This Chocolate Berry Mug Cake is a quick and easy way to get your chocolate fix! The bottom layer consists of a sweet and juicy berry sauce (that uses frozen berries!). Then, the berry sauce is topped with a rich, fudgy chocolate cake. Because this single-serve dessert is made in the microwave, the whole thing is ready in about 10 minutes!
Sometimes you’re craving a special dessert and store-bought cookies or ice cream just won’t do. If you’re short on time or you don’t want a ton of leftovers, that’s a perfect time for a mug cake! And this Chocolate Berry Mug Cake is one of my absolute favorites. This is no ordinary mug cake – it pulls out all the stops! Fudgy chocolate cake with chocolate chips, AND a juicy, sweet berry sauce at the bottom of the mug!
Plus, you can make this dessert with mostly pantry ingredients and frozen berries. So, you can make this recipe without any pre-planning, and at any time of the year, as long as you’ve got a bag of berries stashed in the freezer!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need for this Chocolate Berry Mug Cake:
- Frozen berries: any kind will do – I used a mix of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Cut up any large strawberries before using in the recipe.
- Granulated sugar
- All purpose flour
- Cocoa powder
- Baking powder
- Oil: any light oil will work, like vegetable oil or canola oil
- Milk: any kind, I used whole milk
- Chocolate chips: I highly recommend not leaving these out! They melt into the cake and help create a rich, fudgy texture. You can use any kind of chocolate chips you have in your cabinet. You could even substitute chunks of chopped chocolate if you don’t have chips.
- Pinch of salt (not pictured)
Can I substitute fresh berries?
I will be totally honest – I have not tested this recipe using fresh berries. And that’s simply because I can’t get any at the moment! That being said, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use fresh berries, although it’s likely the texture or amount of juiciness may be a little different. This will also depend on the kind of berry you choose.
If you want to use fresh berries, I would just microwave the berry layer for a much shorter amount of time – say, 15 seconds instead of 45. The berries at this stage just need to be juicy and the flour and sugar should be dissolved.
Hopefully, I will have the chance to give an update here when I’m able to make the recipe using fresh berries. Or, if you make the recipe with fresh berries, please let me know how it turned out!
Helpful tips
Here’s a few helpful tips for making this Chocolate Berry Mug Cake:
- If you want to unmold the mug cake, spray the mug with non-stick spray before you add the first berry layer, making sure to get the sides really well! Or you can grease the mug with oil or butter. Also, I recommend pouring the batter over the berries slowly and gently, which will help keep the berries on the bottom rather than pushing them to the side. This way, when you unmold the cake, the berries will be beautifully displayed on the top!
- Next, make sure you mix the flour and sugar into the frozen berries really well before microwaving. You don’t want any pockets of dry flour in the corner. It may not seem like all the flour and sugar will incorporate at first, but as you keep mixing, it will start to combine with the moisture from the berries. Mixing well at this stage will ensure the berry sauce is nice and smooth!
- Finally, in order to avoid a big mess in your microwave, you need to use a mug that’s large enough. You don’t need a huge one – the one I used holds 12 oz. and it fit the cake well. And make sure your mug is microwave safe!
Step-by-step guide
Here is what each step of making the mug cake looks like. The full ingredient amounts and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post, this is just to give you a visual idea of each step:
- Add frozen berries, ½ tsp. flour and 2 tsp. sugar to the mug. The flour helps to thicken the berry sauce. (Greasing the mug first is optional – see helpful tips section!)
- Keep stirring the berry, sugar and flour mixture until no dry pockets of flour and sugar remain.
- Microwave for 45 seconds, or until berries are warm and juicy. Stir again.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry.
- Whisk with a fork until most of the lumps are gone. Add in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the chocolate cake batter on top of the berries and microwave until done. The top should be firm with no wet parts remaining, check the sides too!
- If you want to and you’ve greased the mug, try unmolding the cake into a bowl or plate. Enjoy!
I really hope you like this quick and easy chocolate mug cake! If you follow my blog at all, you may know I really, really love mug cakes. So of course, I have quite a few other mug cake recipes that I hope you will also try! My favorites are this recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Mug Cake and this one for Fudgy Mocha Mug Cake.
