Black Forest Mug Cake (gluten-free, dairy-free)

Name: Black Forest Mug Cake
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 cup cherries, pitted and halved; 2 tbsp kirsch; 1 recipe chocolate mug cake; 1 recipe coconut whipped cream; 4 whole cherries; 2 tbsp chocolate shavings

by Lisa Bryan

23 Comments

Updated May 13, 2019

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This black forest mug cake is an easy, mini black forest cake with all the cherry, chocolatey goodness of the traditional version. It’s also gluten-free, dairy-free and paleo-friendly.

I’ve been in my new place for a couple of weeks now and I’m still not settled. For someone who didn’t have furniture, I sure do seem to have a lot of stuff – it’s crazy. Especially as I’m somewhat of a purger who moves every few years so I always ask myself – “do I really need this?”

Now, in my defense, most of my boxes have been kitchen items (which I’m blaming on the blog). Even so, I’ve still been purging and making many trips to Goodwill as I reduce the clutter. It’s freeing for sure.

But imagine my surprise when I realized yesterday, oh, it’s Valentine’s Day next week. Ooops (says the food blogger who’s not really good about holiday prep). Didn’t we just have Christmas? Yep. That’s what happens when you’re head down focused on the task at hand – weeks just fly by.

I debated whipping up a big, layered cake or something dramatic with lots of red fruit. But here’s what I got to thinking. Valentine’s is really about you plus that special someone. Or, for all the single ladies out there, your lovely self. So who needs a dessert that feeds 12? It’s like, all anyone really needs is a mug cake. And that’s the lightbulb moment which led to today’s recipe.

My chocolate mug cake recipe has been a runaway hit and if you’d like to keep things really simple, you could absolutely just stick to that for Valentine’s day. Or, you could add a couple of minutes (literally, like 10) and create this gorgeous black forest mug cake. It’s a black forest cake. From a mug. And really boozy. You’re welcome.

Surprisingly, it’s got all the delicious cherry, chocolatey flavors of a traditional German black forest cake, but in a gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo-friendly, single-serving little package. The best part, this mini black forest cake takes no more than 15 minutes, start to finish – as long as you remember to chill your can of coconut milk (for the coconut whipped cream) the night before.

On Valentine’s day, here’s what you do. Pit and slice 8-10 cherries and let them soak in a couple tablespoons of kirsch or kirschwasser (cherry brandy). Next, make my chocolate mug cake recipe. While your mug cake cools, whip up a batch of coconut whipped cream. Then, all that’s left is assembly.

Remove the mug cake by inverting it onto a plate. Trim the top to create a flat surface and slice the mug cake in half. Use a spoon to drizzle some of the kirsch from your soaked cherries onto the bottom layer. Top it with a dollop of whipped cream and several cherry halves. Add your next layer and repeat, with some whole cherries on top and chocolate shavings. Voila. A single-serving black forest cake perfect for Valentine’s day dessert (or really, any dessert).

Enjoy!