Keto Almond Cake Recipe (Easy 1-bowl Butter Cake)

This keto French almond cake is a moist, buttery almond cake made of almond flour. Bonus, this easy French-style almond cake is also gluten-free, sugar-free with a dairy-free option, and only 3.6 grams of net carbs per slice.

As a French person on a keto diet, sharing a version of the popular French almond cake is a must! A buttery, moist cake with a delicious almond flavor.

What’s a French almond cake?

A French almond cake is a typically French butter cake served as a tea cake and perfect to pair with a cup of my bulletproof coffee. It has a moist, buttery crumb with a delicious almond flavor.

But a typical French almond cake would contain more than 30 grams of net carbs per slice! Far from keto-friendly.

How to make keto almond cake?

This keto cake with almond flour is a very easy 1-bowl keto cake recipe using only almond flour. No need for coconut flour or other keto flours in this keto cake recipe.

This keto recipe is the easiest cake recipe to start your keto baking journey. All you need is one bowl and the ingredients below.

Ingredients

To make the most delicious, moist, and soft almond flour cake without sugar or gluten, you need:

• Almond flour – this refers to ultra-fine almond flour. It’s different from almond meal. In fact, almond meal is coarse, dark in color, and adds a gritty texture to cakes. That’s why you must use golden, thin almond flour to make a delicious, moist, soft almond flour keto cake recipe. For more on Keto flours, read my guide on keto-friendly flours!
• Erythritol – that’s my favorite keto-friendly sweetener in keto cake recipes. You can use it as a 1:1 ratio replacement to sugar, and it has no carbs or calories. Other options are xylitol or allulose if you don’t like the cooling effect of erythritol.
• Vanilla extract
• Almond extract – a must add to boost the almond flavor of your cake.
• Melted unsalted butter – if you are dairy-free, use melted coconut oil. The color of the cake won’t be as gold, but the texture will stay unchanged.
• Large eggs – at room temperature
• Unsweetened almond milk 
• Baking powder
• Sea salt

Measure the almond flour precisely

The key to success when baking an almond flour cake is first to measure your flour with precision. You can use a kitchen scale or measuring cups. But, if you choose to use measuring cups, always use the scoop-and-level method.

It means you scoop the almond flour from the bag, then level the top of the measuring cup with a knife to remove excess.

Combining wet to dry ingredients

First, in a large mixing bowl, combine the beaten eggs with melted butter, almond milk, vanilla extract, almond extract, baking powder, and salt. In fact, beating the baking powder into the liquid ingredients activates the powder and makes the cake texture softer.

Then, gradually stir in the almond flour using a wooden spoon to incorporate the flour into the bowl without forming lumps.

Don’t use an electric beater to make this low-carb almond cake recipe. It will add too much air to the batter, and it won’t form a buttery, packed crumb, as you see in my pictures.

Grease the pan

I won’t repeat this enough. Almond flour is different from wheat flour. It forms a thicker cake batter that sticks easily to your pan. So always double-grease your pan to prevent the cake from sticking to the bottom or side of the pan.

First, grease a 9-inch springform pan with coconut oil or butter on the sides and bottom. Then, add a circle piece of parchment paper at the bottom of the pan and grease the paper again generously.

Finally, pour the almond cake batter into the pan and spread it evenly. Smoothen the top of the cake with the back of the spatula. Finally, sprinkle sliced almonds on top of the cake and slightly press them into the batter with your hands.

Bake the cake

Place the cake pan in the oven’s center rack and bake at 160C (325F) for 30-45 minutes. You know the cake is ready when the top of the cake is slightly golden brown, and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a little to no crumb on it.

Cool down on a rack for at least 3 hours or overnight. The longer you wait before slicing an almond cake, the better the texture will be.

Finally, slightly run a knife around the cake and release the cake by opening the sides of the springform pan. Cool the cake on a cooling rack for 30 minutes or overnight before slicing.

For a different perspective on this recipe, watch my step-by-step story about making this ridiculously easy keto cake!

How does it taste?

This almond flour keto cake has a buttery, moist and sweet crumb with a strong almond flavor. The crumb is as buttery as my keto lemon pound cake recipe, but the texture is way more light and fluffy.