If you’ve tried this recipe for Chocolate Berry Mug Cake, please let me know what you thought about it in the comments down below, I would love to hear from you! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more delicious recipes from Nibble and Dine!
PrintChocolate Berry Mug Cake
- Prep Time: 7 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: microwave
- Cuisine: American
Description
You can use berries straight from the freezer, plus a few other basic pantry ingredients, to make an indulgent, rich and fudgy cake with a tangy and sweet berry sauce at the bottom of the mug!
Ingredients
- ¼ cup plus ½ teaspoon all purpose flour, divided
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, divided
- ½ cup frozen berries (any kind)
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- pinch salt
- 5 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil (canola oil, vegetable oil, etc.)
- 2 tablespoons chocolate chips (any kind)
Instructions
- Optional pre-step: If you want to unmold the mug cake rather than eating it right from the mug, spray the inside of the mug with non-stick cooking spray or grease it with oil or butter.
- In a large, microwave-safe mug, add the frozen berries, ½ tsp. flour and 2 tsp. sugar. (If using strawberries, cut up any large ones into bite-sized pieces before adding.) Stir well to combine, there should be no remaining pockets of dry flour or sugar at the bottom of the mug.
- Cover the mug with a folded paper towel to avoid splatter. Microwave the berry mixture on high for 45 seconds, or until the berries are juicy and warm (they do not need to be hot, just not cold!). Stir the berry mixture again and set the mug aside.
- Meanwhile, in a separate small bowl, combine the remaining flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder, and pinch of salt.
- Add the oil and milk to the dry ingredients and whisk well with a fork until most of the lumps are gone. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the cake batter over top of the berry mixture. Do not stir. Replace the paper towel on top of the mug and microwave again on high for 90 seconds. Check the top and sides of the mug cake. If you see any wet batter remaining, microwave again in 10 second increments until the cake is cooked through. When checking for wet batter, make sure you aren’t looking at a melted chocolate chip instead! (My cake needed the extra 10 seconds after the initial 90.)
- Unmold the cake onto a plate or bowl, or enjoy straight out of the mug!
Keywords: chocolate berry mug cake, chocolate mug cake, berry mug cake, easy mug cake, microwave dessert, single serve chocolate dessert
Kelly Anthony
I really love the frozen berries at the bottom taking this quick dessert to the next level.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you Kelly! 🙂
Jacque Hastert
Chocolate and berries are a delicious combination of flavors! I can’t wait to make this to satisfy my sweet tooth!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you Jacque! 🙂
Jen
I find mug cakes have gotten out of hand- too dry. BUT this is the exception. The berries really help keep it moist and elevate it from a 6th grade science experiment to a real adult treat. Yum!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you Jen! Yes I agree, sometimes mug cakes can not taste too great so I try to find ways to spice them up! I’m so glad you like the recipe 🙂
Anna
Mug cakes are so great when you fancy a cake but don’t want the hassle of baking a whole thing. I love the combination of chocolate and berries, and this is definitely something I’m going to try next time the craving strikes!
★★★★★
Kate
Awesome, I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe Anna! 🙂
Swapna Sarangdhar
Hiya, we are trying this cake out but just wondering what wattage ‘high’ is on the microwave. We have a 950w high setting, or 600w. Which one should we use?
Kate
Hi Swapna! Thank you so much for your question, I actually didn’t know that microwaves could have different wattage settings for “high”. So I learned that today, good to know! My microwave is 1000 watts, so I think the 950w high setting would be better. Although, all microwaves do cook a little different, so if you are worried you can always set it for less time and check, then add small increments of time (10 seconds or so) until it’s cooked. It’s always better to undercook and add more time, since there is no fixing overcooked of course 🙂 I hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Pam Greer
Quick and easy and so delicious! No one would ever guess that this yummy dessert came from the microwave!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you Pam! 🙂
Amanda
What a fun recipe! It turned out delicious, and I love the chocolate and berry combo. It was so easy, so this is definitely happening again!
★★★★★
Kate
So glad you liked the recipe Amanda!
LaKita
This is the perfect amount of chocolate cake to make any time the sweet craving hits! Love that it has frozen berries added to the mix, yum!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you LaKita I’m so glad you like the recipe 🙂
Sam
Wow this mug cake looks amazing! Chocolate and berries are the BEST combo. Can’t wait to try this.
Kate
Thank you Sam!