This rich and decadent chocolate keto cake is shockingly delicious… Every time I serve it, people always ask for the recipe!
The Ultimate Flourless Chocolate Cake
Why should you make this chocolate cake?
Simply put, because it is quite possibly the best chocolate cake you will ever make, even if you aren’t on a keto diet.
The first time I made the recipe was for a friend’s birthday party, where not a single person in attendance aside from the host was on a low carb diet, and yet people went absolutely crazy for this ultra fudgy chocolate cake. In just a single night, I was already asked by three more friends to make cakes for their birthdays too!
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It’s almost too good to believe!
This exceptionally bold chocolate cake recipe—without any flour to get in the way of the soft texture and intense chocolatey flavor—will change everything you thought you knew about chocolate cake. There’s no oil required, and NO coconut flour either!
Also Try These Keto Pancakes
Easy Low Carb Chocolate Cake
The simple keto cake recipe can absolutely hold its own against any cake mix or bakery style chocolate cake.
Super dense and fudgy, it can be naturally gluten free, dairy free, oil free, and vegan… and I’ve served it to enough people by now who aren’t on any kind of special diet that I can confidently say: even if you’re used to traditional sugar-and-flour desserts, you will fall completely in love with this delicious and moist chocolate cake. Just try it and see!
Want a single serving version? Try this Keto Mug Cake Recipe
Keto Frosting Recipes
For the chocolate cake in the photos, I used this Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.
Feel free to use your favorite vanilla or chocolate buttercream frosting, homemade or store-bought.
Or change up the flavor by topping the cake with cream cheese frosting, peanut butter frosting, whipped cream, ice cream, sliced strawberries, or coconut frosting. Just be sure to let the cake cool completely before spreading icing on top.
It’s also really good topped with Coconut Whipped Cream!
Can You Use Regular Sugar?
Yes, if you’re not counting carbs, the cake recipe works just fine with regular granulated sugar as well. I know this because I tested it on myself (the things I have to do for my job…).
Even if you use real sugar, you still only need 2/3 cup total for an entire double layer cake, which is crazy low in comparison to traditional chocolate cake recipes that often have at least double that amount!
For A Vegan Keto Cake
While flourless chocolate cake recipes usually call for eggs, making a vegan version was surprisingly easy. I simply mixed three tbsp Bob’s egg replacer with 150g water (half cup plus two tablespoons), let it sit for a few minutes to thicken, and then used that as my three eggs in the recipe.
If you need six eggs for a double layer cake, just use six tablespoons of the egg replacer mixed with 1 1/4 cup water instead. I haven’t tried making a version using flax egg yet, but be sure to report back if you experiment!
For A Paleo Or Gluten Free Cake
For a paleo cake, sweeten with either the erythritol option listed in the recipe or use 1/2 cup date or coconut sugar instead. The low carb cake recipe is naturally gluten free, no substitutions necessary. It’s made with almond flour, which is simply ground up almond meal. (For a cake that’s made with regular flour, I recommend this Vegan Chocolate Cake.)
(Above – watch the video of how to make the keto cake)
The recipe was adapted from these Keto Muffins
Chocolate Keto Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups fine almond flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp dutch cocoa or additional regular
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup water or milk of choice
- 3 eggs (including the vegan option listed earlier in the post)
- 1/3 cup granulated erythritol or regular sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- *For a double layer cake, simply double the recipe and bake in two 8-inch pans. I listed a few keto frosting ideas above in the post. And if you're a visual person, be sure to check out the recipe video above!Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-inch pan, and line with parchment. Stir all ingredients together very well, then spread into the pan. If needed, use a second sheet of parchment to smooth down. Bake 14 minutes on the center rack (some ovens require more baking time, so continue cooking until firm if needed). Let cool completely before frosting. If you try the recipe, please feel free to leave a comment or rate it below!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Popular Keto Desserts
Or this Keto Chocolate Mousse
I made this cake and the fluffy chocolate cream cheese frosting. Unfortunately, I used the wrong pan to forget parchment! It turned into unexpected cake pops but they are SO GOOD! I replaced the water and milk of choice with espresso from my coffee machine and it made it so rich. Thank you for this recipe, almost everyone in my family is keto and they loved them!
Your espresso idea sounds fantastic!
Hi there, I’m going to attempt this cake today, I wanted to ask if I could replace the almond flour with coconut flour? Thanks Tamarin
Unfortunately probably not, as coconut flour can’t really be subbed in most recipes for other flours in an equal amount without altering other ingredients in some way, especially the liquid.
