Keto Cake
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My keto birthday cake recipe is light, fluffy, and perfectly moist. With a gorgeous crumb and creamy frosting, it’s the perfect dessert for any occasion! 2 grams of net carbs.
Craving more keto cake recipes? Try my keto chocolate cake, keto coffee cake, keto carrot cake, and keto pound cake next.
I have a short list of cake recipes that I can whip up at a moment’s notice, and my classic keto cake recipe is one of them.
With the same delicate crumb and sweet vanilla flavor as regular ol’ birthday cake, this cake is perfect for those of us watching our carbs who still want to keep the party going.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- The perfect texture. If you’re looking for a moist and fluffy cake with creamy frosting, this recipe ticks all the boxes.
- Multiple frosting options. I’m a weirdo who prefers vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, but I also included a few traditional frosting options too.
- It does NOT taste low-carb. Not everyone at a birthday party is necessarily keto, but I guarantee everyone will be coming back for a second slice!
- Naturally gluten-free. Because there’s no flour or grains.
Ingredients needed
- Almond flour. I strongly recommend using blanched almond flour over almond meal. Otherwise, the cake will be too dense and dark in color.
- Coconut flour. Works with the almond flour to produce a fluffy and moist cake. You don’t want to omit this or swap it for other types of flour.
- Baking powder. Helps the cake rise.
- Salt. Brings out the sweetness of the cake.
- Butter. Preferably unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter, omit the added salt.
- Sugar substitute. I like to use allulose as it dissolves like sugar does, but monk fruit sweetener should also be okay.
- Eggs. Use room temperature eggs, not refrigerated.
- Milk. I used unsweetened almond milk, but any milk works, and water can also be used in a pinch.
- Vanilla extract. A MUST for any good cake recipe!
Keto frosting options
There are plenty of ways to customize your birthday cake with different frostings. Here are some of my favorite keto frosting recipes:
- Keto cream cheese frosting. Beat together softened cream cheese, keto powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a splash of milk.
- Cashew cream cheese frosting. Boil cashews for 5 minutes, then strain and blend with keto powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.
- Whipped coconut cream. Beat together canned coconut cream with powdered sugar and vanilla.
- Chocolate frosting. Beat together softened butter, keto powdered sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, and milk.
How to make a keto birthday cake
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line two 8-inch pans with parchment paper.
Step 2- Mix the dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
Step 3- Make the cake batter. In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until fully combined. Add the milk and vanilla and combine. Fold in the dry ingredients and beat until creamy.
Step 4- Bake. Pour the batter evenly into the two cake pans. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely.
Step 5- Cool and frost. Once cool, frost the cakes with your favorite frosting.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Make a single-layer cake. Cut the ingredients in half.
- For a keto chocolate cake, add two tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.
- For a keto Funfetti cake, stir sugar-free sprinkles into the batter and frosting.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting. Otherwise, the frosting will slide right off.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftover cake should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.
To freeze: Place cake slices in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to six months. Let them thaw overnight in the fridge.
Frequently asked questions
Please understand that I am not a medical professional. While I am knowledgable about diabetes and the diabetic way of eating (my father is diabetic), every person’s carbohydrate and sugar needs are different. I recommend speaking with a medical professional and/or registered dietician to see if this cake is suitable for you.
I tried this cake without eggs, using an egg substitute. The texture was not super moist or fluffy but quite dense. If you don’t mind that texture, use a pre-formulated egg substitute (like Ener-g egg replacer).
More low carb desserts
Keto Cake (Vanilla Cake)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter use dairy free, if desired
- 1 cup allulose * See notes
- 4 large eggs ** See notes
- 1/2 cup almond milk can use any milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 serving keto vanilla frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line two 8-inch pans with parchment/baking paper and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add your almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream your butter and allulose until fluffy, around 8 minutes. Add the eggs in, one at a time, and beat well until fully incorporated. Add the milk and vanilla extract until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat until creamy.
- Divide the batter evenly amongst the two cake pans, and smoothen out the tops. Bake for around 22-25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely.
- Once cool, frost the cakes with your favorite vanilla frosting.
How many cupcakes can I get from this recipe?
Hi Ana- you should get 8 to 10 decent sized cupcakes from my keto cake recipe!
Absolutely hit the spot!! I have been on a low carb diet for the last year and was really wanting a slice of cake. After realizing I had all the ingredients in my pantry to make this I decided to go for it. At first I did not have faith since I’m not a baker and the batter was thick unlike most cake batters. It almost seemed a cookie dough consistency, but I guess coconut flour tends to do that. I made the frosting listed in the recipe as well. Wow! I did it! Such a good cake for low carb! Chefs kiss and pat on my back!
Hi Michelle- aw, this makes me so happy. Yes, the batter can be a little deceptive, as it’s not silky smooth like a traditional cake batter, and you nailed it on the head- coconut flour acts like a sponge. Thanks for the lovely rating!
First time trying this
How did you go, Jim? Love to hear your thoughts!
We are avoiding sugar and carbs for our toddler as he is having seizure-like episodes, which a ketogenic diet is minimising a great deal. It was awesome to find this cake recipe so we could prepare him something special for his third birthday.
We’ve made this twice now, and he (and we) absolutely love it. The only thing we did differently was use around 120 grams of allulose, rather than 200 grams, and we found that to be sweet enough. We’ve also made a carrot cake version, which turned out to be a treat as well.
Thank you so much! This recipe will be a mainstay for us.
Easy 5 stars!
Oh Ivan- I’m so sorry to hear about your son and I do hope following a low carb diet is helping him. If you don’t mind me asking, how is he doing? I’m thinking of the little guy!!!!!
Thank you for sharing your changes- that’s super helpful for others who are thinking of cutting back on the sweetener. Please let me know if I can help out with any other recipes or if your son has any requests.