Low Sugar Cakey Chocolate Mug Cake

Because I can't ever stop trying to find something better than what I've had before, I decided to give this Eggless low fat Chocolate mug cake from Vegas and Food a taste test.

While I really like the "original" high sugar/fat mug cake, it really should be reserved for a special occasion, or a horribly hormonal day.  The "healthy" whole wheat version has become impractical. For some reason the applesauce keeps getting moldy two days after I open the jar.  NO GOOD!  So I needed to find a different version that was lower in sugar and in fat.

Like most cake like of mug cakes made I've made, this one was cooked to my liking in 30 seconds!  Again, the original recipe called for microwaving the cake for 2 minutes.  If I cooked this cake for two minutes, I'd have a chocolate brick.

This recipe actually has less sugar than the healthy version.  Here's how that breaks down:
"Original": 4 Tablespoons of sugar
"Healthy":  2 Tablespoons of sugar
This version: 1 Tablespoon of sugar

As for a fat comparison:
"original": 2 Tablespoons of oil
"Healthy": 1/4 c applesauce instead of oil
this version: 1 T oil

Obviously, the "healthy" version is the lowest in fat, but this recipe does have half the sugar of the "healthy" version.  Perhaps that makes up for the fat?  You'll have to be the judge of that.

This recipe is significantly less sweet than the other mug cakes.  If you have a mega sweet tooth, this is not the cake for you.  My sweet tooth must be shrinking because, while I noticed the reduced amount of sugar, I didn't mind it.  I suppose if you want a sweeter taste, you could always use 1T of splenda instead.  Maybe it's just me, but splenda tastes sweeter than sugar.

For this recipe, I opted to bake the cake in a ramekin, instead of a mug.  This was the first time I did this. I mixed everything in the ramekin too so there was only one dish to clean.  This was harder to do without spilling.  Mugs are a lot taller, so the ingredients don't "jump" out like they do when you mix them in a ramekin.

I'm not sure if it was the recipe itself, or baking it in a ramekin, but this was the most cake-like in texture of all the mug cakes I've made.  The other cakes went from being like a lava cake to rubber in just a few seconds.  This recipe stayed moist and fluffy, without the fudgy lava at the bottom.  While the majority of the time I prefer the texture of a lava cake, having a cake-y version in my arsenal is nice.   

Cake-y Low Sugar Mug Cake from Vegas and Food
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoons sugar
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
1T nutella (optional)
1T mini chocolate chips (optional)

In the mug, mix together all purpose flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt.
Add oil, milk and vanilla and mix well with a spoon. Make sure there are no lumps underneath.
Microwave for 30 seconds to a minute. Take out and allow to cool.  (I've tried versions with  and without nutella and chips.  They are both great.  The version with nutella and chips will need a few extra seconds to cook properly.)