This Sugar Free Red Velvet Mug Cake is low carb, keto, nut free and made in under 3 minutes! Perfectly portioned for two and just 4 g total carbs per serving so you can enjoy it if you're on a keto diet, low carb diet or sugar free diet!
Sugar Free Red Velvet Cake Recipe
If you've been around my blog for a while, you know that I don't post many cake recipes.
It's not that I don't like cake or enjoy cake, it's just that.....it's so much work to decorate it!
I'm not the most talented when it comes to frosting and decorating cake or even cupcakes. In fact, I would even say I really stink at it. And so that is probably why I dread making cake recipes.
But this easy keto cake, well this cake is a whole different story my friends. This is the best keto red velvet cake with that infamous red color we all love during the month of February! All natural flavor and no artificial colors added! The main ingredients are probably already in your keto pantry!
But this cake, well this cake is a whole different story my friends.
Carbs in Traditional Red Velvet Cake
One slice of a store bought red velvet cake without frosting from the app, Cronometer, has 248 calories and 31.2 grams of total carbs! This would cause a huge blood sugar spike and kick you out of ketosis.
Carbs in our Keto Sugar Free Red Velvet Cake
One slice of our red velvet cake without frosting has 251 calories and just 4 total grams of carbs!
Much better for you and won't spike your blood sugar. The rest of the nutritional data is below in the recipe card.
Mug Cakes
This cake has proven to me that even I can make a cake look pretty darn good without too much work or effort on my part.
Shhhhhhh!!! It' a mug cake!!!
You know the ones, made in minutes in a mug right?
The best part about making a mug cake is that you don't need anything special. No special cake pans required! Just a mug or ramekin or small bowl!
Well this is just made slightly different in a quiche ramekin and made in 90 seconds for each in the microwave.
So why stack it and make it with cake layers?
For the hubby of course, it is Valentine's month! For a special occasion, I want to make him feel I went through all this trouble to make a mini cake for him for Valentine's day to share just the two of us.
And it worked and he was impressed and after 27 years of marriage, impressing my man is quite hard to do. So I made a mug cake into a red velvet recipe for my love in a whole lot of less time than ever before! I call that a win!
And if you are anything like me, you can make this cake effortlessly as well. Oh and did I mention it's sugar free, gluten free, grain free and low carb too?
HA! How's that for a "healthy and you wouldn't know it" cake?!!
Sugar Free Frosting Options
One requirement, I think it must be made with lots of Vanilla Sugar Free Cream Cheese frosting because that is how I roll with cakes, need the frosting or it's not a cake to me.
I made this 3 times with the cream cheese frosting to make sure it was nice and moist before posting and come to find out, hubby is more of the Butter Cream frosting type like the one I made before Christmas with the sugarless sugar cookies.
So you certainly have the option to use either frosting, but my preference is the cream cheese one.
And if you don't have a Valentine to share this cake with, enjoy it all for yourself.
Or maybe have just half one day and enjoy the rest the next day, you know so you don't overindulge and all.
What a difference just that 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder added to the color of the original right?
My original recipe used 3 tablespoons of coconut flour, but after hearing from comments regarding true red velvet should have cocoa powder, I adjusted this keto cake recipe.
Here's an old picture from 2015 before I added the cocoa powder!
Can I Swap Sugar-Free Sweeteners?
If you aren't a fan of the vanilla liquid stevia I used, you could replace it with chocolate liquid Monk Fruit sweetener in the same amount in this delicious recipe. If you are new to sugar free baking, it can be difficult to adjust and your taste buds may need some time.
I will say, if you notice any aftertastes with any low carb sweeteners, it's better for your palate to combine sugar-substitute options together which can help alleviate and cancel out any aftertastes in either.
Here's my Sweetener Guide and Conversion chart to help you decide how much to use.
What can I swap for flaxseed?
You could swap out the ground flaxseed with hemp seeds.
Can I swap the coconut flour?
Low carb flours can be tricky because they all don't work exactly the same as all purpose flour or even wheat flour. Almond flour and coconut flour can't be swapped evenly because coconut flour requires more eggs and liquids than almond flour.
The main difference is in the amounts needed. For example, 1 cup almond flour would be about just ¼ cup coconut flour so it's not easy to change them out in recipes.
You might be able to swap the coconut flour used with sesame flour as they are both equally absorbent flours that need lots of liquids.
This is what it will look like below, if you forget the unsweetened cocoa powder!
Can I make this Dairy Free?
