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Vanilla Keto Cake Diabetic-Friendly

4.84 from 1388 votes
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This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This Almond Flour Vanilla Keto Cake is the most delicious, moist, and buttery diabetic-friendly birthday cake.

Plus, this vanilla keto cake has a dairy-free option,  is gluten-free, and is made with only 6 ingredients in 1 bowl!

So keep reading to learn how to make the ultimate low-carb cake.

Is it your birthday, or do you need to make a keto-friendly cake for a friend on a low-carb diet?

This easy keto birthday cake recipe is exactly what you need.

What’s A Keto Vanilla Cake?

This keto sponge cake is a simple but super tasty sugar-free vanilla cake that is also gluten-free and diabetes-friendly.

Because it is made with low-carb flour and no all-purpose flour, it comes with very few carbs: only 3 grams of net carbs per slice!

If you follow the keto diet, this won’t hurt your macros, and you will stay in ketosis!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This Keto Cake is absolutely amazing, it tastes like a classic cake, and it’s:

  • Gluten-Free
  • Diabetes-Friendly
  • Paleo
  • Dairy-Free Option
  • Low-Carb
  • Keto-Friendly
keto cake ingredients

How To Make Keto Vanilla Cake

This is the perfect recipe for keto diet beginners, probably as easy as using a keto cake mix.

It is definitely a no-fail keto birthday cake recipe made in 1 bowl with only 6 simple ingredients.

Sugar-Free Vanilla Cake Ingredients

Let’s see what you need to make this moist and buttery sugar-free vanilla cake.

  • Almond Flour – I recommend fine almond flour for this Almond Flour Vanilla Cake rather than almond meal. Almond meal would work as well, but the cake would be less moist. Find other recipes with almond flour.
  • Eggs – this recipe is not vegan friendly. For a vegan cake, try my keto vegan mug brownie.
  • Sugar-free crystal sweetener – I love Monk fruit, but erythritol or xylitol are great options as well. Check out my review of keto-friendly sweeteners for alternatives.
  • Coconut oil – or any oil with a light taste will work very well here. Avoid vegetable oils. They are not keto. Good options are almond oil, flaxseed oil. If you are using melted coconut oil, make sure it is not burning hot when you add it to the cake batter. Hot oil will cook the eggs.
  • Baking powder or half the amount of baking soda, meaning 1/2 teaspoon.
  • Vanilla extract. Find all my recipes with vanilla extract.
gluten free vanilla cake

Making Almond Flour Cake

Usually, keto cake batter made with almond flour sticks a bit more to cake pans, so it is crucial to use a non-stick high-quality, aluminized pan.

It may sound expensive to invest in a high-quality pan, but they last for years. The one below has been in my kitchen for 7 years, and none of my cakes stick to it.

Making the Almond Flour Cake

Pan choice

I am using a 9-inch springform cake pan with a non-stick coating and a ridged texture at the bottom.

If your pan doesn’t have a ridged texture, your cake may stick slightly at the bottom. To prevent your keto cakes from sticking to the pan, I recommend a double-greasing method.

First, grease the whole pan, bottom, and sides with butter or coconut oil.

Then, cut out a piece of parchment paper, the same diameter as the pan, so in a 9-inch circle.

Place the piece of parchment paper at the bottom of the pan. It will stick to the pan since you grease it before. Finally, grease the whole pan again, including the paper.

This 2-step greasing method will ensure that your keto cake does not stick to the pan.

sugar free almond flour cake

Making A Layered Cake

You don’t have to make a layered keto cake, but it does look more like a classic birthday cake if you do.

You can follow the keto vanilla cake recipe and serve this delicious almond flour cake in 30 minutes.

It is a good sugar-free vanilla cake to enjoy plain or with the vanilla buttercream frosting recipe provided.

I recommend making the layers and frosting, though, to have a lovely light and fluffy keto birthday cake.

To make the layers of this diabetic cake, I recommend baking 2 small vanilla cakes instead of slicing a bigger one. It means you repeat the entire low-carb cake recipe 2 times.

This is the best way to create a lovely keto sponge cake with even layers and a decent cake height.

Keto vanilla almond flour cake

Tip 1: Make the vanilla cake recipe provided two times

I know it is tempting to double up the recipe to save time and then divide the batter in half.

It would work, but I’m not too fond of this technique because it is challenging to halve the batter perfectly. Often, you end up with a layer thicker than the other.

Tip 2: Bake one almond flour cake at a time

Never bake two cakes at the same time in your oven. It will impact the baking time too much, and the baking will not be consistent.

There is always one cake that burns and one that is not cooked. So take the time and bake them separately.

Tip 3: Level the cake layers before frosting

Your sugar-free birthday cake will come up with a small bump on top.

Fully cool the cake, then use a knife or a cake leveler tool to remove that bump and create 2 flat cake layers.

This will make it much easier to frost them later on.

