Give yourself a treat with this perfectly moist and easy keto chocolate cake! This cake is gluten-free and sugar-free and contains just 5 net carbs per serving!
One of life’s guilty pleasures has to be a decadent chocolate cake. It is an all round dessert that can be made for pretty much any special occasion or for an occasional treat at home.
This chocolate cake is so good, I have had family members not on the keto diet enjoy it with me. The last time my parents visited me, I made it for them and they absolutely loved it! The whole cake was demolished pretty quickly!
You can easily make just one layer and leave out the frosting if you wish, for a quick and easy dessert. Or you can make multiple layers and completely deck it out with frosting for a lovely keto birthday cake!
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Ingredients Used
Dry Ingredients
- Flours: Almond flour and coconut flour are the two flours used in this recipe. It is crucial to use a combination of these flours because they respond to wet ingredients differently. Coconut flour is much more absorbent than almond flour.
- Monk fruit sweetener: This is my low carb sweetener of choice, but another good alternative is Swerve.
- Cocoa (cacao) powder: What is a keto chocolate cake without cocoa powder? You can use any brand you like but I swear by Viva Cacao powder. It is by far the least bitter brand I have ever tasted.
- Salt: Salt not only brings out the flavor of the cake, it also helps to cut down the bitterness from the cocoa powder.
- Baking powder.
Wet Ingredients
- Unsweetened Almond milk: This helps to increase the moisture content in the cake.
- Butter & cream cheese: Gives a creamy texture and moisture to the chocolate cake.
- Eggs: This helps bind the ingredients together and also produce that airy texture found in cakes.
- Vanilla extract.
How To Make This Recipe
To make this keto chocolate cake, first set out your eggs and butter and bring them to room temperature. The butter needs to be softened but not melted. Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl - almond flour, coconut flour, monk fruit sweetener, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. A whisk is a great tool to use at this step so that all the ingredients are well mixed together. Mix all the wet ingredients separately - butter, almond milk, eggs, vanilla extract, and cream cheese.
- Using a stand mixer, pour in all of your wet ingredients in the mixing bowl first, then carefully pour in the dry ingredients as it stirs everything together. Begin with a low speed and work your way up. You can also use a handheld mixer or mix it by hand, but make sure that all the ingredients are well combined.
- Grease a 9-inch cake pan with a little butter or oil spray. Spread the batter around as evenly as possible so your cake will cook evenly. Place it on a rack located in the middle to lower half of the oven to bake.
- Set a timer for 25 minutes. Since oven times may vary, you can check it at the 25-minute mark. If your keto chocolate cake isn’t fully set, put it in the oven for up to 5 more minutes. Check for doneness with a clean toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake.
- Once it is done, let the cake sit out and naturally cool down for about 20 minutes. You can let it cool slightly until the top feels firm and then take it out of the pan to let it cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack.
- I use this Keto Cream Cheese Chocolate Frosting recipe to frost my cake. Use an offset spatula to spread your frosting evenly across the top of your cake and chill for a few minutes so the frosting can harden. If making a layered cake, make the second cake in another pan and place on top of the first, then spread some more frosting on top.
Storing and Reheating
A frosted uncut chocolate cake can be kept at room temperature for up to 5 days and still stay fresh. All you have to do is cover it with a large bowl or cake keeper container. You can also store it in the fridge.
The frosting will protect the cake from any air or moisture around it. If you have leftover cake that is frosted, use plastic wrap to cover the cut ends and keep it inside a cake cover at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or you can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
If you are baking your chocolate cake a few days in advance, frost the outside and let it set in the fridge for about 15 minutes before loosely covering it with plastic wrap or storing it inside the fridge in a cake keeper.
On the day you serve the cake, bring it out of the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to bring it to room temperature before serving.
Tips and variations
- Starting an electric mixer at a high speed will cause the dry ingredients to go everywhere and leave you with a mess to clean up. Always start it on a low setting as you begin to add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
- When checking the cake’s doneness, do not wait until the middle is completely firm to the touch. If you cook it until the top is completely firm, this may lead to overcooking or even burning parts of the cake.
- Never try to speed up the cooling process. Putting a cake in a fridge immediately after it bakes may cause the cake to dry up, making the texture crumbly. This mistake could end up collapsing the top of the cake, leaving you with an uneven surface to frost.
Frequently asked questions
Cocoa powder does not contain added sugars and is bitter by default. Some brands are more bitter than others, that's why I recommend Viva Cacao, because it is less bitter than other brands I've tasted, but your taste may vary. Also, adding salt helps to cut down the bitterness, so don't omit this.
Cocoa and cacao powder can be used interchangeably as they have very similar flavor profiles.
Check out these other delicious keto desserts!
📖 Recipe
Easy Keto Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups almond flour
- 2 tablespoon coconut flour
- ½ cup monk fruit sweetener
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup cacao powder
- 1 stick butter ½ cup
- ⅓ cup almond milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 4 servings keto cream cheese chocolate frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl - almond flour, coconut flour, monk fruit sweetener, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder.
- Mix all the wet ingredients separately - butter, almond milk, eggs, vanilla extract, and cream cheese.
- Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and combine using an electric mixer.
- Grease a 9-inch cake pan with a little butter or oil spray.
- Pour the batter into a 9- inch cake pan and spread evenly.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Check for doneness with a clean toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake.
- Once it is done, let the cake sit out and naturally cool down for about 20 minutes.
- See notes below on how to make the frosting.
- Use an offset spatula to spread your frosting evenly across the top or sides of your cake.
- Let the frosting harden for a few minutes in the fridge before serving.
- If making a layered cake, make the second cake in another pan and place on top of the first.
- Add some more frosting to the top.
- If you want to get creative and add detail to the cake, you can use a piping bag.
Notes
- Use this recipe to make the frosting: Keto Cream Cheese Chocolate Frosting.
- When checking the cake’s doneness, do not wait until the middle is completely firm to the touch. If you cook it until the top is completely firm, this may lead to overcooking or even burning parts of the cake.
- Never try to speed up the cooling process. Putting a cake in a fridge immediately after it bakes may cause the cake to dry up, making the texture crumbly. Let it cool down naturally.
- Always start your mixer on a low setting to prevent batter flying everywhere.
Super yummy!! No “Keto” flavor just real flavor !!
Thanks for sharing this recipe !
You're so welcome, Stephanie! I just made this for my birthday, and even my kids ate it with me 🙂