You can make this low carb cake dairy free by swapping out the heavy cream with coconut milk or unsweetened almond milk.
For a dairy free frosting, you could try this one.
Or choose either from my Sugar Free Vanilla Cream Cheese frosting or My Vanilla Sugar Free Butter cream frosting.
You can choose to keep it cake separate in it's own serving dish and frost just the top if you like and when ready to serve.
My ramekins were 7 ounce quiche style. They were more shallow and wider than typical ramekins.
You may need to use more red food color as the cocoa powder does darken the cake.
More Keto Mug Cake Recipes
Low Carb Peanut Butter Mug Cake
1 Minute Sugar-Free Keto Mug Brownie (Gluten Free, Low Carb)
Keto Sugar Free Red Velvet Cake in a Mug
Sugar-Free Red Velvet Couple's Mug Cake
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 eggs
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla liquid stevia
- natural red food coloring
Sugar Free ButterCream Frosting
- 4 tablespoon butter softened
- 3 tablespoon heavy cream
- ½ cup Swerve confectioners sweetener
Instructions
- Whisk the first 5 ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Whisk the rest of the ingredients together in another bowl.
- Add the wet to the dry and stir until combined well.
- Grease two 7 ounce quiche ramekins and spread batter evenly into both.
- Cook one at a time, in microwave for 1 minute then check the center with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean, if still wet cook another 30 seconds and check again or Bake in a 325 F preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- Cool then frost as desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
Bell Ann
Can you use almond flour instead of coconut flour
Lisa Holmes
Is it possible to use psyllium husk instead of flax seed?
Brenda
I haven't tested this with psyllium but I think that would be a good swap for flax.
Lisa Holmes
Awesome!!! Will be making this for Christmas!! Thank you & Merry Christmas
Rebecca Charles
I can’t do liquid Stevia I can only do Monk fruit sugar’s so what Monk fruit amount of sugar would I need for this recipe? and I know and add a little vanilla extract
Thank you
Rebecca
Brenda
I would use the same amount as liquid stevia. Monk fruit isn't as sweet as stevia in my opinion.
Es*
In every recipe, rhe thirst few lines,I see that the serving is always 4. But in the description you can find that is different for example here is it 2. This is misleading
Brenda
They are four servings and if sharing with another you each can have two pieces, one today, another tomorrow.
Misty
Can chia seeds be used in place of flaxseed? I am new to this stuff and eager to try out this recipe; however, I don't want my cake to be crunchy or "seedy." Do you know how the texture would turn out with chia (it's what I have on hand)?
Jacklyn
Hey! Looks very delicious. Moreover, it’s not too difficult to make so I will try soon. Thanks for your sharing!
Beth
What can I do to make these normal sized cupcakes?
Brenda
With this recipe amount you'd probably only get 4- 6 cupcakes.
Julia Davis
My daughter in on the ketogenic diet her epilepsy and I love looking through your website for recipe ideas. I was excited to see the red velvet cake just in time for Valentine's Day. Due to the exact nature of her diet I have to weigh all her food and put them in a special program, Ketogenic Calculator, which gives us her nutritional information. Many of the recipes I have used of yours are very close, but this recipe is WAY off. Even with including the frosting in the recipe, I can't get it close to her ratio. I used the exact same ingredients and quantities, but even with frosting it came to 100 grams fat, 20 grams protein, and 19 grams carbs and this includes the frosting. How do you figure out your nutritional information?
Thanks!
Brenda
The cake serves 4. Those amounts sound like it's for the entire cake. My nutritional info is for 1/4th of the cake and does not include frosting.
Carol
I love this recipe! I can't wait to try it! Thank you for such wonderful recipes. I was wondering if I could use red velvet emulsion instead of red food coloring? If you know, how much would I use?
Regina Johnson
When you used the sugar-free buttercream frosting, did you use the full recipe on the cake? Thanks in advance. ?
Brenda
No there was some left over, didn't need it all.
Barb
Looks very pretty - I want to try it out this Valentine's Day!! What are the pretty, pink, sugar-like sprinkles on top?
Brenda
They are from Whole Foods and they are not sugar free but free from artificial colors and additives.
Barb
Ok, thanks. Going to try tonight...will use SF chocolate chips in place of pretty sugar 🙁
Nicole
Brenda,
I am sooo glad I found your site. I have been on a low carb plan for over a year and like you, I made the conscious decision to eliminate sugary foods from my diet because of hormonal issues and adrenal issues. Your site is the site I've been looking for and has amazing recipes.
