Lime Coconut Mug Cake
This lime coconut mug cake is flavored with fresh lime zest and coconut milk. Plus, it only takes a couple of minutes to make!
I was inspired to make this Lime Coconut Mug cake after Mr. K got the “Lime in the Coconut” song stuck in his head. Officially the song is titled “Coconut” by Harry Nilsson and Mr. K loves to sing it except he only knows one verse. So instead of singing the whole song, he’s just been repeating the “Put the lime in the coconut” part over and over for the last few weeks. We finally listened to all the lyrics recently and now I have the song stuck in my head!
So, with lime and coconut on my mind I’ve been coming up with recipe ideas and I started with this easy mug cake. It’s a tropical cake for one that you can make in just a couple of minutes.
Flavor of the Cake
- You only need a little bit of lime zest for this mug cake. The zest adds a lot more lime flavor than if you just used lime juice.
- I love how the tangy flavor from the zest balances out the sweetness of the cake so it’s not too sweet.
- I used coconut milk and coconut flakes in the cake which gives the cake a nice tropical flavor that pairs well with the lime.
- If you’re not a fan of coconut I also have a Lime Mug Cake that is so good!
Cake Texture
- I love how light and fluffy this mug cake is. Even though you only need to cook for a minute in the microwave it cooks up with a texture similar to a regular cake.
- This mug cake does not have any eggs, which helps improve the cake texture because eggs can make a mug cake rubbery.
I love making mug cakes so much I wrote a whole book about them! You can buy my 5-Minute Mug Cakes* cookbook on Amazon.
I also have a Mug Cake Recipe Collection with lots of creative mug cake recipes here on the blog.
More Mug Cake Recipes
*Some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
Lime Coconut Mug Cake
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp full fat coconut milk
- 1 tsp coconut flakes
- 1/4 tsp lime zest
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except lime zest and coconut flakes into a microwave safe mug. Stir with a small whisk until batter is smooth. Make sure you get all the flour, sometimes it gets stick around the edges of the mug. Briefly mix in coconut flakes and lime zest.
- Microwave the cake for about 1 minute. Top of cake should be dry and look finished. Top with additional lime zest before eating.
I love this idea — do you have a KETO version of this?
Please and thank you ?
Not at this time. But I will work on it!
For those that are insistent on a different look, try toasting coconut as a garnish.Â
do you use a standard coffee cup / mug size for your microwave mug cake recipes? If so, what is the capacity? 250mL / 8 ounce cup? Nothing worse than having food / batter overflow the container in the microwave.
However, the picts of your mug cakes show relatively “small” cups / mugs. Again, what size to avoid boil-overs?
If it’s your first time, I would start with a 12 oz mug. I often make them in 8 oz mugs only so that you can see the cake better, but if you don’t want overflow stick with 12 oz or even larger if you want
There is an italian site that publishes your recipes with his signature. (I hate this things!!) https://www.amando.it/ricette/cucina/10-ricette-dolci-microonde/torta-al-lime-e-cocco-p11.html#btop
thank you so much for alerting me to this. I am going to look into this asap!
Would you consider including nutritional information for each individual or group of similar recipes?
sorry but there are several websites that you can input recipes to find nutritional information but it is not something I provide.
hey bro, just wondering, could I make this recipe in a batch and bake it in an oven? cause I really like the texture it gets, but my family is coming over, so instead of messing a lot of mugs I thought about that… do you think it would work out? Great recipe btw!
this is designed more for microwave cooking rather than making a batch for the oven. if you’re looking to make a full cake in the oven i’d recommend using a recipe for a full cake rather than trying to convert the mug cakes into one big batch
instead of using vegetable oil  why not coconut oil …  Amina  and Kirbie ? Healthier and continuity of flavour … Looking forward to trying this. 🙂
A lot of people don’t have coconut oil as a common ingredient. But of course you can give it a try.
This sounds delicious! Do you think I could use coconut cream somehow? I don’t have coconut milk, but I don’t whether cream would work.
coconut cream is much thicker, so you wont have enough liquid if you substitute coconute cream for milk
Hi Dear… I love coconut so tried this recipe and got the same texture as seen in the picture above but the taste is too floury ….. Can i add butter in that recipe ???? If yes than how much should i use?
I’m not sure why it would be floury. Did you make sure you use full fat coconut milk? not coconut milk that is diluted with water (which is a lot of the Asian brands). But regardless, I would say maybe add 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil, but not butter.
For garnish, how about a very thin slice of lime twisted? Â Not particularly to eat but would be a fresh topping for the white cake.
sounds good!
Why does the coconut milk have to be full fat?
because you need a fat source for this recipe for a moist cake. it doesn’t use oil or butter.
have you ever tried doing some kind of brown sugar type topping? maybe with some chopped macadamias? just to cover up a bit?
i have made a streusel cake before but its a similar result. https://kirbiecravings.com/2013/05/blueberry-muffin-with-streusel-topping-mug-cake.html
it doesnt look the same as if it’s in the oven because it cooks very quickly so the sugar don’t have time to brown. also im not sure how well brown sugar would go with the coconut lime flavor.
yeah i know its made in the m/w i thought you might have a trick up your sleeve to make it darker. i will try it and serve it with some ice cream, whipped cream, berries or something. i will be making it on a boat- i will let you know how it goes.
thanks
unfortunately no. there’s no way to make it darker when cooking in the microwave. i hope u enjoy it!
nice to see a mug cake that is different. and I can’t get the song out of my head now…. last week I made something and they started singing- “sweet dreams are made of these” . so I am happy to get another tune going.
but have to say it does not get a good mark for visuals. what can I put on top to make it browner?
there really is no way to make a cake browner because it’s cooked in a microwave and not an oven. you can always decorate with frosting if you want a nicer appearance
How much lime juice? Your recipe only shows lime zest!
that’s because there is no lime juice in the recipe…
How much lime juice?
None. I only used lime zest.
Yum! So many mug cakes are chocolate or apple based. Coconut is a nice change. Can’t wait to make this one. Thanks muchly.
I love coconut!
Hello Kirbie! First of all, I love your blog and all of your posts! I come here every single day <3
And I absolutely love your mug cake recipes! The first one I tried was the blueberry mug muffin with streusel topping, and worked so well I wanted to try all of your mug creations!
So, I created a recipe for an amazing and ridiculously easy mug cake, an ice cream mug cake! I would be honored if you could try it out.
Ingredientes:
30g of ice cream of choice (I used strawberry)
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
Directions:
1. In the microwave, melt the ice cream for about 10 seconds.
2. Then add in the flour and the baking powder and mix it.
3. Microwave it for 50sec – 1min and it's done!
Thanks for commenting! I would love to try out your mug cake recipe. I will try it out soon and report back. It sounds delicious! I’m wondering it it has a bready texture, as I’ve made quick bread using only ice cream and self rising flour.