I tried the recipe with some changes. I doubled the recipe using a 9×13 cake pan. The amount of sugar suggested for the cake did not make it sweet enough for me, so I added an additional 1/2 cup of Splenda. I also added 1/2 cup of sour cream for added moistness. For the frosting I used Swerve confectioners. I added 3 cups for desired sweetness. I also added 2/3 cup of sour cream and almond milk with 2 tbsp of heavy cream, which gave it a creamy, whipped texture. The cake is tasty overall, but the frosting has an aftertaste. I will try monk fruit powdered sugar next time, because the aftertaste detracts from the overall taste of the cake.
Anybody knows the net carbs for the frosting recipe?
Omg!! I made these into cupcakes and they were unbelievable!!! Would never know they are keto. Absolutely amazing! Thank you for the recipe!
Is it okay to use cocoa powder instead of cacao. I don’t have the latter?
Hi I’m confused, it doesn’t call for cacao?
So I tried this reciepe today since I recently started doing Keto and already started missing the sweets. The reviews on this recipe seemed promising and I had all the ingredients minus the same type of sugar, I used Stevia in powdered form. I just made the one layer and the recommended frosting recipe. And first bite, immediately was “oh no, eww” idk if it was the Stevia or the almond flour, but it tasted almost too salty/bitter? I used exact measurements. Could it be the Stevia? Or am I too new to Keto to appreciate this? Ps, I love Dark Chocolate, it wasn’t that kind of bitter. Pls help, I want to stick to this diet, but also want to enjoy it. 😟
Hi, unfortunately stevia is not a listed ingredient here. If something isn’t listed as an ingredient option in a recipe, it means either we haven’t tried it or we have and it didn’t work. In this case, it was the latter.
Stevia often doesn’t do well in chocolate baked goods. I’m not sure why but it reacts with a the chocolate in a way that it winds up bitter.
For the Lemon version try lemon extract and replace the milk with lemon juice. Zest in the the frosting.
For almond add almond extract in the cake and frosting and sliced almonds on top.
I’m going to try this for my daughter’s 8th birthday. Instead of two layers I’m going to bake as is then cut it in half to make two layers and shape into an 8.
Also using my hubby’s keto berry compote for the middle layer.
The BEST Keto cake I have ever made and I have made a lot! Soooo moist…. texture is dense. Please post more keto cake recipes. I don’t want to use anyone else’s Keto cake recipes. It’s DELICIOUS!
Best cake ever!!!
I confess I made few modifications though. I didn’t have erythritol, so I substituted with my monk fruit and stevia blend.
Also, I used 1/4 cup of coffee and 1/4 cup of heavy cream instead of 1/3 cup of milk or water. I think the coffee really brings out the chocolate flavor, and since I was looking for a very moist cake, I decided to add a little bit more liquid to it.
The results were magnificent! It turned out very fluffy, moist and light!
Thank you so much for this recipe!
This cake is easy to make but texture wise was not right, too dry for me. I will add a little vegetable oil next time.
Made it. It was rated excellent! The frosting was great too!
How do I work the measurements of the ingreds and baking timing if I use a 10inch pan instead?
Hello. Would love to try this! But I’m wondering if coconut sugar would work in place of the regular sugar?
Most likely it would! Just I’d probably pack it because coconut sugar weighs less than regular sugar 🙂
Jason
Katie, you’ve never let me down and this recipe is no exception!
My sister and I made the following modifications:
-we added ~1 1/2 tsp orange extract (SO worth it!!)
-we added ~3 tablespoons of butter just for some more fat and flavor
-we also made just the cake without the frosting.
It came out SO good!!! It is very dark chocolatey (which I’m a huge fan of), super moist, and bakes remarkably quickly. It also holds up great over a few days and doesn’t dry out. Next time, we want to try it with raspberry extract.
This is definitely going in my keto recipe book. Thank you!
Orange sounds amazing!!
Could I substitute the milk for unsweetened almond milk?
Kayla – I used unsweetened almond milk and it turned out great. I think any milk will work, and the recipe says water can be used as well.
Hello, I am unable to get almond flour, will regular or coconut flour work as a substitute? My partner and I are on the keto diet but are willing to make an exception as it’s going to be his birthday cake. Thank you in advance
Hi, sorry unfortunately coconut flour is completely different and can’t usually work in a 1-to-1 ratio in recipes that call for other flours or almond flour.
I have found that in a lot of recipes, a 1:3 ratio (coconut flour : almond flour ) works when subsituting coconut flour for almond flour. I tried making this cake with coconut flour, but I used only 1/2 cup instead of the 1 1/2 cups of almond flour the recipe calls for. The cake doesn’t have quite the same consistency if made with coconut flour, but it still turned out very moist and delicious! Very chocolatey and buttery with the coconut flour. Hope this helps.