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Published: Feb 5, 2014 · Modified: Mar 11, 2021 by Carolyn

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake – Low Carb and Gluten-Free

Name: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 2 cups almond flour; 2/3 cup dark cocoa; 1/3 cup Coconut flour; 1/3 cup unflavoured whey protein powder; 1 tbsp instant coffee; 1 ½ tsp baking soda OR 1 tbsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (omit if using baking powder); 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 cup butter (softened); 3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener; 4 large eggs; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1/4 tsp Stevia Extract; 3/4 cup almond milk; 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (omit if using baking powder); 8 ounces cream cheese (softened); 4 tbsp butter (softened); 1 cup creamy peanut butter (I do not recommend natural peanut butter here); 1 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener; 1 cup heavy cream; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 5 tbsp butter; 2 oz unsweetened chocolate; 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake has rich chocolate flavour with a creamy peanut butter frosting and sugar free chocolate ganache. My best low carb chocolate cake recipe yet!

I have a theory and I’d like to share it with you. It’s very deep, very serious, and it requires careful consideration. It may change life as we know it. It may change the way you perceive everything in the world. From this moment forward, nothing will be the same again. I need you to be sure you are ready for it, that you can handle it. If you don’t think you’re ready, it’s best to stop reading now. Just turn away. Or close your mind and just look at the pretty pictures. You are even allowed to scroll straight down to the recipe if you need to; I won’t be offended. Okay, ready? Deep breath, everyone. Here it is, my life-altering theory:

Chocolate ganache fixes everything.

Wait, what? You don’t think that’s earth shattering news? Think about it! Think about the impact this could have! Chocolate ganache, that silky smooth layer of sweetness that drips down the sides of the most delicious desserts. Seriously, this stuff could bring about world peace. It makes people happy. It certainly makes me happy. And best of all, it hides my lousy cake-decorating skills. If chocolate ganache can make my messily frosted cakes look this good, what can’t it do?

Try it! The next time you frost a cake with regular buttercream frosting, compare it to the ones shown in cooking magazines. Then you will realize just how lacking in ability you really are. Then whip up some chocolate ganache, preferably my low carb, sugar-free chocolate ganache, and drizzle it over the top and down the sides. See what I mean? Chocolate ganache fixes everything.

Okay, so maybe I am going a wee bit far with the world peace chocolate ganache connection. But still, chocolate ganache is my go-to cake decorating technique, mostly because it isn’t much of a technique at all. Just pour and go. And when I envisioned a big chocolate peanut butter layer cake with deep dark chocolate layers and rich peanut butter frosting, I also envisioned it with chocolate ganache dripping down the sides. Even if it hadn’t been part of the plan originally, I am sure I would have resorted to it in the end. Because once again, I was came face to face with my inability to frost a cake neatly, no matter how hard I try. So chocolate ganache to the rescue, again!

Creating Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake

This gorgeous low carb chocolate cake recipe has been flitting around in my brain for quite some time. There are any number of high carb, gluten-filled versions out there, most notably this chocolate peanut butter cake from Smitten Kitchen. I’d seen it ages ago and always wondered if I could make it over to be low carb and gluten-free.

My confidence in my abilities has increased dramatically since then, and I was craving a big, rich delicious keto layer cake, so I decided to give it a go. I experimented a bit with my chocolate cake batter this time and used baking soda instead of baking powder, with a bit of cream of tartar and some acid (vinegar) to activate the soda during baking.

If you don’t have these items, you can simply use baking powder instead. But I have to say that this is hands down my BEST low carb chocolate cake batter to date. It is perfectly moist, perfectly light and incredibly fine-textured, with an amazing chocolate flavour. No one would be able to tell that this is not a conventional chocolate peanut butter layer cake.

Frosting the Low Carb Chocolate Cake

For the frosting, I really just took the recipe from the most popular recipe of 2013, my Chocolate Peanut Butter Popsicles, and modified it a bit to make it into a frosting-like consistency. It worked beautifully. It is light and easy to spread. I could, perhaps, have made a little more of it, but I don’t like my cakes with thick layers of frosting. I prefer a light coating that is flavourful enough to complement the flavour of the cake itself. I did find that I needed to refrigerate the cake for a while before it was set enough to spread ganache on top. And this worked perfectly too, as the ganache set quickly on the cold frosting.

More Chocolate Peanut Butter Recipes You Might Like:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Molten Lava Cake
Peanut Butter Chocolate Milkshake (from She Wears Many Hats)
Peanut Butter Chocolate Scones
Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (from It’s Yummi)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake – Low Carb and Gluten-Free

My best low carb chocolate cake recipe yet! Rich chocolate flavour with a creamy peanut butter frosting and sugar free chocolate ganache.

4.72 from 7 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: low carb chocolate peanut butter cake

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: servings

Ingredients

Cake:

2 cups almond flour
⅔ cup dark cocoa
⅓ cup Coconut flour
⅓ cup unflavoured whey protein powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda OR 1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cream of tartar omit if using baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter softened
¾ cup Swerve Sweetener
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon Stevia Extract
¾ cup almond milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar omit if using baking powder

Peanut Butter Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese softened
4 tablespoon butter softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter I do not recommend natural peanut butter here
1 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache:

5 tablespoon butter
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
¼ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Cake:

Preheat oven to 325F and grease 3 8-inch round cake pans well. Line bottom of pans with circles of parchment and grease parchment.
In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, coconut flour, whey protein powder, instant coffee, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.
In a large bowl, beat butter with sweetener until well combined. Beat in eggs, vanilla extract, and stevia extract.
Beat in half of the almond flour mixture, and then almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Beat in remaining almond flour mixture until well combined.
Divide batter evenly among prepared cake pans and bake 22 to 25 minutes, until set and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove and let cool in pans 10 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Frosting:

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and peanut butter until well combined.
Beat in sweetener, cream and vanilla extract until mixture is smooth.
Place one layer of cake on a serving platter and spread top with about ¾ cup of frosting. Top with another layer and another ¾ cup frosting. Add remaining layer and spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake.
Refrigerate cake until frosting is firm, about 2 hours.

Chocolate Ganache:

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and unsweetened chocolate together, stirring until smooth.
Stir in powdered sweetener and vanilla extract.
Let cool 5 to 10 minutes, until thickened but still pourable.
Pour over top of cake, allowing it to drip down sides.
Let set 20 minutes before serving.

Notes

Serves 20. Each serving has 11 g of carbs and 5 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 6 g.

369 Calories; 34g Fat (78.2% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 101mg Cholesterol; 380mg Sodium.

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake – Low Carb and Gluten-Free