided to spruce the recipe up a little bit by adding different ingredients until it seemed to be right. First, I added agave – you know I have a sweet tooth, so naturally the cake wasn’t sweet enough for me originally. Next, we poured in a bit of coconut oil to give it a glossier texture. Finally, a drop of vanilla extract to add a nice depth to the flavor.

We said a few prayers, crossed our fingers, and baked it.

And believe it or not, the recipe came out perfectly!

Obviously, that meant that I had to create a healthy version of it, asap!

The trick to making the center of this cake “molten” is under-baking it a bit and adding a chocolate square to the center. This double-molten-effect creates a center that’s still thick and gooey from the cake batter, yet soaked with decadent melted chocolate.

And if you really want to take it up a notch, try using Trader Joe’s truffle chocolate bar for the center. You’ll think you died and went to heaven.

Even though I didn’t plan on turning this dessert into something healthy when I first tried the mug-cake recipe, I’m glad I did. Because sometimes the best things in life come from surprises! 😉

Chocolate Lava Cake in a Mug

3 tbs whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tbs cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp agave
additional sweetener (optional)
2 tbs egg whites
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp coconut oil
2 tsp hot water
.5 oz chocolate

Add all ingredients except chocolate bar to a lightly greased mug. Stir until combined. Press chocolate bar into the center of the mugcake. Microwave for 1 minute, or until set around the edges but slightly raw in the center. If the edges aren’t quite firm yet, microwave for 5 second increments until just the center is glossy. Remove and enjoy!

Nutrition Information (from myfitnesspal.com)