Almond Flour Chocolate Cake – keto + paleo
This Almond Flour Chocolate Cake is the best easy keto chocolate cake for birthday parties! You’ll love its moist texture and sweet chocolate almond butter frosting!
Keto chocolate cakes are the essential ingredient that makes living on a keto diet easier. Everyone loves chocolate, but most cake recipes are so full of sugar that low-carbers need to stay way clear of them.
This recipe solves that problem. With a keto-friendly cake, you can treat yourself without having to worry about your macros!
How do you make a keto chocolate cake?
There are a few tricks to making a keto version of a chocolate cake.
- Using a low-carb flour. Learn how to choose your low-carb flours.
- Replacing sugar with a zero-calorie good sweetener – check out our review of keto-friendly sweeteners for more details!
- Taking the unsweetened version of the other ingredients like milk, cacao powder, etc.
Now let’s get into this specific recipe. This Almond Flour Chocolate Cake is an easy, gluten-free chocolate cake made of 9 simple keto ingredients, which means it’s not only keto-friendly, but it’s also a diabetic-friendly chocolate cake!
The basic ingredients to make this easy moist chocolate cake are:
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- Almond flour – make sure you are using fine, blanched almond flour. Almond meal is coarser and dries out cakes recipes. Find out how to choose your Keto Flours.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – brings the lovely chocolate flavor to the cake without the sugar and carbs.
- Sugar-free crystal sweetener – feel free to choose your favorite from erythritol, Monk fruit, or xylitol. Another non-keto healthy option is coconut sugar if you are on a paleo diet. Use my Sweetener Converter to convert from one sweetener to another.
- Eggs – this recipe doesn’t work with any egg replacement.
- Unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened coconut milk if desired.
- Baking powder or use half the amount of baking soda.
- Vanilla essence or vanilla stevia drops.
How to make a moist keto chocolate cake?
The key to creating a moist cake is to bake it at low temperature – 160C (325F) is the best – and on conventional mode. Also, I always recommend checking the baking quite often during the last 10 minutes.
You should remove the cake from the oven when a pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean but slightly moist and wet. This means that some moisture is still in the center to ensure the best texture.
Finally, always beat all the liquid ingredients on high speed with an electric mixer before incorporating them into the dry ingredients. Therefore, the cake is less dense and fluffier.
Making a delicious chocolate almond butter frosting
This is the best part of this almond flour chocolate cake. You will love the combination of creamy chocolate, almond buttercream, and moist keto chocolate cake.
Of course, you can replace almond butter with peanut butter if desired, but it will raise the carbs slightly! Read more about my chocolate almond butter frosting recipe here.
Can I make ahead a keto chocolate birthday cake?
If you want to create a 2-layer keto chocolate cake, as you see in my pictures, you will have to bake this recipe twice, one per layer. Also, make sure you bake each layer one at a time in your oven.
You can actually bake the layers 24 to 48 hours before assembling your cake. In order to keep your layers moist, you can store them in a cake box or on a plate in the fridge wrapped with a piece of wrap.
How to assemble the keto chocolate cake?
First, make sure the cake layers are cold, at room temperature. This might mean you have to cool them for at least 3 hours or overnight before adding any frosting if you didn’t do them ahead of time. Then, I recommend using a turning table.
Place the first cake layer on the turning table, add 1/3 of the frosting in the middle of the cake, and using a spatula, spread the frosting from the middle to the side while you turn the table at the same time.
Next, add the second cake layer and 1/3 of the frosting.
Proceed as before to spread the frosting all over the cake. Obviously, some of the frosting is going to leak out on the side of the cake, but that’s ok. Spread the rest of the frosting on the side and keep turning the table while applying medium pressure with your spatula on the side of the cake.
Can I store this keto chocolate cake?
Yes, you can store this chocolate cake in the fridge for up to 4 days. Always make sure the cake is in an airtight container or in a cake box to keep it moist and fresh.
My other favorite keto cake recipes
If you’ve liked this recipe, you will love my other cake recipes
Don’t forget to share a picture of your cake with me on Instagram if you give this a try! I love to look at your creations.
xoxo Carine
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Keto Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Liquid ingredients
- 4 large Eggs at room temperature
- ¼ cup Coconut Oil or melted butter, not hot, lukewarm or room temperature
- â…“ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Dry ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup Almond Flour
- ½ cup Erythritol erythritol or monk fruit stevia blend
- ½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
Chocolate almond butter frosting
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter or dairy-free butter, soft, out of the fridge for 3 hours at least
- 1 cup Almond Butter
- â…“ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- ½ teaspoon Chocolate Stevia Drops adjust to taste
- ¼ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk at room temperature, not cold!
