Keto Red Velvet Cake
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My keto red velvet cake recipe features a light and fluffy cake that’s enveloped in rich, cream cheese frosting. It’s vibrant, flavorful, and wildly impressive! 2 grams of net carbs.
Need more keto cake recipes? You’ll love my keto chocolate cake, keto bundt cake, and keto strawberry cake!
Nothing is quite as impressive as a red velvet cake. Except, perhaps, a sugar free red velvet cake recipe!
For this recipe, I kept the hallmarks of red velvet cake: its vibrant color, subtle flavor, and rich cream cheese frosting. The biggest difference? I used gluten-free flour and cut out the sugar. According to my friends, you can’t even tell!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Perfect for a special occasion. It’s great for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, or when you want a dessert that’s a bit out of the ordinary.
- Diet-friendly. It’s gluten-free and can easily be made dairy-free if you use dairy-free frosting.
- The best texture. It’s soft and moist, with the perfect crumb, and the creamy frosting adds a nice contrast.
Ingredients needed
- Almond flour. You must use blanched almond flour, not almond meal. It helps keep the cake moist and light without being gritty.
- Baking powder. Helps the cake rise.
- Salt. Just a pinch to bring out the sweetness of the cake.
- Eggs. Use room temperature eggs so they mix smoothly, and you won’t have to overmix the cake batter.
- Granulated sweetener. My go-to sweeteners are allulose or monk fruit. Both have the taste and texture of real sugar. I’m personally not a fan of stevia and its aftertaste.
- Vanilla extract. A must for any good cake.
- Coconut oil. Melted and cooled coconut oil. Use refined coconut oil to ensure there is no coconut flavor.
- Red food coloring. A must for red velvet. I used an all-natural food coloring.
- Butter extract. Optional, but it gives a more authentic red velvet flavor.
- Cream cheese frosting. A classic red velvet cake MUST have a keto cream cheese frosting.
How to make keto red velvet 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 and grease a cake pan.
Step 2- Mix. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. In a second large bowl, combine the wet ingredients, including the food coloring. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until smooth.
Step 3- Bake. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Let it cool completely.
Step 4- Frost. Once the cake is cooled, frost as desired.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Save time. Use a stand mixer for the cake batter and the frosting.
- Don’t overbake the cake. It’ll continue to cook as it cools, so pull it from the oven once that toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting it. So the frosting doesn’t slide off.
- Don’t expect the cake to rise too much since it’s grain-free.
Variations
- Make a tiered cake. Double or triple the ingredients and add frosting between each cake layer.
- Add chocolate. For a more ‘typical’ red velvet flavor, add 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.
Storage instructions
To store: Keep the leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
To freeze: Place cake slices in a freezer bag and freeze for 6 months.
Frequently asked questions
I wouldn’t recommend using coconut flour, as this recipe calls specifically for almond flour. If you’d rather use coconut flour, make my coconut flour cake with keto substitutes and add red food coloring.
More impressive low carb desserts
Keto Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1/2 cup allulose or monk fruit sweetener
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon butter extract optional
- 1-2 drops red food coloring
- 1 cup cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together the almond flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together your eggs, allulose, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and butter extract until combined. Add your red food coloring.
- Gently fold through your dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined. Transfer the batter into the greased cake pan and bake for 25-27 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean from the center.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool completely, before frosting.
I have not made this yet but I am wondering how you make a red velvet cake without cocoa powder?
Hi Wendy, traditionally red velvet cake only has a very small amount of cocoa. You can certainly add some though! 1-2 teaspoons but I wouldn’t add too much more than that, otherwise you will impact the color and flavor a little too much. Let us know how you go!
Is there chocolate in this cake batter?
You can add 2 TBSP of unsweetened cocoa powder to the dry mix if you want to, per Arman’s *notes*.
There is no butter milk or and liquid??
Not needed for this cake, Lynn 🙂
Hello! Would cacao powder improve the color? There is a “ see notes” next to the eggs but I don’t see the note..
Hi Testle, yes a little cacao powder can definitely help with the color! I wouldn’t exceed 1-2 tablespoons though incase it starts to look too “chocolate brown”. Hope this helps!
This cake was wonderfully moist and rich. I just didn’t add the food coloring and it wasn’t red.
Hi Srujana- the red food coloring really is necessary for this cake to have that gorgeous red color. I suggest keeping it in next time you make it.
I am excited to try this recipe
Thank you
Hi Arman! Will allulose work as well?
Yes it will work even better!
Hi Arman, this looks sublime! I only have 8″ cake pans and realise it will increase the baking time. Any idea for how long I’d need to bake it? Thank you!
Hi Sneha, an extra 5-10 minutes should be ok if your cakes are slightly thicker. Just make sure to toothpick test the middle 🙂
Hey there! I want to make this for Christmas. So, if I cut the recipe in half, and instead of coconut oil, I use margarine, like 1 tablespoon of margarine or 1 tablespoon of butter, two eggs, 1 cup of almond flour from Costco, and a quarter cup monk fruit, do I cut the baking time in half, like bake it for 12 to 15 minutes? Thank you so much and have a great day.
Hi Sheena! If you were to cut it in half, that’s fine but I wouldn’t use margarine at all- it doesn’t have the same baking properties as coconut oil. You can use butter and have the same results. I’d bake for 17 minutes and check every minute after until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Can I use buttermilk ?
Yes you can!
What can I use instead of coconut oil and is it ok to leave out the butter extract ?
You can definitely leave out the butter extract. To replace coconut oil, use unsalted butter.
The cake tastes really good.
I followed everything on this recipe except butter extract and it came out very good! My non-keto family loved it which says a lot, and even preferred this to the big brand name boxed keto chocolate cake I made as a back up (I don’t trust my baking skills but this recipe was almost as easy as the box cake). I ended up using that boxed cake as a second layer which was fun and something I’ve never done. Keto cake isn’t as fluffy as a normal cake, but I don’t have an electric mixer–that might have helped. For the frosting I just folded in powdered stevia into the cream cheese and that was a hit! My keto people flipped for the red velvet cake. I’m so pleased!!!
Hi …I see pictured a 3 tier red velvetcake. However, the recipe is for only 1 layer?
Yes there are notes saying how to make it double oer triple.
I can’t find the notes for making it a double or triple layer cake. Can you post them here, please?
Hi Linda, you simply need to double or triple the ingredients, essentially making a single cake for each layer you want and then joining them with a layer of frosting in between. Slicing off the rounded top of your bottom layers will also help the stack sit evenly. Hope this helps!
Excellent recipe!!
I just have to figure out how much beet juice to make it look more like Red Velvet.
Thanks for great recipe.
This looks beautiful! Could I make a trifle with it? Any suggestions for additions to the trifle?
I made this for my husband’s birthday. It wss wonderfully moist and rich, but I omitted the frosting which made it look just red.
Hi Janet! I hear you- the frosting really does give it the wonderful red velvet-like contrast. I’d suggest keeping it next time!
What brand of food coloring do you use?
Hello Syd! The brand I used is Vivivega. I’ve updated the recipe card to reflect it.