The moist, buttery crumb balanced very well the crunch of the toasted sliced almonds on top.

How to serve almond cake?

A French almond cake is typically served with a dash of powdered sweetener on top.

First, wait for the cake to reach room temperature.

Then, use a small sieve to sprinkle powdered erythritol on top of the cake. Never add the powder sweetener on top of a warm cake, or it gets reabsorbed by the cake crumb.

Finally, cut the cake into 12 slices and serve each cake slice plain or with a dollop of keto vanilla ice cream on top.

How to store keto almond cake?

This keto almond flour cake stores for up to 4 days in a sealed cake box in the fridge. I recommend you store the cake unsliced to preserve all the moisture in the crumb. Then, slice the cake just before serving.

Freezing keto cakes

Of course, this is a large keto cake, and you can also freeze slices of cake for later. It’s very convenient to thaw on a plate at room temperature when your cake craving hits you. Thaw the cake slice on the kitchen counter overnight.

Can I use coconut sugar?

No, coconut sugar is not a keto-friendly sweetener, so I don’t recommend using this option in my keto cake recipes.

However, if you are not on a keto low carb diet, simply looking for a paleo almond flour cake or gluten-free cake that uses almond flour, then coconut sugar or any sugar is great to swap erythritol.

Top 7 tips for baking cakes with almond flour

It’s very different to bake with almond flour than other regular flours like wheat flours or other keto flours.

In fact, almond flour is very low in carbohydrates because it’s a non-starchy flour made of grounded almonds.

As a result, almond flour is less liquid absorbent than wheat and creates thick, slightly gritty cakes batter. Below I listed 7 tips to help you make a cake with almond flour if it’s your first time baking with almond flour:

1. Choose ultra-fine almond flour – never use ground almonds or almond meal in an almond flour cake recipe. These other terms refer to a coarse ground of almonds with their skin on. It results in a grainy, heavy cake texture with a dark crumb color.
2. Weigh your flour with precision – almond flour cakes are very sensitive to quantities. If you add a little too much, the cake ends up very dry and dense. Scroll down to read my tips to measure flours with measuring cups or a kitchen scale.
3. Don’t thin out the batter – almond flour cake batter is thicker, and that’s how it should be. Don’t try to adjust the batter, adding more liquid to mimic a wheat flour cake batter.
4. Use large eggs at room temperature – many almond flour cake recipes use eggs as a binder, and there is a reason for that. Since almond flour has almost no starch, it requires a binder. Eggs are the key to binding almond flour and creating fluffy, moist cakes. That’s why you can’t use egg replacer in almond flour cake recipes.
5. Don’t overmix the batter – always add your almond flour into the liquid ingredients gradually and stir gently with a spoon. This technique prevents lumps in the batter and avoids adding too much air in the batter that can make the cake super dry.
6. Double-grease the can pan – almond flour cake batter stick to the cake pan easily. That’s why you must you a non-stick can pan, preferably springform, for an easy release. Then, generously grease the pan with butter on the sides and bottom. Finally, add an extra piece of parchment paper at the bottom of the pan and grease the paper as well. This prevents cakes with almond flour from sticking to your pan.
7. Bake at low temperature – almond flour burns very fast. Always bake your cake around 160C (325F) to prevent the cake’s top from browning too fast. Also, you can tent the cake pan with a piece of foil to diffuse the heat properly and avoid burning the flour. Be patient, bake the recommended time and keep the cake in the oven until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake come out almost dry.

So, to sum up, baking cake with almond flour is easy. But like everything new, baking with almond flour requires practice, patience, and precision.

Give yourself time to learn to bake almond flour cakes. And if something doesn’t work at first, try other almond flour brands and stick to the 7 rules above. With time, practice, and precision, you will make the most delicious almond flour cake keto-friendly!

More keto cake recipes

I am a keto cake fan, and there is never a week without a cake in my house. Below I listed my favorite keto cake recipes for you to try.

Did you try my gluten-free almond cake recipe yet? Share a comment or feedback below. I love to connect with you.

XOXO Carine