Keto Vanilla Birthday Cake on a dessert place

Assembling Keto Vanilla Cake

First, make sure your low-carb cake layers are cool at room temperature to prevent the frosting from melting.

Then, I recommend using a turning table and icing spatula. You can use the frosting below or use any of my other frosting recipes:

Add a tablespoon of frosting to the center of the turning table and place the first cake layer on it.

This frosting is not cream cheese frosting, and so it will act like glue and stick the cake to the table.

Next, add 1 cup of frosting to the middle of the cake. Spread the frosting with an icing spatula turning the table at the same time to spread evenly.

The frosting will fall on the sides, and that is ok. Finally, add the second cake layer and repeat this process until you have covered all the top of the cake. Use more frosting to cover the edges.

I hope you enjoyed my 36-year-old diabetic birthday cake recipe. Happy birthday to you if you try this recipe for your birthday today.

keto buttercream frosting

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Almond Flour have carbs?

Yes, Almond Flour does contain some carbs but far less than all-purpose flour. It gives about the same texture to baked goods as regular flour though.

What can I use instead of Almond Flour?

If you don’t have almond flour or are allergic to almonds, you can use Sesame Seed flour. It’s also keto-friendly and bakes similarly.

You can also use all-purpose flour, but it wouldn’t be keto-friendly.

Can I use stevia instead of erythritol?

You can’t use pure stevia extract as Erythritol provides both sweetness and texture to this recipe. You need something that brings a sugar-like texture.

A stevia and erythritol blend works. Allulose would also work.

Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour?

No, this vanilla cake wouldn’t work with coconut flour instead of almond flour as coconut flour is 4 times more water-absorbent.

It would make the cake very dry and gritty and would alter the flavor.

Can I Add Chocolate To The Batter?

You can add chocolate, but I recommend instead making my Keto Chocolate Cake.

dairy free vanilla cake

Or browse all my recipes in the low-carb cake recipes category

Is this keto sugar-free vanilla cake recipe too large for you? Then, try my keto vanilla cupcake recipe instead

Also, don’t forget to share a review or comment below! I love to hear your feedback on my keto recipes

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keto vanilla cake

Keto Vanilla Cake

3gNet Carbs
Keto Vanilla Cake an easy 1-bowl recipe for a moist and buttery dairy-free diabetic birthday cake with sugar-free buttercream icing.
Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total: 55 minutes
Yield: 12 slices
Serving Size: 1 slice
4.84 from 1388 votes

Ingredients

Vanilla Cake

  • 4 large Eggs
  • ½ cup Granulated Sweetener Monk Fruit or erythritol
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil melted or melted butter
  • 2 cups Almond Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder

Vanilla Buttercream frosting

  • 1 cup Unsalted Butter soft, out of the fridge for 4 hours (5.3 oz) – or vegan butter.
  • 1 ½ cups Powdered Erythritol
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2-3 tablespoons Heavy Cream or coconut cream
This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

Vanilla cake

  • Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). Grease a 9-inch round springform pan with coconut oil or butter. Cut out a piece of parchment paper into a 9-inch circle and stick it to the bottom of the pan. Grease the paper and pan sides again. These steps prevent the cake from sticking to the pan. Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs with sugar-free sweetener, oil, and vanilla. Process as if you whisked a breakfast omelet. It should not take more than 30 seconds to 1 minute, all you want is to combine the ingredients.
  • Whisk in almond flour and baking powder and whisk until evenly combined.
  • Pour the vanilla cake batter into the prepared pan.
  • Bake for 25 minutes in the center of your oven. The fan-bake mode is ideal if you have one. Otherwise, use the regular mode. Your cake is cooked when a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean or with few to no crumbs on it.
  • Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then release the cake on a cooling rack. Cool for 1 or 2 hours before adding the frosting, or enjoy plain.
  • Note that this is a gluten-free cake. It doesn't rise much. You should expect a small bump raise in the middle, not more. The recipe is made to create flat cake layers to make a layered birthday cake.

Layer vanilla cake

  • Repeat the vanilla cake recipe one more time to create a second vanilla cake.
  • Make sure you clean, dry, and grease again the cake pan before baking the second cake.

Light and Fluffy Buttercream frosting

  • Add the soft butter cubes and vanilla to a stand mixer. Make sure you use the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until it forms a pale, smooth, and fluffy butter.
  • Reduce to low speed and gradually add the sugar-free powdered sweetener, half a cup at a time. When all the sugar-free sweetener has been added, mix on medium speed for 2 minutes until it forms a fluffy cream.
  • Add cream and keep whisking for 1 minute to incorporate.
  • Spread the frosting between the 2 cake layers and on sides using an icing spatula. Watch my video to learn how to frost your layer cake easily.
  • Place the cake in the fridge for 2 hours to set up the frosting if desired.

Storage

  • You can make this cake 24 hours before, store it in an airtight cake box in the fridge to prevent the frosting from drying.
  • Store leftover for up to 4 days in the fridge or freeze in ziplock bags. Defrost the day before at room temperature.

