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Ever wished for a keto cake that tastes as fabulous as it looks, without all the carbs? With my vanilla low carb cake recipe, you absolutely can! It’s got three moist layers, that classic yellow cake flavor, and creamy cream cheese frosting. Plus, I love that I can make the batter all in one bowl. I think this is the perfect keto birthday cake. Make it with me for your next special occasion!
Why You Need My Keto Cake Recipe
- Moist, fluffy, and sweet – To me, the best keto cake is about the texture, as well as sweetness without any weird aftertaste. So many of them are dry! This one is extremely moist and fluffy, with a light, tender crumb, and a sweet vanilla flavor. What you won’t taste is any bitterness or cooling effect — I can’t stand those!
- Keto friendly and gluten-free, but also family friendly – With only 2 grams of net carbs per slice, this cake fits perfectly into your keto lifestyle without feeling like you’re missing out. But with a large cake like this, I think it’s just as important that you won’t be the only one wanting to eat it. My family and friends happily do!
- Great for any occasion – I first made this recipe as a keto birthday cake, but have since served it for other holidays as well. It’s a great keto dessert for any celebration you have coming up.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my low carb birthday cake recipe recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
Keto Cake:
- Low Carb Flours – I use both my Wholesome Yum Blanched Almond Flour and Wholesome Yum Coconut Flour for this recipe, because the texture turns out so much better than using one of them alone. The almond flour is particularly important because many brands are too coarse and will leave your cake grainy, and in fact this is why I created the Wholesome Yum version. YMMV with other brands! Steer clear of almond meal as well, which is the worst for texture. If you want a cake that uses just one of these flours, browse my other almond flour recipes or coconut flour recipes for other options.
- Besti Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – My go-to sweetener for every low carb cake I make, and there’s a reason. Not only does it taste and bake like sugar, it keeps your cake super moist. I’ve tried so many other sugar substitutes, and the result is much more dry (sometimes even gritty) with most brands. If you still want to use something else, check my sweetener conversion chart to get the right amount.
- Unsalted Butter & Salt – I add salt separately to control the flavor, but feel free to just use salted butter. If you’re dairy-free, coconut oil is a decent stand-in, but keep in mind, it’ll change the flavor and texture a bit. Oh, and you’ll need to find a dairy-free option for the frosting, too!
- Eggs – You need a lot because of the coconut flour. I have a list of egg substitutes here, but with the number of eggs in this keto cake recipe, I don’t think they would would work here.
- Almond Milk – You can use store bought or my homemade almond milk, just make sure it’s unsweetened. You can also swap in other keto-friendly milks, like coconut milk beverage (the liquid kind from a carton, not the thick kind from a can) or watered down heavy cream.
- Vanilla Extract & Baking Powder – I like this brand of vanilla and this non-GMO baking powder.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Cream Cheese – Go for the full-fat stuff if you can; it’s richer and just works better with the keto cake.
- Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – Unlike other powdered sugar alternatives, this one dissolves completely (read: no gritty texture!) and is truly as fine as powdered sugar. Others can crystallize, too, so I highly recommend using this one.
- Butter & Vanilla Extract
Free Printable: Low Carb & Keto Food List
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Frosting Variations:
Not a fan of cream cheese frosting? You can make my keto buttercream frosting for something more classic, or keto chocolate frosting if you want a contrast to the vanilla. Throw on some sugar free sprinkles for a little extra fun!
How To Make Keto Cake
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Cream the butter and Besti. Use a hand mixer to beat them in a large mixing bowl, until fluffy.
- Add the wet ingredients. Beat in the eggs, almond milk, and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients. Beat in the almond flour, coconut flour, and baking powder. The batter will be pretty thick — this is normal!
- Bake until golden. Divide the batter among 3 lined cake pans (I prefer springform pans for easy release). You won’t be able to pour it, so just spoon it in and smooth the top. After baking, let your cake layers cool completely.
- Make the frosting. While you wait for the cakes to cool, beat together the cream cheese, butter, powdered Besti, and vanilla extract in a large bowl, until smooth.
- Layer, layer, layer. Place one layer on a cake stand or platter and spread frosting on top. Repeat with the other two layers. Finally, frost the top and sides of your keto cake.
- Top with chopped pecans. My cake looked prettier with the nuts on top, and I didn’t have to obsess about making the frosting perfectly smooth. But, if your frosting skills are better than mine, feel free to skip the nuts and decorate the top however you like!
This low carb cake is tall, very rich, and filling, so I usually slice it into very thin slices for serving, but did slightly larger ones for these pictures. Here you can see the texture once you slice into it:
My Recipe Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. Especially the butter, eggs, and almond milk. Your butter won’t cream properly if it’s cold. And if your eggs or milk are cold, they’ll solidify the butter as soon as you add them.
