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.
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, it’s my go-to whenever I need a dependable low carb dessert that does not feel like a compromise- I promise!
Why I love this keto cake recipe
- The perfect texture. I need my cakes to be moist, fluffy, and with a creamy frosting, and this keto cake ticks all the boxes. Many keto cakes can turn out gritty or taste metallic, but not this one!
- Multiple frosting options. I’m a weirdo who prefers vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, but I also tested a few traditional frosting options for you.
- Nobody guesses it’s keto. I’ve made this cake for a few parties where just one person was following a low carb diet, but everyone came back for seconds of the cake- it really does taste like the real thing.
- Naturally gluten-free. No flour or grains are needed.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients and Notes
- Almond flour and coconut flour. I use a mix of almond and coconut flours to achieve a moist, fluffy texture, which is difficult to achieve with just one flour. With the almond flour, opt for blanched almond flour, which prevents the cake from being gritty or sinking in the middle.
- Butter. I recommend unsalted butter, because I like to add the salt myself, as some brands can be a little inconsistent. Coconut oil can work, but the texture will be a little more ‘bready’ than ‘cakey’.
- Allulose. I recommend using allulose over other keto sweeteners because it dissolves like white sugar and doesn’t leave the cake with a gritty texture or a metallic aftertaste.
- Eggs. Room-temperature eggs work best, as they don’t firm up the butter when added. I usually just remove them from the fridge about 10 minutes before I start baking.
- Milk. I used unsweetened almond milk, but any milk works, and water can also be used in a pinch.
- Baking powder, salt, and vanilla.
Keto frosting options
There are plenty of ways to customize the keto 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. I recommend cooking it for about 15 minutes to thicken.
- Whipped coconut cream. Beat together canned coconut cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
- Chocolate frosting. My favorite (and I’m in the minority here). 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
- Don’t overmix the batter. Like a regular cake, overmixing the batter affects how fluffy and moist it turns out.
- Line the cake pans with parchment paper. These cakes a little fragile, and I find doing this guarantees the cakes release cleanly and makes cleanup much easier. A springform pan also works well.
- Don’t overbake the cakes. The tops should be lightly golden and spring back when touched. Remember, the cakes continue cooking as they cool down.
- Let the cakes cool completely before frosting. I’ve made the mistake of rushing this step before, and the frosting slid right off. A fully cooled cake is much easier to frost and decorate.
- Can I make this without eggs? 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) verus chia/or flax eggs.
Keto Cake (Vanilla Cake)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour 150g
- 1/2 cup coconut flour 56g
- 2 teaspoon baking powder 8g
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter unsalted, 170g
- 1 cup allulose 200g
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 serving keto vanilla frosting 240g
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line two 8-inch pans with parchment/baking paper and set aside. You can also use greased sprinform pans.
- 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.
Hello!
I just made the cake and it is moist and shiny but it is braking just by me lifting it up to put it in the cake board. Is it meant to be that soft? Trying to pin point if I made a mistake! Lovely taste.
Hi Lily- let’s troubleshoot this! Was the cake still warm when it was in the pan? It is a soft/moist cake, but still should be easy to move once its baked, especially if it has cooled down.
I let them cool fully! I noticed mine are shorter than your picture also. I managed to wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. They are very delicate. I used allulose and Fair Life’s whole milk. I will frost tomorrow. I think they will be fine. Thanks.
Hi Arman, thanks so much for sharing your recipe! I do have a question on the sweetener, please. I use pure monk fruit powder, so I’m wondering about how much to use.All I do know is that 1 cup would be way too much.
Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
Kari
Hi Kari- of course! I actually recommend allulose, as it dissolves like white sugar does and doesn’t leave any gritty textures or flavors. If you do wnt to use pure monk fruit powder, my rule of thumb is 2/3 for every cup (when using powdered sweeteners to granulated sweeteners). I’ll be honest, though- this cake bakes up best with allulose, so if possible, I’d try to get my hands on some of that.
Can you use oat flour instead of coconut flour?
Hi Carol- not for this cake, sorry. I tested it using coconut flour, which behaves very differently to most other flours out there. If you want a cake using oat flour, I recommend making my breakfast cake instead.
Very moist and delicious
Thanks Carmen- I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Your recipes are delicious and so easy to follow! Thank you for adding sweet treats to my life that aren’t overly complicated~
You are so welcome, Meagan. Thanks for taking the time to leave a lovely review.
Can you substitute Greek yogurt for the butter?
Hi Chad- that won’t work for this recipe. I developed it specifically using a fat (butter), and replacing it with yogurt will see the cake batter be a little shaggy and will bake up gummy.
Hi there! Can this be used for cupcakes as well?
Hi Fia! Yes, it can be. You can distribute the batter amongst a 12-count muffin tin (this should easily fill 8 to 9, possible 10) and bake for 18 minutes, check if its risen, and continue baking in one minute increments until they spring back slightly. You can add my keto frosting on top.
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!
Can I just grade the pan or will it stick? I’m not really good at putting parchment in a 9″ round cake pan and keeping it somewhat smooth and tidy.
Hi Bern, the safest thing would be to use parchment for the bottom of the pan at least, and grease the sides. Have you tried placing the base of your pan on the parchment and tracing around it, then cutting it out with scissors so that it fits perfectly inside the pan?
First time trying this
How did you go, Jim? Love to hear your thoughts!
I was also worried about the batter. It almost looked as though the eggs somehow scrambled themselves 🤣 I baked mine for about 21-22 minutes and it was perfectly moist. It actually reminded me of the cornbread muffins from the Famous Dave’s restaurant. I will for sure make this again. It is absolutely delicious!! Thank you so much for an awesome recipe!
Thanks for the lovely comment, Christina. Yes, it can be surprising for people baking a low carb cake for the first time at how quickly it is! I’m wondering if its the brand of flour you used which caused it to have a slight cornbread texture – Not a bad thing, but I’m curious haha!
I have a silicone sunflower bundt cake mold I would like to use. What are your temperature and time recommendations?
Hi Lisa- I’d keep the temperature the same but start checking the cake at the 35 minute mark- but it may take up to 50 minutes. Use a toothpick to check.
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.
Can I substitute the butter for coconut oil?
Hi Maybel- yes, refined coconut oil (or even ghee) should work for this cake. It’s only mainstream oils that won’t work.
I give this recipe a 5 star even though I haven’t even tried it yet lol! Anyways I had a question for someone who has made it, is it supposed to be thick when making it? I noticed and wondered if that was because of the ingredients, I have never made anything like this and thought it was weird that mine wasn’t thin like a box cake mix. If you respond thank you so so much!
Hi! Yes, it is supposed to be thick. 🙂 Coconut flour based batters tend to result in this texture 🙂
Lovely keto cake, perfect for a sweet treat! Do you use granulated or powdered sweetener in this recipe?
Thank you Holly! Powdered sweetener is usually the better option as it dissolves easier and helps with a softer texture 🙂
Easy and gorgeous. I keep slices in the freezer.
A great idea! So glad you enjoyed this one.
I had a craving for cake, so I made this one in an 8×8 glass pan. Oh my goodness! So tasty and moist! All I did was make some whip cream to put on top, no sugar and it was a no guilt treat! Highly reccomend!
I made the vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. It was amazing. I shared it with a group of friends and it was a huge hit. My husband is diabetic, and he had a pretty big piece with no spike. This is the first cake he’s had in years. Thank you for making this special recipe.
That’s so wonderful to hear Lisa! I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed this one. Thank you for the kind words 🙂