Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting is a keto cake recipe that makes the perfect birthday cake for chocolate lovers. But this low carb chocolate cake is so good, you won’t want to wait for a special occasion to make it.
Any Occasion Chocolate Layer Cake
It is nobody’s birthday in my house. Nobody. Not even close. We’re all late Fall and Winter babies in this household. My three kiddos are October, November and December, my husband is right after Christmas and I am in early March. It’s pretty nutty, quite honestly. From mid-Fall to New Year’s we are run ragged with birthday and holidays, and each year it seems to get more stressful.
My husband and I aren’t even remotely over-indulgent with our kids and we don’t do big birthday celebrations for them. But even the minor family celebrations we do hold take enough effort and time that we find ourselves girding our loins at the approach of October. Oh, and have I mentioned that our anniversary is in October as well? Um, yeah, that gets more and more overlooked each year as we just try to survive.
So what on earth possessed me to make what is, for all intents and purposes, a huge low carb chocolate birthday cake in June? I haven’t the foggiest, the idea just took hold of me and wouldn’t let go. It worried at me like a dog with a bone, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. And it wasn’t just any old birthday cake I wanted to make. I knew this one had to be gluten-free chocolate cake, with lots of layers and a rich sour cream frosting. It had to be tall, it had to be impressive, and most importantly, it had to taste wicked good. I wanted it to be a low carb birthday cake, but one that you would never know was sugar-free and gluten-free.
Keto Cake Recipes
If you make a lot of keto cake recipes, you already know that they can be a challenge to make well. They tend to dry out during baking, but this low carb chocolate cake is definitely not dry! If you want low carb cake, but in a different flavor, make my Low Carb Italian Cream Cake or Kentucky Butter Cake, or Brenda’s Sugar-Free Low Carb Sponge Cake.
So why chocolate sour cream frosting? I don’t know. Once again, it was just an idea that got a hold of me. My sister-in-law made sour cream frosting for my nephew’s birthday cake and I am not sure I’d ever had any until that time. And then I happened to see a recipe for chocolate sour cream frosting on the inside of a package of unsweetened chocolate, and I thought how perfect that might be for a low carb frosting. I could see the cake in my mind’s eye, 3 or 4 layers with rich frosting in between and swirled richly on top. And some brightly coloured sprinkles to finish it off. Just a few, since I don’t think they make sugar-free sprinkles yet!
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Recipe Notes
The Results: Honestly, this keto cake recipe is phenomenal. Except for the fact that I can’t seem to get almond flour chocolate cake to look as chocolaty as cake made with wheat flour (it has a muddy brown appearance, rather than a rich chocolate brown), you would never know the difference. The low carb chocolate cake is rich and decadent.
The chocolate sour cream frosting is made using powdered Swerve, and it is rich and has a wonderful tang from the sour cream. I was a touch worried at first because the frosting seemed too goopy, like it would just slide right down the sides of the cake. But it didn’t at all, and I was able to frost the cake perfectly. And I gave it an hour to chill in the fridge and it set nicely. It is a really big cake and very rich, so even though I’ve called it 16 servings here, you can easily get 18 or 20 out of it.
This gluten-free chocolate cake is definitely one worthy of a birthday celebration!
Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting (Low Carb and Gluten-Free)
Print Pin RateIngredients
Cake:
- 2 ¼ cups almond flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- ½ cup granulated erythritol I used Swerve
- ½ cup vanilla whey protein powder
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 oz Greek yogurt room temperature
- ½ cup butter softened
- 5 large eggs room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon stevia extract
- ⅔ cup almond milk
Sour Cream Frosting:
- 4 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 1 ½ cups sour cream room temperature
- 3 cups powdered erythritol I used Swerve
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon stevia extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
Instructions
- For the cake, preheat the oven to 325F and grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. Line cake pans with parchment paper and grease the parchement.
- In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, protein powder, granulated erythritol, instant coffee, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt.
- In another large bowl, beat Greek yogurt and butter together until combined. Beat in eggs and stevia extract. Beat in almond flour mixture in two additions, alternating with almond milk, and scraping down beaters and sides of bowl as needed.
