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.
Cynthia Lippman says
Hi Carolyn, When you say you can sub egg white protein, do you mean like seperate the egg yoke and whites?
Carolyn says
No, I mean egg white powder. Dried egg whites.
Karen says
Hi Carolyn, can I use sour cream in the cake itself as well instead of Greek yogurt? Thanks!
Carolyn says
Sure!
Marilyn says
Your link shows Dutch process cocoa.
Does it matter what type of cocoa is
Used?
Carolyn says
It matters only in that Dutched cocoa has much better chocolate flavor.
Riley Hanson says
I love it but would I be able to substitute the almond flour with a non nut flour?
Carolyn says
Try sunflower seed flour.
Amber says
I’ve made literally dozens of your recipes. You’re always my go-to when looking for a recipe I know will work every time. When my husband asked me if I had a chocolate cake recipe for him, to convert his chocolate peanut butter cake cake he makes every year for my birthday, to Keto, I already had this recipe saved.
This was not only his first attempt at keto baking, but his first from-scratch cake as well. We used sour cream instead of Greek yogurt to lower the carb count, and love the tartness. The frosting was way too sweet for our taste, and I’ve adjusted the recipe in my records for the future. The frosting became too thick for his needs, but I used a little HWC to help him thin it to his liking. I wasn’t helping him, so not sure if he used too much xanthan gum or what.
Overall, no surprise, another excellent recipe. ❤️
Marcy Serkin says
I made this for a family birthday, and it did not disappoint! The cake has a rich, chocolatey flavor, great texture, and was nicely moist It’s not overly sweet, so with the sweet frosting, it’s exactly right. I loved this frosting. When I was mixing it, like Carolyn says, it seemed like it was going to be too liquid, but once I put in the xanthan gum, it was perfect. And the tang from the sour cream sets off the sweetness perfectly. One warning – make sure your ingredients are room temperature, or the melted chocolate will harden up when you add it in and make streaks. I added a few sugar free sprinkles to the top and the birthday candles, and it looked great. It was totally delicious, and my non-keto guests had no idea! I’m a huge fan of Carolyn’s recipes. I have all six cookbooks and check the blog daily. I’ve been doing keto for over three years so I feel like I’m kind of an expert on where to find the good recipes, and it’s definitely here. But this cake really outdid some of the others I’ve made!
Christie Hudson says
Hi there! I have chocolate cake questions but first, I LOVE your Kentucky Butter Cake and so does my family. My dad didn’t believe it was sugar free, but he still ate several slices despite being a diabetic! I’m relatively new to gf and keto cooking but my pantry is getting pretty good. However…I don’t have instant coffee, so can I use cold brewed coffee and how much? And I don’t have stevia extra. How can I replace it? I have swerve, erythritol, sukrin gold. Suggestions! Can’t wait to try this!!
Carolyn says
Don’t use coffee at all – it’s really simply to deepen the chocolate flavor. You can add another 1/4 tsp swerve.
Diana says
Can I use a bunt cake pan? Do I have to adjust the time or temperature?
Stephanie says
This cake was awesome. I used a blend of allulolose and monk fruit for the sweetener both granulated and powdered form for the frosting. I cut the frosting recipe in half and had plenty still. Used chocolate whey protein in the cake batter. Noticed that the frosting didn’t get gooey until I added the unsweetened chocolate, and I was careful to sprinkle in the xanthan gum little by little. It ended up working well. I added extra unsweetened chocolate because I actually thought the frosting was too sweet. Everyone likes this cake and I can’t stop eating it!
Anastasia says
Hi Carolyn, made it for my husbands birthday and it was awesome, my fluffiest keto cake yet! I think xanathan gum and yogurt as a sour base for baking powder to react with made all the difference. What could the cocoa powder be substituted with to keep this cake vanilla? Thanks so much for your amazing recipes!
Cheryl J Dunmyer says
In lieu of whey protein powder can vital wheat gluten be used?
Carolyn says
No idea, sorry.
