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
how many net carbs per slice?
Full nutrition facts are linked right under the recipe ingredients in the post. Let me know if you don’t see them and I can give you the direct link!
Nutrition Facts for the cream cheese frosting aren’t listed??
Just tried this recipe! Delicious! I did add the cream cheese icing but I used 1 1/2 cups of swerve powdered sugar and it was amazing!
i see it, thanks!
Can I make this recipe as cupcakes? If so should I make any changes?
It’s on our list of things to try! If you experiment before Katie does, be sure to report back :).
Jason (media relations)
Well. I tried to comment and attach a photo of my cake and got a message I’d been blocked (Cloudflare Ray ID: 5203050ce8b4a074 )…maybe shouldn’t have an “upload photo” prompt if it’s automatically going to trigger your website’s security. :/ Without a picture, I can say that this is a decent recipe with good texture. I’m not going to retype everything from my original comment that was lost, so in a nutshell:
I made one 9″ round cake, baked for 24 minutes. Will test it at 20 minutes next time as it was possibly slightly over-baked. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi, and we are so sorry about that! We had no idea Cloudflare even would do that to a commenter, and Katie is going in to her account to see if there’s a way to change the settings. The whole reason we have the photo option is because we love seeing peoples’ pictures of the recipes!
Jason (media relations)
Will it come good even with water?
I used water and not milk when I made it today and it came out very moist. I did have to cook it a lot longer than it called for though.
Hi. Do you remember how much more did you cook it?
I just made the cake today and used water instead of milk because I didn’t have any. It took 10 min extra.
Thanks!
Uau! I really have to make this cake!! My husband’s birthday is coming up and I’m sure he is going to love it!
Is it better to buy almond flour or can I course the almonds myself?
Also, can I freeze the cake?
Thank you so much!!
You can do either, but if you are able to buy almond flour then you know it’s already finely ground so you don’t have to worry about that. I haven’t tried freezing the cake… I would think it should work but would love to know if you try!
Jason (media relations)
14 minutes baking time is definitely not enough, the center came out under baked even after additional 5 mins and at 375F all the way. The recipe itself is great, but I would recommend to bake it for at least 25 mins. Use toothpick method to be sure. Add 1-2 tbs of vegetable oil to the dough if you are afraid it would be dry.
***just a notation to my own comment above*** it’s only if you use REAL EGGS you may want to increase baking time. I have not tried making it wit the “vegan eggs”
Thanks for the clarification re time. Just baking it now and added more time. It looks perfect after 22 minutes, using the toothpick test.
It’s cooling now and smells great!
Used erythritol from monk fruit, eggs, and Dutch cocoa powder.
Icing is next…
did you ONLY use the eggs and no replacer? if so, how many eggs, 3?
I really want to try this but would need to use another sweetener… do you think coconut sugar or honey would work? Thanks!
Coconut sugar is fine here 🙂
What about the recipe for the frosting?
Linked earlier in the post! 🙂
OK, I was not ready for how good this recipe turned out! Made it for my birthday. I used Valrhona dutch cocoa and lakanto classic monk fruit sweetener in the cake (note: I increased the sweetener to 1/2 cup per layer.) Added 1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder per layer. Swerve confectioners in the frosting. Baked for about 17 or 18min in an 8″ round pans. Still a tiny bit jiggly in the center when I took it out but firmed to nice fudgy moist cake when it cooled. Mine was not as beautiful as the recipe pics but who cares! It was fantastic!
Even just seeing that as a small picture, it looks so good! And now I am craving chocolate cake.
Jason
Sounds good, did you add the 3 eggs as the smaller version for the mug cake had no eggs, so i am confusion.
Could you use regular flour? The picture is good enough to eat.
This recipe was formulated specifically to use almond flour, but Katie’s regular chocolate cake recipe is really really good too! https://lett-trim.today/2017/07/24/vegan-chocolate-cake-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
This went beautifully with a peanut butter frosting as well.
*Reposting my comment since I have no idea why my previous comment didn’t get posted*
We are a family of three turning ketogenic for health reasons (diabetes & blood pressure). We have a series of birthdays coming up and as a daughter I really wanted to make something delicious for my parents in a bid to persue them to continue the keto diet yet enjoy their birthdays to the fullest. Its my first time baking ANYTHING and this turned out delicious, soft and airy. My parents loved it to the core. It felt great to see them devouring everything while confessing how proud they are, of me. Thank you Katie (assuming thats your good name) from the bottom of my heart for these keto recipes. Im definitely trying more of your recipes for sure. Who said keto has to be boring and dull?
I made the cake 3 times. Each time came out great. I used almond milk, 3 vegan eggs, (3T psyllium husk powder and 9T water). I used erythritol once, monk fruit once and coconut sugar once. I baked it for 14-15 minutes, (except for the one time when I baked it in my convection oven for 12 minutes). One time I added some crushed walnuts to the mix and my family went wild. This recipe is a keeper!
SB – you said you used monk fruit once. Did it happened to be a pure monk fruit liquid drop or powder (not mixed with Erithytol)? If so how much monk fruit did you use. Others that tried stevia said it turned out horrible. I’m having hard time with baked goods because I cannot use the other mixes for sugar subs out there.
I purchased 3 copies of the Breakfast Cookbook. I assumed is was like the last one I received which was hard cover. Now, I believe that it’s download only. If that’s so, I definitely OVERPAID. I should have bought only ONE copy. I would therefore like a refund for two editions. If a hard cover version is coming that is fine. I was planning on giving two copies away for the Holidays. Help Please.
Oh no, I am absolutely refunding you for the other two ASAP. And we do not want anyone stuck with a purchase they didn’t mean to get. Katie feels awful and said to please offer you a full refund for the third copy as well if you need it, because she is so appreciative that you would have wanted the book if a hardcover had been available. We really wish it could have happened for this book and were so disappointed that it wasn’t able to happen.
Jason (media relations)