- Divide batter between prepared pans and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cakes are set and a tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans 10 minutes, and then flip out onto wire racks to cool completely.
- Once cool, use a large serrated knife to cut each layer in half horizontally to create 4 layers total.
- For the frosting, in a small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside.
- In large bowl, beat sour cream and powdered erythritol until smooth. Beat in cocoa powder, then vanilla extract and stevia extract.
- Sprinkle xanthan gum over mixture and beat in until frosting thickens slightly. Stir in melted chocolate, scraping down sides of bowl, until well combined.
- Place one layer of cake on serving platter and top with ½ to ¾ cup frosting, using knife or offset spatula to spread evenly. Repeat with remaining layers and frosting. For final layer, top with any remaining frosting and spread down and over sides of cake, smoothing with knife or offset spatula. If desired, use back of small spoon to create swirled effect on top of cake.
- Chill cake in refrigerator for at least one hour. Any leftover cake should be wrapped in plastic and kept in refrigerator.
Andy says
I made this cake today. It’s delicious, although I agree with @KFelix that leaving our coffee is best and I had to use a bit less cocoa and a lot more sweetener. I had trouble with the consistency of the frosting as well. The chocolate cream cheese frosting that you have linked to looks great! I am going to try that one next time.
Overall, this is a great recipe. Thanks so much for posting it!
Katherine says
Recently ordered and received the ingredients in the mail, and I just made this cake and had a slice- delicious!!! Thank you so much for showing me that I can have a “normal” cake for my birthday, when it comes around, instead of missing out or making some other low-carb dessert like cheesecake.
I had “fine ground” almonds, which are not as fine-ground as almond flour, so I put it in my blender and I think that made it a more floury consistency. I think I followed all the other ingredients to the T.
I pulled one cake out of the oven to stick a tooth-pick in at 28 minutes and it wasn’t quite done, but I left it out of the oven a little to long and it’s “poof” kind of deflated and stayed deflated. The cake in the other pan was fine and didn’t deflate at all when I pulled it out at 35 minutes. I couldn’t tell any adverse difference in taste/thickness/consistency though.
The frosting was much too thick. I think mine would have been fine without any Xanthan Gum. Or maybe just less. The beater had a hard time whipping through it and it was hard to spread because it was so thick and sticky.
I left it out all night instead of putting it in the fridge and it tasted amazing- much like a “regular” cake- and was a great consistency throughout. My frosting turned out much darker than the pictures here though- same color as the cake. So it didn’t look as pretty, but it sure tasted good! Thanks again!
Carolyn says
Hi Katherine.
So glad it met with expectations. I suspect the frosting difference might come down to different chocolate. What brand did you use? If yours was darker in colour and too thick, I think it must be the chocolate that’s the culprit.
Katherine says
Is the “Stevia Extract” liquid stevia or powdered stevia? I see both for sale under the same name “stevia extract”. Thanks! Can’t wait till all my ingredients arrive in the mail! Hopefully this will be a good low-carb alternative for birthdays around here! 🙂
Carolyn says
I typically use the liquid form but you could use either.
Misty says
I made this for my husband’s 40th birthday. It was so good and reminded me of a cake my Granny used to make when I was a child!! This is probably the best chocolate cake I have eaten!!! We had folks over that do not avoid sugar, as we do, and 4 of the 6 chose this cake over the “other” one! I will be making this again! Thank you for all you do!!
Carolyn says
So good to hear!
Nick says
I made this yesterday for my wife’s birthday (we are low-carbers), and it is AMAZING. She’s a very finniky eater when it comes to ‘food substitutes’ and she was blown away by how good it is!
I made my own almond flour/milk and think I will leave the skin ON them next time, as the milk tasted like it was missing something.
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it, Nick! Interesting about the milk not tasting as good without the skins.
Kari says
Ooh this looks good!! Imm more used to using coconut flour rather than almond flour (carbcount is lower I think) , but I think I have some in the cupboard. Went searching online for chocolate cupcakes today -been having cravings, but have to watch the blood sugar 🙁 also wanted to stay in ketosis yet still satisfy my far too prominent sweet tooth, lol.