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 160C (325F). Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with coconut oil or butter. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, using an electric beater, beat eggs, melted coconut oil (or butter), unsweetened almond milk, and vanilla together for 45 seconds on medium/high speed or until fluffy and small bubbles form on the top. Set aside.
- In another bowl, stir together the almond flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar-free crystal sweetener, and baking powder.
- Pour the egg mixture onto the dry ingredients and use a manual whisk to gently combine the ingredients and form the chocolate cake batter.
- Transfer the cake batter into the prepared round cake pan and place the pan in the center rack of your oven.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the center is set and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean but still wet and moist. If it comes out with crumbs on the skewer, keep baking, but it's better to keep the center slightly moist for the best melt-in-your-mouth cake texture.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer on a cooling rack and wait until it reaches room temperature before frosting.
- Repeat the same recipe to create a second cake layer if desired. Make sure you clean, dry and grease the cake pan again before adding the second cake batter to it.
Chocolate almond butter frosting
- Make the frosting just before frosting the cake to keep it soft and easy to spread. In a large mixing bowl, beat the soft butter along with almond butter until creamy and smooth.
- Beat in the stevia drops, unsweetened cocoa powder, and almond milk until fluffy and sweet. If your frosting is too dry, this can happen if your almond butter was a bit old/less oily. You can adjust the texture of the frosting by adding 1-4 tablespoons of almond milk at room temperature. Add 1 tablespoon at a time, beat, and stop adding when it reaches your favorite keto frosting texture. The more you add, the fluffier and creamier it will be. Taste sweetness and adjust stevia drops to taste!
How to assemble a layer cake?
- Make sure both cake layers are cold before frosting your cake or the frosting will melt. I recommend you wait at least 3 hours after the cake has been baked, or place the cake for 1 hour in the fridge for the best results.
- Place one cake layer on a plate, add 1/3 of the fresh frosting in the middle of the cake layer. Spread the frosting from the center to the edge using a flat tool or spatula. Add the second cake layer on top, add 1/3 of the frosting on top of the cake layer, and repeat as before. Use the leftover frosting to spread on the sides of the cake.
Storage
- You can store your cake in a cake box or airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Nutrition panel for one slice, two cake layers, with frosting: Calories: 280 kcal, Fat: 22.4 g, Protein: 7.2g, Carbs: 8.3 g, Fibers: 3.7 g, Net carbs: 4.6 g,Â
Disclaimer
The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. You must consult with your doctor before starting on a keto or low-carb diet. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only. The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sugar alcohols from the total Carbohydrates. As an example, a recipe with 10 grams of Carbs per 100 grams that contains 3 grams of erythritol and 5 grams of fiber will have a net carbs content of 2 grams. Some sugar alcohols are excluded because they are not metabolized. You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.
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Hi! I’m interested in making this cake for my diabetic dad’s birthday, but I had a question about the nutrition label. How many grams of sugar is there in 1 slice (if the cake is two layers and has frosting)?
I noticed on the nutrition panel notes, you give some nutrition facts for 1 slice (if the cake is two layers and has frosting) but do not include sugar (unless I missed it somewhere).
Thanks in advanced!
Nutrition fact is for one slice of one layer cake. Serving size appears before ingredients list. The recipe has no sugar because it use sugar-free sweeteners.
Oh My Giddy Aunt,
What a fantastic cake…. Possibly the best thus far, (and I’ve been low carb for a long while now). I subbed the sweetener for honey as I like to keep things as unprocessed as possible, (and am protective of my gut microbiome), and threw in some Cacao Nibs for texture, but this is such a light and beautifully balanced cake I will definitely be making it again.. Perhaps with the addition of a nut butter, (in the mix as I’m not a fan of frosting/icing etc… Just like my cake naked.. And served with cream or natural yoghurt)!
Anyway… Thank you Sweet as Honey..
The nicest, lightest cake I’ve made this side of Keto*
Rich..
