This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
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.
What would you recommend for time to bake for cupcakes?
I want to make this as a cereal cake. Can I substitute some of the flour for ground-up cereal or should I just steep the cereal in the milk? Also, I have heard monk fruit has a cooling effect. Does this cake have that? If so can I use coconut sugar instead?
Can you use coconut sugar?
Yes 🙂
Is there other flours I can use if I have a tree nut allergy? Coconut flour is ok, but the Almond flour I cannot do. Is there a substitute for the Almond flour? Thanks!
Not that I’ve tried!
Cooked this yesterday for my sons birthday. As mentioned above it didn’t rise. Tasted great.
Made this as Christmas cupcakes for my hubby. Loved it. Used the buttercream recipe for frosting. Got 12 large cupcakes. Cooking time was double. We tried one(shared) without frosting, luke warm, it was light, airy and perfectly delicious, but after cooling densed up a bit and had a slightly(very slight) bitter after taste that the lukewarm one did not have, I was wondering why. Used Blue Diamond Fine sifted Almond flour, Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour, granulated splenda, Land o Lakes spreadable butter w/Canola oil, Jumbo eggs instead of large, LC foods rehydrated low carb milk,Did not have heavy cream so used Splenda coffee creamer, Davis double acting baking powder, salt and vanilla extract. Next time I plan on having the heavy cream and softened stick butter. We are going to warm up the current ones and see if that has a reversing effect, the frosting will melt but will probably still taste good.
😀 Fantastic- Thanks for the feedback!
Hello!
I saw the recipe called for vegan butter but I can’t easily find it so instead can we use oil? If yes then,
Which oil?
Will it be the same qty as the butter?
Also I am Vegetarian so I don’t consume Eggs,What’s the bestest alternative?
Also Erythritol Qty would be the same as listed above or maybe more or less?
Also can we have an alternative to milk or maybe can we just obsolete it from the recipe?
Waiting for your reply!
Thank you
I haven’t tried it with oil, you can use standard butter. No alternatives for eggs.
hi can i use brown sugar for this?
Sure thing, it will just be a darker cake.
Hello! I saw the recipe called for vegan butter but can I use regular? Also, should I use salted or unsalted?
Thanks so much! Can’t wait to test this recipe out!!
Of course! Unsalted would be best 🙂
Hi. I followed this recipe, and the cake was delicious. It looks just like the picture as far as color and texture, but it only yielded enough for two 6″ pans. I followed the recipe exactly. I’m confused how that happened.
The cake isn’t very thick if you use 8-inch pans, hence the frosting. 🙂
Hello, I have tried this recipe multiple times now and I absolutely love it. The very first time I used rice flour because I didn’t have coconut flour and it worked pretty well but it was a little dense and it didn’t rise, So after that I have tried it at least another 4-5 times now with the coconut flour but still hasn’t risen using the Bob’s Red Mill brand.
Hi there, this doesn’t rise very much 🙂
Hands down the best low carb vanilla cake recipe, and I’ve tried many before. I used this recipe to make Battenberg cake and it turned out perfectly! It really does taste like regular vanilla cake. I used monkfruit blend and added a few packets of Stevia to cut the cooling effect. Thank you!
Thank you so much for the feedback, Joy!
I came back to comment again after trying the cake. Though it was a bit dense, the flavor was incredible! It reminded me of what an old fashioned wedding cake tasted like. Even my children really liked it! I will be saving this recipe and using it again!
Great to hear that, Lydia 🙂
can I use coconut oil if I refrigerated it and it becomes solid instead of vegan butter trying to keep it dairy-free? so can I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter?
I haven’t tried, but feel free to experiment and see.
Hi there, love your recipe and would love to make it for my birthday coming soon. Please what type of sprinkles did you use?Or normal one is fine? Thanks
Good quality ones, I think they are called ‘Jammies’ are the best, as they don’t bleed into the dough 🙂