Terri says
I can’t use erythritol. Would powdered stevia work?
Carolyn says
Not in the frosting… it doesn’t have enough bulk to make a proper frosting.
Stephanie B says
If i don’t have protein powder on hand, is there a substitution or will it be ok without?
Carolyn says
The only substitution is egg white protein and without it, it will be a little more fragile.
KW says
Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s absolutely delicious. Can you please recommend a substitute for the greek yoghurt in the recipe? Unfortunately most dairy doesn’t agree with me!
Thanks
Carolyn says
Try coconut yogurt.
Susan R. says
Hi Carolyn,
This is an amazing cake. The best I’ve ever made. Wonderful.
I made an adjustment to the cake recipe in order to create a German Chocolate flavor I used to make. I decreased the cocoa powder to 1/2 cup and the coffee crystals to 1/2 T (it was a “singles pack” from Folger’s instant) The chocolate flavor is not as rich but wonderful nonetheless for my application.
I had to use two 9″ dark non-stick pans so I baked at 300 degrees for 39 minutes (I have a very old small wall oven which needs to have the door seals replaced). The oven may have been the reason for the extended cooking time. But when the toothpick came out clean finally, they were perfect.
Thanks for ALL you do to make our Keto journey a delightful success!
Susan
Susan R says
Hi Carolyn,
I made this cake twice (first as a test, then as a birthday cake). Delicious.
Could you help me? My cakes (both recipes) had lots of air bubbles in the batter after they were baked. What did I do wrong?
Thanks so much,
Susan
Carolyn says
Not sure you are doing anything wrong. This is an older recipe so my cakes have gotten better since then. But you can also try tapping the pan gently on the counter once you’ve put your batter in. Or you could try another of my chocolate cakes with the same frosting… 🙂
Kelli Sessions says
I made this for a church potluck. Im low carb and wanted to be able to enjoy dessert and there are several GF people who get shorted on desserts. It was fantastic. It was gone in a heartbeat.
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Liz says
Could you use a vanilla pea protein powder instead of the whey protein powder? I just love your recipes and there are a couple with the whey in it, so I was wanting to know. Thank you.
Carolyn says
Sure, or egg white protein. That’s what I normally use instead of whey, if I need a dairy free cake.
Jody Pilon says
Just attempted to make the frosting and failed miserably in spite of following the instructions/ ingredients to the letter. I have a gritty chocolate mess that tastes waaaaay too sweet. Anybody have any tricks to salvage it? I don’t have enough ingredients to try a second time
Carolyn says
What brand of chocolate did you use? Some of the seize terribly… Try heating it over very low heat and adding hot water, 1 teaspoon at a time, whisking while you do so.
Jody Pilon says
It was ghirardelli which I have used successfully on other occasions . I ended up gently heating it as you said. It became a bit more like a ganache, but hey, the birthday cake was salvaged!
Carolyn says
Okay, the recipe I created this from was from the back of a Ghirardelli package (obviously their’s was not low carb) so it should have worked. But chocolate is temperamental, especially unsweetened chocolate. Glad you rescued it. And yes, when you have to add water like that, it changes but I am just happy you had something you could put on your cake!
Gina Rayeski says
Out of this world delicious chocolate cake, and keto! Easy to make too. I made this for my nieces birthday party and it was a huge hit and successful! Everyone not only loved it, but raves about it! Giant YUM ???? Making it tonight for my granddaughters birthday party too, which is tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll get the same response! I found your recipe on KETO KIDS, YouTube. They linked your recipe. Thank you!
Carolyn says
Thanks so much, Gina! Glad you liked it.
Elizabeth says
Carolyn, I have made quite a few of your Christmas goodies in the past few weeks which are just amazing. I just made this chocolate layer cake, and I must say, this is a gem! My frosting came out a little on the thick side, so I warmed up some heavy cream, stirred it through, and it came out beautifully. Thank you and Merry Christmas.
Carolyn says
Fantastic! Glad you rescued it.