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.
Jennifer says
I don’t have any instant coffee, would it be really noticeable if I leave it out? I do have regular coffee, though.
Carolyn says
You can leave it out…it simply enhances the chocolate flavor.
Paula says
Awesome
Jane Armstrong says
I want to make this for my own birthday this weekend. What may I use in lieu of Stevia? I use Swerve and am wondering how much I would use to replace the Stevia.
Carolyn says
About 1/4 cup
Carrie says
How many cupcakes would this recipe make?
Also, does it need to be refrigerated if you aren’t doing the sour cream frosting?
Carolyn says
I don’t know, I’ve never made it as cupcakes. Probably 12.
Priscilla Driver says
RCarolyn. Thank you so much for this recipe. This was my first attempt at a low carb cake and frosting for my husbands birthday. I used this recipe and your chocolate buttercream frosting. It was wonderful!!! Thank you again for your time and effort!! Blessings to you and your family!
Nicole says
I just made this cake today and holy crap on a cracker.. it was amazing! I used one 9×13 square pan and cut it into a football shape for a friend’s birthday cake. It was fluffy and moist, and the frosting was delicious. He was so excited to eat cake being recently diagnosed as borderline diabetic and having to change his whole way of eating. And I have extra cake and frosting to keep for myself..lol Thanks for sharing!
Carolyn says
Oh fantastic. So glad it was such a hit!
Rebecca Anderson says
I found the problem it was calculating the swerve confectioners as an insane amount of carbs. Once I adjusted for that the carb count actually dropped to 8 total on my end 🙂 Sorry for the heart attack everyone. Please feel free to delete the above comment so it doesn’t stress people out.
AQ says
You could intensify the color by using the black cocoa from KA — just sub 1/4 cup of your regular cocoa with that. It will up your total carb count by 4g but the color and the flavor is divine.
Diane Downing says
I was wondering if the amounts for the swerve are right for the frosting? Someone else asked the question but it wasn’t answered. 3 cups seems like a ton.
Thanks,
Diane
Lynnea says
would sour cream work in the cake batter in placement of the Greek yogurt?
Carolyn says
Yes that should work just fine.
Rebecca says
Is there another liquid that could work instead of almond milk in the cake?
I love your site. It’s sure helps make keto a maintainable lifestyle for someone who has always loved to bake!
Carolyn says
Sure, try half heavy cream, half water.
Renuka says
What can I sub the whey protein with?
I don’t do well with whey.
I have sun warrior. Will that work? Else, swap the protein for something else?
Carolyn says
I find egg white protein powder to be the best sub but any protein powder should work.
Colleen W says
What kind of cocoa do you use?
Carolyn says
Whatever’s on sale! Not quite but honestly, I don’t have a single favourite. I’ve used everything from Navitas raw cacao powder to Hershey’s. These days I lean toward the fair trade brands so at least I know I am not supporting any slave trade.
Jessica says
Made this for Easter Sunday dinner… I too had an issue with the icing. I took granulated Stevia (Anthony’s brand) and powdered it using a Ninja blender then sifted it. I also only used 2.5 cups instead of 3. In creating the icing, after adding the xanthum gum, the texture was perfect. Then I added the melted chocolate and the icing seemed to seize and over thicken. I left it sit three hours at room temperature and cakes cooled for the same time. When I returned to ice the cakes, just had to add some warmed almond milk to loosen up the icing. In tasting, the cooling effect brought about the grit. I guess I will have to splurge on powdered Swerve for the next time despite the cost! Where’s the most economical place to buy it? I found finely ground Bob’s Red Mill Almond flour at Sam’s Club to be the most economical. Can’t wait to try this cake!
Carolyn says
The reason you had trouble with the frosting is because you used granulated stevia. This recipe calls for powdered erythritol, which behaves very very differently. I don’t know where you live but Swerve has a good store locater. They are really in almost every state now but if you’re off the beaten path, it might be necessary to order online.
Brandy says
Hi there! I was wondering how the carbs and such were calculated. We’ve added everything up and divided it by the serving size and are a bit worried as we got 52 carbs, 14g sugars and 177 calories per piece. Yikes!
Carolyn says
Are you counting Swerve as carbs? Because it doesn’t affect my blood sugar so I don’t count the carbs at all. Most low carbers do not.
Brandy says
We were going based on all of the packages nutritional guides, the amounts used & divided that by serving size. I hope that we are doing something wrong haha.
It turned out great besides my mistake of using granulated swerve vs powdered for the icing. We were both crunching away. Haha.
Carolyn says
So you definitely have to be doing something wrong and I wonder if you entered sugar instead of Swerve. Because I just put in all the ingredients into my software (MacGourmet) and this is the nutritional info (not counting Swerve as carbs).
Food energy: 279kcal
Saturated fatty acids: 10.19g
Monounsaturated fatty acids: 3.97g
Polyunsaturated fatty acids: 0.53g
Total fat: 22.48g
Calories from fat: 202
Cholesterol: 31mg
Carbohydrate, by difference: 10.02g
Total dietary fiber: 4.89g
Protein: 8.87g
Total sugars: 1.86g
With the sugars only coming to 1.86g, you definitely input something incorrectly. Even if you DO count the carbs in Swerve, it’s not a sugar so it won’t ever come to 14g.
Antonio Caparroz Aguayo says
hello, it looks great, the nutritional value of proteins, fats and total kcal not really’ll have you targeted?
Sarah says
I’m sorry to say that this recipe did not turn out well for me. The texture of the cake turned out like a sponge- rubbery and bubbly and weird. Luckily it does absorb things and I hid the weird texture with whipped cream and frosting. It would probably work okay if soaked with a flavorful syrup or something. Your almond crusted butter cake is AWESOME though- it’s our low-carb favorite, served with fresh berries, slivered almonds and an orange-almond mascarpone cream. I think next time I want chocolate cake I’ll try adding chocolate to that recipe instead. Thank you for all the work you put into this site- so many good ideas and jumping off places!
Carolyn says
I have never had my cake turn out like that, so I am not sure what happened! I’ve also never had anyone say theirs did either. I can’t tell what the issue is but something definitely went wrong.
Dawn says
I’m planning on making this for my 4 yr old’s birthday. Do you personally prefer the chocolate sour cream frosting or the whipped ganache frosting?
Carolyn says
I honestly like both. I like the tang of the sour cream one and the richness of the ganache. It all depends!
Karen says
I just made this cake for my dad’s 85th birthday. My dad has type 2 diabetes and a little bummed that he couldn’t have a birthday cake. I searched the internet when I came across your site. I immediately began to assemble the ingredients. I was surprised at the costs of them but with that said it was worth every penny of it. The cake was AMAZING!!!!!! It was very rich. Quick small piece was incredibly filling. And my dad had the best birthday gift ever. It has opened a whole new world to low carb baking. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it and happy birthday to your dad!
Phillip says
Hate to say this but it was a total flop. Baked exactly as directed. Texture seemed fine and moist but both the cake and the frosting tasted awful. Tossed it in the trash and regretted the $30 spent on the ingredients to make this. 🙁
Carolyn says
Did you use Swerve? Or a different sweetener? Whatever you used, sounds to me like you may be someone who gets the strange tastes from certain sweeteners. Sorry it wasn’t good for you, but I know it’s a good cake that most people love. The problem is, every palate is different and some people get funny tastes from erytrhitol or stevia. Or even sucralose (that’s the one that I don’t like!).