Im sure I cant substitute coconut flour for the almond flour, right? They behave differently if I remember correctly.
How many cupcakes would this make? Id like to get it much less than 5 per serving 🙂
I also cant get swerve in norway, gotta check if iherb.com has it, but i do have a different brand, both granulated and powdered, so it should work ( dont have the patience to wait two weeks for delivery, lol)
Thanks for the recipe! Cant wait to try it!
Carolyn says
No, you wouldn’t be able to substitute coconut flour in here. I think it would make at least 16 cupcakes, if not more.
Jamie says
I’m quite afraid the next time you check out your analytics, you’re going to think I’m a stalker. It’s *sorta* true in that I seem to come to your site at least once a day! But I promise I am only stalking recipes 😀 I just get so excited by the idea of treats for my daughter that won’t cause a crazy dance with insulin. And we’re heading into the holidays, and I have some type 2s in my family, so now I’m all excited for an old school Christmas with a lot of the traditional stuff.
ANYWAY, I made this cake tonight in practice. I was so pleased with the height and general texture! A little eggier than I think a cake should be, but that’s because I’m not used to almond flour (uh, rather, almond meal. For the holidays, I’ll splurge on the good flour, but for getting my baking feet wet with the recipes, I went a little less expensive). My daughter loved it, though, and that’s the point! I didn’t make the frosting, but it was quite lovely with whipped cream.
Thanks so much for your blog. Truly.
Carolyn says
Don’t worry, I don’t check individual IP addresses! 😉 Glad you liked the cake. The egginess may be from using almond meal in place of almond flour, but I do understand the need to keep costs down!
Christa says
Could you use softened cream cheese instead of sour cream in the frosting? I’m not quite sure how I feel about sour cream yet. Also, do you know of any alternative to xanthan gum?
Carolyn says
The cream cheese would be too thick and not the right consistency, although you could make a lovely chocolate cream cheese frosting. If you did, you probably wouldn’t need xanthan at all. I have a good recipe that uses cream cheese here: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2010/07/coconut-flour-cupcakes-with-chocolate-buttercream-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html
Amanda says
How did I miss this the first time you posted?!?! Its fabulous!!! What a genius recipe!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Amanda!
Edith Kilgo says
Is there any other sugar substitute that comes in a powdered form that would work for the frosting? Not a fan of powdered erythritol. But . . . might use it if somebody could tell me if the “cooling effect” is diminished by combining it w/ so many other things.
Carolyn says
Hi Edith. HAve you tried Swerve yet? The cooling effect is not very strong for most people, although a few do say that they still experience it. I don’t at all, so it’s a huge reason I like it more than other erythritol brands.
Stacey says
Can this be made the day ahead? Will it hold up well in the fridge? Should I wait and frost it the day of? Any advice?
JAMIE says
I added 20 drops black food coloring to the cake to make it a rich brown/black. This is an awesome recipe! Thanks so much for sharing.
Robin says
I made this cake recipe into cupcakes. I used a combo of erythritol, xylitol, stevia in the raw. I made them for my guy’s birthday, along with a coconut flavored butter cream frosting. OH MY!!! Delicious! Delicious! Delicious! You’d NEVER know they aren’t full of sugar! I’m so impressed. We ate 2 cupcakes each…hee hee. No side effects at all from the sweetener. The recipe made 21 cupcakes, and would have probably made more, except, not knowing how they’d come out, the first 12 were really large as I filled the cups 3/4 full. Wonderful!
Thank you for all your work on bringing this recipe to us!
Any idea about calories/serving of the cake?
Carolyn says
Actually, in this case I do because this was included in the Low Carbing Among Friends cookbook. For the 16 servings I made with a layer cake, it was 279 calories per.
Robin says
Thank you! Better back off from eating 2 cupcakes a day! But they’re soooo good! I will get some Swerve and try the chocolate frosting next time. The butter cream tasted way too much like butter, even with flavoring.