Notes

This recipe doesn’t work with egg-replacer or flax egg, you must use eggs
The nutrition panel is for one slice of single-layer vanilla cake with no frosting. This is calculated this way so that it’s easier to tailor the nutrition to your baking!
  • A simple one-layer vanilla keto cake will have 3g of net carbs per slice.
  • A double-layer cake will have 6g of net carbs per slice.
  • A triple-layer cake will have 9g of net carbs per slice.
Tried this recipe?Mention @sweetashoneyrecipes
Serving Size: 1 slice
Yield: 12 slices
Serving: 1sliceCalories: 151kcal (8%)Carbohydrates: 3.7g (1%)Fiber: 0.7g (3%)Net Carbs: 3gProtein: 4.8g (10%)Fat: 7.2g (11%)Sugar: 0.8g (1%)
Carine Claudepierre

About The Author

Carine Claudepierre

Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook and many ebooks, and founder of Sweet As Honey.

I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.

I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet

Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!

All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.

Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.

I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!

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    401 Thoughts On Vanilla Keto Cake Diabetic-Friendly
    1 2 3 10
  1. 4 stars
    I made this for the first time yesterday. I did 1.5 times the recipe and split it across two 6″ pans and put diabetic friendly raspberry jam and some of the butter cream in the middle and piped the rest on top of the cake! I have to say it was totally delicious and the recipe is now in my “go to” baking folder.

  2. 5 stars
    Just made the cake without the frosting and OMG!!….it is so moist and delicious!! It’s going to be my new go-to cake for sure!!!

  3. 5 stars
    Good recipe. I prefer to make frosting with a mixture of cream chesse, cocoa and sweetener. It comes out to a lovely consistancy

    • Yes, it should work with same amount of powdered erythritol, but it won’t work with pure powdered monk fruit. Powdered monk fruti doesn’t melt or crystalized and won’t had texture to cakes. Plus, it’s thousand times sweeter than erythritol and it won’t be the same ratio.

  4. I haven’t made it yet but can you give us the total carbs per serving size for the frosting? My granddaughter is diabetic and I want to make the cake and frosting.

  5. 5 stars
    Hi! I was wondering if I could replace the sugar free powdered sugar with anything? My local stores do not have it and I don’t have time to order any. Thanks!

  6. 5 stars
    Love this cake!! As an average baker with a recent diagnosis of gestational diabetes, this cake has saved my sanity. I can easily make it, the ingredients are easy to find and the end product is delicious!! There is no aftertaste(I am easily put off most sugar free foods because of the aftertaste) and there’s so much room for variation with this cake too! Next time I’m going to add a whipped cream layer. I might even try use this as a trifle sponge replacement etc.

  7. 5 stars
    My dad got diagnosed with diabetes and had given up cake. This was perfect as it complied with the net carbs he is allowed and is completely sugar free.

    We added fresh whipped cream and strawberries and was delicious.

    Thank you!

  8. 5 stars
    You get 10 STARS from us. Today is my husband’s birthday and I made this Fabulous, moist, Wonderful, eat every bite CAKE. My husband kept doing the “ummmm” Mantra ~ ♥ You helped me celebrate his wonderful Birthday!…Thank you from the bottom of my heart ~ ♥

  9. I was delighted with the recipe, it’s amazing, I had never tried a keto cake, and a friend asked me to make one for her and it was amazing. I love it😋. I made the double recipe, and it worked very well for me by dividing the mixture into equal parts with a scale. 👌

  10. 5 stars
    What a great recipe! I made this cake today and it was delicious! I added orange zest for a little twist and covered it with whipped cream and berries. It was so light, tasty, very easy to make and a great summer choice! I will be making it again without a doubt. Thank you for sharing the recipe!

  11. After making this cake and frosting it, I left it out for awhile then I refrigerated it, when I cut it the cake was hard to cut and the cake was dry I used avacado oil in it. It says melted butter can be used would it come out soft and moist if I use butter? Does the butter in the cake have to be unsalted like it calls for in the frosting? Help.

    • You shouldn’t use avocado oil for keto baking it make batter dry and dense. Try butter or coconut oil. Also make sure you are using ultra thin almond flour and don’t over pack the cups or too much make cakes dry too.

  12. 5 stars
    I’ve made this recipe twice now. My keto family likes it a lot and I got mixed reviews from my non-keto family.
    The second time I made the cake I added 2 bags of earl grey tea to the batter.

  13. I made this cake and it was hard to cut and the cake was dry, why did it turn out like that? I used avacado oil in the cake, Can salted butter be used for the grease in the cake, or does it have to be unsalted like the icing?

    • I am sorry to hear that, avocado oil is not the best choice for cakes, it makes the cake dense, greenish too it’s more a oil to fry food because of its high smoke point.
      You can grease the pan with any butter, salted butter simply add a salty flavor up to you!

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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 sweeteners 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 sweeteners 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.