A lemon-scented low carb, grain-free layer cake with the most delicious strawberry cream cheese frosting. This sugar-free creation will win over your harshest critics.
Strawberry season is drawing closer and closer and I am so excited I can taste it. I can taste those sweet berries in my mind, freshly picked out of a sun-warmed New England field. I can smell the straw they put down around the beds, and hear the high-pitched lisping of little ones clamouring “I found one, Mummy. I found a big one!”. My own children come out of those fields weighing significantly more than they went into them, and I probably do too. Those pick-your-own strawberry farms must add a premium to the price per pound, knowing that people will eat their weight in berries before they ever fill up their green quart baskets. It’s hard to resist, there is nothing like a strawberry freshly picked and popped into one’s mouth.
But we still have a few months to go and until then, I suffer through the big, less flavourful store bought berries. I don’t actually buy fresh berries in the off-season much, because they just don’t live up to that dreamy berry flavour in my mind. We do usually keep a big wholesale-club sized bag of frozen strawberries in the freezer because my husband is a smoothie man. The man loves his smoothies and his “strawbs”, as we call them. So if I am inclined to make a strawberry recipe in the middle of winter, I am likely to skip the fresh and grab a few of the frozen kind. And I was very much inclined to make this recipe. In fact, from the moment I saw it, I knew I had to make it.
This, my friends, is my healthy low carb take on a gorgeous Strawberry Lemonade Cake I saw on the cover of Southern Living while visiting my parents in Florida. I hadn’t even opened the magazine to look at the details, I just held it up to my husband and said “I am going to make this”. His response: “No arguments from me!”. And I knew just exactly how I would make it too. I did actually refer to the article to see how the frosting was made. As I had hoped, it was cream cheese-based so I knew I could easily replicate it in low carb form. And let me tell you, it’s the frosting that made the cake, without question. The cake itself was good, but the frosting was absolutely divine. It wasn’t overly sweet and the lemon juice and zest gave it the perfect tang. I could have easily eaten a bowl of the frosting all by itself.
Low Carb Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup granulated Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 5 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ⅔ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener divided
- 1 cup frozen strawberries thawed and chopped, juices reserved
- OR 1 & ½ cups fresh strawberries chopped fine
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 ½ cups whipping cream
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease three 9-inch cake pans well (line bottoms with parchment if you are worried about it sticking). You can also use 8-inch pans but your cakes will need to bake longer.
- In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, coconut flour, whey protein, and baking powder.
- In another large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Beat in granulated sweetener, lemon zest, and lemon extract until well combined.
- Beat in eggs, then half of almond flour mixture. Then beat in almond milk. Finally beat in remaining almond flour mixture.
- Divide batter between prepared baking pans and smooth the top with a knife or offset spatula. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan at least 10 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with ⅓ cup of the powdered sweetener until smooth. Beat in strawberries, lemon juice and lemon zest until combined.
- In another large bowl, beat whipping cream with remaining sweetener until stiff peaks form. Fold carefully into cream cheese until combined.
- To assemble the cake, place one layer on a serving platter and spread top with about ¼ of the frosting. Repeat with second and third layers, and then spread remaining frosting over sides of cake.
- Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
Cook’s Notes: Now, I will say that I recently bought some beautiful new round baking pans from USA Pans. They are amazingly non-stick but they are also 9 inches, instead of the old 8-inch pans I used to have. So my layers turned out lower and wider than I originally anticipated. In fact, I first only made enough batter for 2 layers and since I was bringing this to Easter brunch at some friends’ house, I felt it wouldn’t be enough. So I quickly whipped up batter for a 3rd layer. You could do this in 8-inch pans as well, but expect taller layers and longer baking time.
Vicky Hamilton says
Made this many times. Best tasting low carb cake ever, in our opinion. You get all the delish without the carb/sugar sick feeling and guilt. Win win.
Carolyn says
Thank you!
Nanette says
I haven’t tasted this yet or finished putting it together with the frosting but the bake did not work.
First off, this only made enough batter for two 9 in cake pans with about 2-1/3C batter in each. Secondly, maybe it’s my high altitude (5000 ft) but they only rose about 1/4 inch so the two cakes (not 3) look pretty pitiful. I made the cream cheese with real strawberries and I’ll combine with whip cream tomorrow. I don’t know if I should find another recipe and remake the cake part or just call it a fancy strawberry shortcake cake? I have no idea yet how it actually tastes but I really wanted something nice for my husband’s birthday cake since he’s diabetic.
Carolyn says
So I have to respond on a few levels here. For one, there absolutely is enough batter for the pans. I don’t know why you’d need to add 2 1/3 cups to each pan! They are supposed to be thin. But yes, if you live at that high elevation, it’s going to affect how they rise. You need to adjust for that the exact same way you adjust for regular baking. If you did not adjust, then of course they won’t rise properly. Not sure what else to say.
Shelly Sullivan says
Hi can you use baking blend instead of thevabove flours ? if so how much would you suggest I try?
thanks
Carolyn says
What is baking blend?
Karen says
If I don’t want to do a layer cake can this recipe also be made as a sheet cake?
April M Jones says
I had the same question but since I didn’t see an answer anywhere, I just went with it. I used a 9×13 metal cake pan. it came out thin enough I probably could have cut it for stacking. I just dumped all the frosting (the good part anyway!) on top.
Clara says
Question? I see in the instruction that you have Cream of Tartar, Stevia Extract and Apple cider vinegar. they are not listed as part of the cake Ingredients. do we have to use them? also could i use Spender granulated Sweetener
Carolyn says
Sorry about that. I updated the recipe to simplify it and forgot to fix the instructions.
Sandy says
Planning to make this for my mom’s 80th birthday this weekend! Can’t wait to taste it!
Becky Hardin says
Such a perfect summertime cake! Everyone will love it when I serve it at my next get together. YUM!!
Julie says
I agree that there’s nothing better than popping those farm fresh berries into your mouth! This cake is amazing! Perfect for strawberry season and the combo of lemon and strawberry is divine!
Kara says
Strawberries and lemon is a perfect flavor combination for summer! The cake looks beautiful!!