I made this low carb red velvet cake the other day and it tasted amazing!! I even served it to family and friends and they didn't know I was virtually sugar free or low carb.
I am hooked! Thank you so much for sharing these recipes. Your website is a godsend to be able to follow a low carb, sugar free lifestyle for good.
Brenda
Thank you!
Emily
Wow, this looks so yummY!!! Just found this through Arman and Amanda's round-up!
Kandy
I had stepped away from low carb a long time ago because I did not like the massive use of artificial sweeteners. I am so very thrilled to see recipes using stevia! I have not baked with it but will be buying it in flavors now and using it. Love the nut flours and coconut flours also. Beautiful recipe! Thank you!
Brenda
thank you!
Anna
Is it okay to use flour in place of the ground flaxseed? I don't have any of that.
Can't wait to try this!
Thanks for posting,
Anna
Brenda
I would suggest trying a ground nut instead to replace the flaxseed like almond meal.
mindy vickery
is heavy cream fattening im very weight conscious but its my birthday coming up soon and I wanted to have a red velvet cake for it but I don't wanna gain any weight is there another thing I could use to replace heavy cream or could I skip it ??
Brenda
You can skip it, it has fat and therefore you can eat a small portion of cake and be completely satisfied that's why I often use it. Try unsweetened almond milk if you're concerned.
Carol
I am wondering why the flaxseeds are used in this cake? I have a general dislike for seeds of any kind. And they seem out of place for a cake. Thank you!
Brenda
It's used to add fiber and bulk to recipes without grains.
Carol
Coconut flour has fiber. Can they be left out? Will this recipe work without them?
Thank you!
Carol
Brenda
I can't guess on it unless I were to try it I would really know how the texture will come out. If you do try without, please let me know.
Wanda
Thank you so very much for this, and all of your amazing recipes! It takes a great deal of time developing recipes, testing, photographing, and posting on a web site, on which you have obviously invested a phenomenal amount of time. I am humbled at your generosity. You surely have a beautiful heart! Thank you again, and be blessed!
Brenda Cobb
I have a friend in the hospital and will be there on her birthday. She is diabetic and her favorite cake is red velvet. Was looking for a good sugar-free recipe . I thought about making cupcakes so that the staff could have one, too. Do you think that this recipe would translate into cupcakes? If so, what do you think the cooking time would be?
Thanks very much,,
Brenda
Brenda
I've not tried doubling or making it into larger servings so i'd be guessing on that. You could try these vanilla coconut cupcakes and add some unsweetened cocoa powder and food coloring to make them red velvet.https://www.sugarfreemom.com/recipes/dairy-free-sugar-free-coconut-cream-cupcakes/
Kristal
What would the cooking time be if I used a 10 oz ramekin?
Brenda
I would think at least 3 minutes but check in center with a toothpick.
Lisa Waltz
I don't have a microwave, what temperature and time would you do this in the oven? Thanks! Looks FABULOUS!!
Brenda
I would suggest 350 for 10-15 minutes then check cake in the center.
Shari
My old fashioned red velvet cake recipe has 1 tsp,of vinegar. Do you know what would happen if I added that to this recipe? (I'm sooo not a scientific person! Lol!!)
Beth.H
I made this on Saturday, had to substitute raspberry flavoring for the cherry vanilla but it was still yummy. Of course I frosted it and topped it with a few fresh raspberries. Thanks for the recipe.
Kathy
Made this today...the cake was awesome! I flavored with blueberry stevia type flavoring since I couldn't fine cherry vanilla. The butter cream tasted a tad off....perhaps my powdering of stevia was not a good choice? I ran out of erythritol and read I could powder stevia on a site. Maybe the lack of vanilla stevia liquid was to blame....all I had was un- flavored of that. But we enjoyed it and I will make it again! So nice to have a treat and still stay sugar free and low carb! Thanks!!
Miriam
Hi Brenda! What does the heavy cream do? It is to make it richer. I want to make this dairy free...so could I use almond milk and add an extra egg?
Brenda
I like it because it do feel it makes for a creamier texture. You could also sub coconut milk or even cashew milk, both are thicker than almond milk. Let me know how it goes.
Miriam
Great! I will try it with coconut milk. I love red velvet...and eventually want to create a red velvet protein muffin. So I may sub cocoa powder with 1/2 tbsp of cocoa powder and 1/2 tbsp of chocolate protein powder.