Olive Oil

Chocolate Olive Oil Mug Cake With Sumac & White Chocolate Chunks

February 13, 2018
3.7
6 Ratings
Photo by Julia Gartland
  • Makes 1 cake
Author Notes

You can use canola or vegetable oil if you don’t like the olive oil flavor, milk or dark chocolate chunks if white chocolate isn’t your thing, and sub in cinnamon or orange zest for the sumac (or leave it out entirely). You can top it with ice cream or whipped cream, or strawberries and a drizzle of tahini. The beauty of the mug cake is that it can be anything you want it to be, your wildest dessert fantasy come true—all in just five minutes —Joanna Sciarrino

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Chocolate Olive Oil Mug Cake With Sumac & White Chocolate Chunks
Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sumac
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons white chocolate chunks
  • 1 scoop vanilla ice cream
Directions
  1. In a mug, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, sumac, and salt. Add the egg and the olive oil and mix until completely blended. Stir in the white chocolate chunks. Microwave for 60–90 seconds, or until your desired doneness. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if you have.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

21 Reviews

Joanna S. March 22, 2022
Hi all! I've updated the recipe here to reduce the amount of olive oil. Generally I'd say you can add as much as you'd like to add sufficient moist-ness and also flavor.
k8mielke March 22, 2022
I read the other comments about the amount of olive oil being too much, but decided to make the recipe as is. I like olive oil flavor and thought it might help with the dryness that mug cakes often have. But it's just way too much olive oil, to the point that it seems like 6 Tbs might be a typo. The whole cake is greasy and oozes oil as I chew.
Silkwind April 20, 2018
Used 2 tablespoons of oil and it worked great, mixed in half a scoop of vanilla ice cream and let it get soaked up before I ate it.
Shannon March 27, 2018
Who’s complaining about this?!? It’s the most delicious thing you can make in under 10 minutes. I followed the recipe exactly (with the substitution of Dutch Cocoa for standard cocoa) and it was ridiculously good. Obviously this isn’t health food and no one’s suggesting you eat this daily! But for a special treat, it is unbeatable.
Pat M. March 6, 2018
I like the idea of an easy mug cake for when you just need that little bit of warm chocolate goodness, but this is a total calorie bomb- almost 1000 calories. Even sharing with someone, it's still a lot of calories. It was good, though to me, the taste was not worth the calorie count. On the plus side, the sumac is a great addition and the idea of cutting the olive oil gives me a starting point to figure out a lower calorie version.
Syl February 23, 2019
Use chocolate flavored protein powder, Xylitol instead of sugar, less olive oil and have a quick breakfast ! 💪😋🤗
Nancy M. March 4, 2018
Query: Can you do x2 mugs at the same time? Or x3? Seems a shame to waste the effort if there is more than one person craving that quickie solution to a bit of chocolate.
FourCats March 3, 2018
A quick look at the internet shows most chocolate mug cakes use 2-3 T oil. I haven’t tried this one either way.
Courtney March 3, 2018
thank you... I'm just starting to bake (by which I mean collecting a few recipes that look pretty easy!), which has made me curious about the whys of it...
Courtney March 3, 2018
Has anyone tried this with less olive oil -- what would happen? (And can someone please explain why it needs this much olive oil?)
Marianne March 5, 2018
When I was reading the recipe I thought 6 TB of oil was a lot so I used 2 TB and it worked out fine.
Gene March 22, 2022
The video shows only one tablespoon of oil…must be a mistake…Hey Food 52, please check!
FourCats February 22, 2018
6 tablespoons olive oil is 700 calories!, not including other ingredients. This has almost half a days total recommended calories. Better stick with more traditional chocolate cake.
Rie February 22, 2018
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
YES! I wanna know how to cook in the oven,too.

Paulanne C. February 22, 2018
I need dessert sometimes, too, but 6 TBSP of oil in 1 serving?!! Not happening.
Theresa February 22, 2018
Do report on using oven to bake it. I threw out my microwave long ago.
petalpusher February 28, 2018
No! Make up the recipe in your mug and take it to your neighbor and ask to borrow their microwave for a couple minutes. Go for it.
JJGood February 22, 2018
Two very important questions! 1) Is this possible to make in an oven? If so, what's the appropriate timing/temperature? and 2) Is white chocolate necessary or can other chocolates sub in?
Joanna S. February 22, 2018
You can use whatever chocolate you like! But I do recommend chopped chocolate/chocolate chunks over chocolate chips, which have stabilizers in them. And unfortunately I can't speak to the oven time or temperature without having tried it myself, but I can do some testing and get back to you over the next few weeks!
JJGood February 22, 2018
Good to know, thanks! I should probably do my own testing. It'll give me excuse to make a bunch of cake!
Joanna S. February 22, 2018
Sounds good to me :)