Robin says
I’ve decided to try this tomorrow for my sweet man’s birthday. It’s a surprise. I’ve been SCOURING the internet for how to use erythritol and xylitol in recipes for cakes, etc. I’m going to try this.
Have you used xylitol very much?
I’ve enjoyed perusing your site today. I’m a subscriber, but haven’t looked at it as much as I have today. Wonderful! Thank you! I’m living Atkins and will forever. You are a treat!
Carolyn says
I don’t use xylitol in large quantities because it has more of affect on my blood sugar and it can cause some tummy upset in some people. But just a few words of note if you are using a brand other than Swerve for the frosting, because they can differ a little…if it’s too thick, add some more sour cream or whole cream to thin it out. If it’s too thin, you can add a bit more xanthan to thicken it up.
I’ve made this recipe 4 or 5 times and it works perfectly for me every time but I always use swerve. Since Swerve has oligosaccharides, which are fibrous, it doesn’t always work perfectly with other brands. The cake always works, but the frosting consistency can be off a bit. Let me know how it goes!
Lily Rose says
Just made this for my birthday, because let’s face it, who wants to take on making a low-carb B.Day cake when THEY could be munchin’ on a gluten-filled one? It was spectacular, MAYBE not quite a wheat one, but pretty damn good. My first birthday since starting to low-carb, and I did not feel deprived!!!
jo says
…..and, to add to my earlier rave….this cake (including frosting) freezes and defrosts beautifully! I did in individual slices.
Carolyn says
Hey, that’s smart for portion control and making it last. I need to try that!
SkeeterN says
Today is my birthday and thinking of making your lovely cake. Since you cannot buy Swerve in my stores I have here on hand powdered Erythritol and also Ideal White. Which one would work best and if I use Erythritol how much would the measurements be with it being powdered and no granulated. Thanks.
Carolyn says
First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hmmm, okay. How about this…use the Ideal in the cake in the same amount as Swerve and use the powdered erythritol for the frosting. It might have a somewhat different consistency, so if it’s too thick, thin it out with some milk, 1 or 2 tbsp at a time. If it’s too thin, add more powdered erythritol and/or some cocoa powder to help thicken it.
jo says
Made this cake for a friend’s birthday over the weekend and it was a huge success (found it in your volume 3 of Low Carbing Among Friends). I used 14% fat sour cream in the frosting, and omitted the xanthan gum – just chilled the frosting for 1/2 hour before icing the cake – worked beautifully. Really lovely, rich, fudgy, delicious cake. Thank you!
Kathie Zeman says
Didn’t have Swerve so I used Stevia. Waaaaaay too sweet. The horrible taste of the Stevia ruined the flavor. The texture of the cake and the frosting was fabulous but it was, to me, inedible.
Alice B. says
Carolyn, I’m making this cake tomorrow for a SF dessert at a retirement party on Friday. I don’t gave any vanilla whey protein powder but do have both the Jarrow unflavored whey powder and another brand of chocolate whey powder on hand. Which do you think would be better to use in substitute for the vanilla whey powder? Should I add extra vanilla extract?
Just found I don’t have as much of the Swerve E confection blend on hand as I thought so will try running some regular Swerve through my Ninja. Hope that work.s.
So glad to finally get to be making this beautiful cake!
Thank you so much!
Alice
Carolyn says
Hi Alice,
I think you could do either protein powder, but if you go with the unflavoured, you may want to add a little extra sweetener. Jarrow has no added sweeteners, which I love, but the flavoured varieties typically do. And in either case, add a little more vanilla, maybe 1/2 tsp. Vanilla offsets chocolate and intensifies the flavour.
Your icing may be a little on the gritty side, even with the extra grinding, but it should still taste amazing!
Carolyn says
Also, if when you are making the icing, things aren’t firming up enough, email me immediately and we will see if we can figure out how to get it right. I am just not quite sure how the icing will do with the regular Swerve. carketch29 (at) yahoo (dot) com
LeeAnn says
I made this for my own birthday cake as I didn’t want a store-bought one, but still wanted a little splurge. This was absolutely amazing. I cannot thank you enough for helping me celebrate my birthday in a healthy way!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!