The Best Keto Chocolate Cake – Layered and Incredibly Rich
I have a good laugh when someone tries to say how restrictive the keto diet is. They obviously haven’t spent much time around me, because I make it my mission to WOW the non-keto crowd with amazing keto comfort food and desserts.
Related: Read How I Won My Family Over to Keto
Today, I’m bringing you one of my husband’s favorite desserts, ketofied!
This layered cake is so good, you won’t believe it’s keto. It’s the best keto chocolate cake I’ve ever had!
I honestly surprised myself with this recipe. I expected it would taste good. I mean, it’s cake! Unless you burn it, it’s tough to mess up.
But I was not expecting it to turn out so incredibly rich!
It’s fun to watch non-ketoer reactions when they put the first bite into their mouths. With eyes as big around as saucers, they quickly start nodding their approval of this amazing dessert. There’s a little bit of dark magic in every bite.
This recipe is a healthy, low-carb version that tastes better than any boxed cake recipe out there…and dare I say, it would rival your grandmother’s from-scratch recipe too. Shhhh…. just don’t tell Grandma that ?
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How to Make the Best Keto Chocolate Cake
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. This recipe makes enough cake batter for TWO 9-inch round cake pans or FOUR 6-inch round cake pans.
Grease your cake pans, then line them with parchment paper. Grease the top of the parchment paper too. This is super important to make sure you can remove the cake layers without any problems.
In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, gelatin, baking powder, and salt and set to the side.
In a second large bowl, beat together the butter and swerve sweetener until it’s fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, chocolate stevia, and eggs and continue beating until well combined.
Finally, add half of the flour mixer and beat again until mixed well. Add half the almond milk and continue beating. Repeat with the remaining flour mixer and almond milk.
The cake batter will be pretty thick. If you feel it’s too thick you can add a little milk to thin it out.
Divide the cake batter between the two or four cake pans and spread the batter with a spatula.
Related: If you’ve been thinking about going keto, read my diet success story.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30-35 minutes, or until cake is set and a toothpick test comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool completely in the pans before removing and transferring to cooling racks.
While the cake is cooling, prepare the frosting.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
Add in the swerve sweetener, vanilla extract, and chocolate stevia and continue beating until well combined.
Finally, beat in the cocoa powder while slowly adding in the heavy cream until the frosting reaches the desired thickness. You want it thin enough to spread, but thick enough to stick to the side of the cake without running down.
Once the cake layers are cooled, place one layer of cake on the serving platter or cake board and add frosting to the layer, then continue adding layers and frosting until you have placed all the layers.
Then, use the remaining frosting to spread over the top and down the sides.
Related: Check out these 8 keto comfort food swaps.
A word of warning, if you make 4 layers, it may be too tall for your cake dish lid. This happened to me and my husband had to create a make-shift container out of foil, lol
I recently made this cake for Thanksgiving and it looked really good next to my keto pecan pie and keto cookie dough bites!
Related: Want more keto-friendly desserts? I’ve listed more than 20 of them here!
Whether you make this for a birthday cake or just to share at your next gathering, it is sure to please everyone who takes a bite of this incredibly rich keto chocolate layer cake!
The Best Keto Chocolate Cake - Incredibly Rich
This keto chocolate layer cake makes the perfect birthday cake for your low-carb diet
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 cup Swerve Granular Sweetener
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 2 tsp gelatin, unflavored (or collagen powder)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp chocolate stevia extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup almond milk, unsweetened
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup Swerve Powdered Sweetener
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp chocolate stevia extract
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease 4 6-inch round cake pans (or 2 9-inch round cake pans). Line the bottom with parchment paper and spritz the top with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, gelatin, baking powder, and salt)
- In a second large bowl, beat the butter and swerve until fluffy.
- Add the vanilla extract, chocolate stevia, and eggs and continue beating until well combined.
- Add half of the flour mixer and beat again. Add half the almond milk and beat again. Repeat with the remaining flour mixer and almond milk.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake at 350 degrees F for about 30-35 minutes, or until cake is set and a toothpick test comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pans for at least 10 minutes, then carefully flip the cake layers onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.
- Once cooled, place one layer of cake on the serving platter and cover with about 1/3 of the frosting. (see instructions below)
- Place the second layer of cake on top and use the remaining frosting to spread over the top and down the sides.
Frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
- Beat in the sweetener, vanilla extract, and chocolate stevia until well combined.
- Beat in the cocoa powder while slowly adding in the heavy cream until the frosting reaches the desired thickness
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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Swerve Sweetener, Baker's Trio, Granular 12 oz, Confectioners 12 oz, and Brown 12 oz, 3 pack
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Swerve Sweetener, Baker's Trio, Granular 12 oz, Confectioners 12 oz, and Brown 12 oz, 3 pack
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Blue Diamond Almond Flour, Gluten Free, Blanched, Finely Sifted 3 Pound bag
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King Arthur, Espresso Powder, Certified Kosher, Reusable Plastic Jar, 3 Ounces
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 266.36Total Fat: 25.92gSaturated Fat: 11.88gSodium: 134.15mgCarbohydrates: 6.2gFiber: 2.91gSugar: 1.28gProtein: 5.91g