- Be careful not to overmix the batter. Overmixing can make the cake dense instead of light and fluffy, which is definitely not what we’re going for.
- Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl. I always recommend this, but especially here since we’re making this batter all in one bowl. If you don’t mind extra dishes, you could mix the dry ingredients separately first to reduce the amount of scraping you have to do.
- This keto cake is fragile, so I recommend springform pans. They make getting the layers out so much easier! You can use regular cake pans if that’s what you’ve got, though.
- Don’t have 3 pans? You can definitely make this keto cake recipe in 2 pans instead, or even a larger 9×13 pan for a sheet cake, like a reader asked me recently. (The baking time will vary, so you’ll need to check on it.) I don’t recommend waiting for layers to bake one at a time, though. I used to do this, but the baking powder isn’t effective in the batter sitting that long, so no longer do it.
- Rotate and swap the positions of the pans halfway through baking. Since you’ll have 3 pans in the oven at once, they’ll bake more evenly if you do this. Be quick, so you don’t let too much heat out!
Keto Cake (Very Moist, Easy Recipe)
By
This easy keto cake recipe is so rich, sweet and moist, that no one will guess it's low carb (2g net carbs per slice). Perfect for birthdays!
Ingredients
[ See substitutions ]Tap underlined ingredients to see the ones I use.
Keto Cake:
Cream Cheese Frosting:
Instructions
[ See step photos See my tips ]Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line the bottoms of 3 9-inch (23-cm) round springform pans with parchment paper.
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In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the butter and Besti, until fluffy.
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Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the almond milk and vanilla extract.
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Beat in the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, and salt.
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Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans and smooth the tops with a spatula. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until the top is lightly golden and springs back.
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Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter, powdered Besti, and vanilla extract, until smooth.
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Let the keto cake layers cool separately to room temperature before stacking. Frost between the layers, and all over the top and sides at the end. Top with chopped pecans (optional) if you like.
Did you make it? Leave a review or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 slice, or 1/24 of entire recipe
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you avoid dense cake, keep your batter smooth, and options for different types of pans.
- Store or make ahead: You can make the whole keto cake birthday cake in advance and refrigerate until the day-of, or just store any leftovers. Either way, your cake will last up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Freeze: You can freeze this cake for up to 3 months. Place freeze it uncovered on a sheet pan first, uncovered to protect the frosting. Once solid, wrap in several layers of plastic wrap and foil to freeze long-term. Before serving, unwrap the layers and thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Note on nutrition info: The optional pecans are not included in the numbers below.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
Add Your Notes Your Notes
Try More Of My Recipes
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead.
Keto Cake
More Keto Cake Recipes
If you like this keto birthday cake, you might also like some of my other low carb cake recipes:
678 Comments
Anni
0I would like to make this cake in a dinosaur pan for my son’s birthday but if I used parchment paper, the dinosaur features won’t show up. Do you think if I grease it enough, it’ll come out easily?
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Anni, I’ve never tried this recipe without parchment so I can’t guarantee that the cake will release that easily. Let me know if you try it, though!
Anni
0I tried it without parchment paper and just greased it super good with coconut oil and it came out great!
Kimberlee Victoria, RN
0I haven’t read any of the comments yet but wanted to mention that I’ve turned this recipe into cupcakes and it comes out very nice! Also, I ran out of the monkfruit sugar so I just used the extra monkfruit powdered sugar and it came out just as nice. Love this recipe!
Janet
0Thank you for your comment! I was reading the comments specifically to see if someone had made cupcakes. Great to hear that they turned out well. I’ll be trying that tomorrow. Thanks!
Tierney Boorboor
0Thank you, Maya, your recipes never disappoint! I was craving cake, but also a berry crisp, so I used your vanilla cake recipe and made a low carb keto-friendly blackberry coffee cake. It’s fantastic. I followed your recipe exactly, although I halved it, and had enough “dough” to lay in a 9×9 pan in two layers with fresh blackberries and a thin layer of cinnamon “sugar” between. A layer of low carb crumble on top and into the oven it went, it needed an hour to fully cook but it’s perfectly moist. (foil on top to protect the crumble from over-browning). This cake recipe will be the base for so many creations! Thanks for the work you do to perfect the recipes 🙂
Erin
0Well I think this will taste good. I’m glad I only made 2 layers. My cake batter was so thick it hardly spread. I’m thinking I could have doubled the almond milk. Not sure why this happened. Followed the recipe. The cake itself tastes good just waiting to ice this.
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Erin, the batter is fairly thick. Check the recipe video for comparison!
Charlie
0Recently made this cake for a friend’s birthday. IT WAS A HIT! It was dense, moist, it was REALLY AMAZING! My friends also loved that it was keto and sugar free I am not a baker by any means, but gave it a go. The steps were pretty easy to follow even for a noob like me. i used 9×13 pan, then cut in half for a double layer cake. Thank you so much!!! looking forward to other recipes!