*KetoISH.. 🙂
Thank you SO much, this is the most beautiful comment I read today. Enjoy the recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
For the CHOCOLATE ALMOND BUTTER FROSTING cab I use granulated or powdered sweetener instead of the stevia drops?
Sure, powdered erythritol is the best to avoid a granulated texture
Hi Carine, since I moved from a 9inch pan to 7inch and I made the cake it did not come out fully made because it had a depressed dunk in look after the baking from the middle and that is fine because It does happen in Keto baking sometimes, when I cut the cake from inside it was undone. What would you suggest to increase the timing as well as temperature. With 9inch pan it comes out perfect but I wanted to change the pan due to toxicity issues. Could you recommend something when we tend to change sizes of cake pans. Thanks a ton
Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us! Can I turn these into cupcakes?
Yes, it should work and make 12 cupcakes.
Well, pricking the center of the cake with a skewer to check if its bake before taking it out of the oven is always great. Increase baking time by 10 minutes burst, prick and keep baking if it stick to the skewer. I would probably increase by 20 minutes to reach the same texture in such small pan. ENjoy!
Hey Carine , love all your recipes ???? I want to bake a keto cake which is eggless . It will really helpful if u can help with that !
Thanks
I didn’t had success making an egg-free keto cake yet I am sorry. Since keto flours has no starch, cakes doesn’t hold their shape without eggs. Enjoy the recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
Hey Carine,
I was wondering if I could substitute erythritol with low calorie stevia blend?
No sorry, you can’t substitute crystal sugar free sweetener for stevia powder in cakes or cookies since stevia don’t melt and don’t add texture. Use my sweetener converter to help you swap one brand to another brand of keto sweetener. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
I love your cake recipes! This is my second time baking this cake and it’s delicious!! It hits the spot when I’m craving double chocolate cake. The first time I did a layer cake with peanut butter frosting in the middle and chocolate frosting on top. This time I was running low on cocoa powder so I subbed in peanut butter powder for the second cake. It turned out even better than expected. Moist, fluffy, chocolate-y, peanut butter cake! Thanks so much!
Thanks for the amazing feedback! Nothing can beat chocolate and peanut butter ! Take care. XOXO Carine
I am just learning to bake so my treats haven’t been the best. I follow this recipe and my cake was dry and not moist. other than that, it was deli! I am wondering how much does the temperature and ingredient consistency in each step counts towards the moist of a cake? Does this make sense?
Keto baking is high fiber baking, it means that the ingredients soak the liquid really fast ending in a dry cake if you add a little bit too much of it. It is very important to measure the flour precisely, packed, levelled up cups and to use ultra fine blanched almond flour (not coarse almond meal). Also, as any cake always check the baking inserting a pick in the center of the cake after 20 minutes. The pick should be clean but moist this means the cake is cooked but still retains moisture. I hope this will help you for next time. Thank you again for trying my recipes ! Enjoy the recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
Hi, is there any way i can sub the almond butter?
Sure, you can replace almond butter by any nut or seed butter like cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, peanut butter.
Hi! What if I want to keep it just regular butter, or ghee? Is it possible? Can I use the quantity of butter mentioned + quantity of almond butter mentioned = total ghee? Thank you!
Yes sure, you can simply use soft butter in the frosting. This will work just fine as well. Enjoy the cake, XOXO Carine.
Hi Carine, can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour and if yes what would be the grams required? Thanks
Unfortunaly you can’t simply becaus ecoconut flour contains 4 times more fibe than almond and it soak liquid very much. You can’t replace those flour with a 1! ratio. However I have 100 % coconut flou chocolate cake recipe for you here. Give it a go! It works well for layer cakes too, Enjoy, XOXO Carine.
you have a recipe book with this chocolate cake almond butter frosting in it i would like to have a cook book delivered to me
I dont’ have a recipe book yet, I am sorry. But you can access all my recipes here on the blog for free. Have a lovely time, XOXO Carine
Can I use milk as a substitute for almond milk? Thank you.
Sure! It will work as well. Enjoy, XOXO Carine.
What did you use as a chocolate drizzle?
Any chocolate with more than 85% cocoa are keto friendly. I like to use either lindt 90% or sugar free chocolate sweetened with stevia from Lilys sweet chocolate. Enoy the recipe. XOXO Carine.