Coco Gracia
0Oh my God you cake is out of this world, so delicious I love it and my in-law family as well, thank you so much for all your yummy and scrumptious dishes and desserts
Sumaiya Dewji
0I’m planning on making these! Where do you store them and for how long?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Sumaiya, Yes, you can make the cake ahead and refrigerate for a few days. The frosting is best fresh, if possible.
Liz
0Can I add all the mixture into a glass cake pan, 10.4w 8.6d 2.5h and just cook it like this? Would the time to cook be different? Thank you!
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Liz, I haven’t tried that so I don’t know for sure. I would keep the temperature and test with a toothpick for doneness. Let me know if you give it a try!
Linda
0Do you really use 8 eggs? I’m about to make this cake and can’t imagine using that many!
DavetteB
0Lots of traditional cakes call for 8-12 eggs, especially sponge cakes.
It won’t taste ‘eggy’.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Linda, Yes, you do. Baking with low carb flours is quite different from wheat flour.
Ella Chisum
0Can this cake be baked in 3 cake pans in place of springform?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Ella, Yes, you can do that, just grease well and line the bottom with parchment paper. The springform is mainly to make it easier to remove.
Barb Harper
0OMG! I tried this cake recipe the other day for a friend’s birthday. It was wonderful!! Enveryone really enjoyed it. Will definitely have it again.
Tammy Duell
0Can you use a 9×13 pan instead for a sheet cake?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Tammy, Yes, absolutely!
Stephanie Stoppenbrink
0I made the cake I cut the recipe by 3 since I was only making 1 later for a trial. I may have not done my math right but my question is it really tasted like coconut and had the texture. I don’t have a mixer could that have been my issue?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Stephanie, This recipe does contain coconut flour, so depending on the brand you buy, it may have a detectable coconut taste. Some brands have stronger flavor profiles than others. A mixer will do the best job here, as it will incorporate more air into the batter than hand mixing can.
Meg
0I made this today. I made 24 cupcakes baking for 23min. They don’t really “rise” so I filled them pretty well.
I made some icing -but used far less cream cheese-about 12oz. Or one and a half blocks, 1/4 cup butter and 1/3 cup sugar sub… but poured in heavy whipping cream while blending and it made a delightful whipped cream cheese frosting. I didn’t measure but probably close to 3/4cup. It is so light and airy and the HWC made the little bit of cream cheese I had on hand stretch easily over 24 cupcakes. (I splashed in some sugar free Strawberry mio to the icing for just a hint of tart to add some balance, and it was drool worthy)Winner!!
Maureen
0Can I make powdered erythritol from granulated by processing it in the blender/processor ?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Maureen, Yes, you can if your blender/processor is powerful enough. I’ve done it before. You’re just looking for it to become the consistency of powdered sugar.
Amy
0Do you think I could add a box of sugar free strawberry jello and strawberries and make a strawberry cake using this recipe as the base?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Amy, Possibly, but I haven’t tried that. I do have a strawberry lemonade cake recipe here.
Amy
0Forgive me if this has been asked already (I tried reading through the comments but there are ALOT!)! I am looking to make a strawberry cake with cream cheesing frosting for Easter/my bday. A lot of recipes I’ve found for “normal” strawberry cake call for a vanilla cake mix, strawberry packet of jello and strawberries. Do you think that would work using this cake recipe as the base? I follow a keto diet and can’t have gluten anyway but you would be surprised how hard it is to find a keto strawberry cake recipe! All of them are usually for strawberry shortcake type of desserts which isn’t what I’m going for. Thank you so much!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Amy, Sorry, I haven’t tried making this into a strawberry cake, so am not sure. I do know I have made it with fresh strawberries on top of the frosting between the layers, and that did turn out great!
Nikki
0This cake was amazing!! I didn’t have high hopes while doing Keto but I was so amazed. My boyfriend was too and really liked it as he doesn’t like things too sweet. I would actually make this again and not tell anyone as everyone thought it was regular cake. It was moist and I cut the amount of icing and still covered 3 layers. 5/5! I did add more vanilla in the icing.
Jill
0I am so excited to try this recipe for my husbands birthday. Is there a specific reason that a spring form pan is used or can a regular round pan be used to make the makes. Is it just easier using the spring form? Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Jill, It’s just easier with a spring form, but you can use a regular one if you grease the sides well and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Jacqueline Geraghty
0Absolutely lovely. The batter was a lot thicker than I thought, so I panicked – bit watched the video again, crossed my fingers and put it in the oven. Beautiful cake was made! Taste delicious! Swapped cream cheese for mascarpone and reduced sweetener. Lovely. Definitely make again!