Heavenly keto gingerbread cake! This tender cream cheese pound cake is flavored with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves for a classic low carb holiday dessert. This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill.
I won’t lie, I have a mild obsession with gingerbread. Particularly as the weather cools down and the leaves start to fall. There’s something old-fashioned and homey about those warm spices baked into a cake or a cookie. You almost feel like you will step out your front door into a snowy European street from times past.
And this beautiful Gingerbread Cake is the latest culmination of my obsession. I have so many gingerbread recipes, such as my popular Keto Gingerbread Men, or the gorgeous and elegant Keto Gingerbread Cake Roll. And my Gingerbread Loaf is very popular around this time of year.
Gingerbread flavors lend themselves well to so many baked goods – cakes, cookies, puddings, soufflé, scones, biscotti. This time, I took the ever popular Cream Cheese Pound Cake, and turned it into gingerbread. How can you go wrong with an extra moist, dense, rich gingerbread pound cake?
What is in traditional gingerbread cake?
It goes without saying that gingerbread contains plenty of ginger, but that’s not the only spice that adds to the classic flavor. It also contains a fair amount cinnamon, as well as cloves, nutmeg, and/or allspice.
Conventional gingerbread typically also contains lots of sugar and molasses. It’s this last addition that gives gingerbread it’s rich, dark color and flavor. Alas, molasses is hardly keto friendly and while I have used a teaspoon here and there on occasion, it’s not enough to add the kind of deep brown color for a full cake.
So how do you make Keto Gingerbread Cake?
Excellent question, my keto friend. I do have plenty of tricks up my sleeve when it comes to keto baking, to improve texture, flavor, and appearance, without increasing the carb load.
This is an almond flour cake and of course I used my trusty Bob’s Red Mill finely blanched almond flour. It never fails to produce fine-crumbed cakes that rival their high carb counterparts. But please check the recipe notes if you need to be nut-free.
Now, to get that darker color, I always add a tablespoon of cocoa powder. That’s not normal in gingerbread cake but it works and it isn’t enough to make the flavor taste at all like chocolate. With sufficient ginger and cinnamon in the mix, you don’t get any hint of the cocoa.
Speaking of the spices, you can go as heavy or as light as you like here. Inevitably whenever I make keto gingerbread recipes, someone says it’s to much spice, and someone says it’s not enough. I write my recipes for the middle of the road folks, but like many of you, I prefer lots of gingery goodness!
And now that Swerve Brown is available, I prefer that for any gingerbread recipe. It has a richer, more molasses-like flavor.
You know what takes this keto cream cheese pound cake over the top? A sprinkle of powdered sweetener and a drizzle of my sugar-free caramel sauce. It’s heavenly! But a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream would be good too.
Can you freeze keto gingerbread cake?
Heck yeah! In fact, this would be a perfect keto cake to make ahead of the holidays and freeze until you’re ready to serve.
As with all keto baked goods, let it cool completely first. Then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place either in a sealable freezer bag (heavy duty is best) or a large tupperware. And just freeze the naked cake, with no garnish or glaze. You can make that later.
Let it thaw at room temperature in its wrappings and then it should be perfect for serving when you’re ready. Add any powdered sweetener or caramel sauce as you serve.
Many thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for partnering with me to bring you this recipe.
Keto Gingerbread Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup Swerve Brown
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups almond flour (see notes for nut-free)
- 1 ½ tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Powdered sweetener
- Sugar-free caramel sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a 10 to 12 cup capacity bundt pan very well.
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until well combined. Beat in the brown "sugar" sweetener until lightened and fluffier, about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract.
- Add the almond flour, spices, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt all at once and beat in until well combined. Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan and bake 55 to 65 minutes, until the top is set and firm to the touch.
- Remove and let cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before flipping out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sweetener and/or drizzle with homemade sugar-free caramel sauce.
Kimberley Fletcher says
My daughter LOVED your gingerbread loaf or pound cake recipe last winter. I cannot find the recipe. Is it still on the site?
Carolyn says
This is a better, updated one. If she loved the other, she will love this one!
CJ says
Hi Carolyn! I’m trying to come up with a nice dessert, and I recently saw an episode of America’s Test Kitchen where they made a 4-layer gingerbread cake. Since I can’t use that recipe (as wonderful as it looks), would this one be enough for four layers! Thanks!
Carolyn says
I honestly don’t know… depends on the size of the pans and the thickness of the layers. If it’s 8 or 9 inches… probably not. You’d need to increase it
sheila says
made this recipe everyone loved it
Kimberly Benton says
TY I have made this twice and, its delicious, the 2nd time was better than the first but, both times had me wanting more
Fariba says
Delicious. I made this beauty for my Christmas party and no one even noticed it’s made with almond flour. Everyone asked for seconds. So easy to make. I didn’t use brown sweetener but it tasted very good. Thanks for your always wonderful and trusty recipes Carolyn. Happy Holidays 🌺
Julie says
OMgosh!! This is sooooo freaking yummy!! It was wonderful with a cup of coffee! The next time I make it (which will be in the next two days), I’m going to slightly increase the ginger, cloves and cinnamon! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!
Donna says
I made this yesterday and it is delicious! Next time I will add more ginger, nutmeg and cloves – however, it was still a delicious cake! So easy to make. I wish I could share the photo I made it in my Christmas Tree Bundt pan. So pretty sprinkled with powdered snow! 🙂
Stephen McCulloch says
We tried the Keto Gingerbread Pound Cake with the following flavour adjustments:
lemon extract instead of vanilla
2 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
It is a flavour profile from our family tradition. It turned out wonderfully.
Mary Moody says
Lemon curd is an excellent topping for a warm, yummy gingerbread. If you haven’t tried it I challenge you to try it sometime. The combination of the two makes a great flavor profile.
Kim says
This is FANTASTIC ! I have been keto/low carb baking for a couple years and haven’t found much we all LOVE. This is it! Easy to put together with simple ingredients in any low carb kitchen. This is the first recipe of yours I’ve made, although I’ve been a fan for a long time. Your photos are so beautiful and I’ve always thought your baking would be too complicated for me, but this was simple and incredible. My very particular family all LOVED this cake. I skipped the powdered sweetener and served with Smuckers SF caramel sauce and a dollop of whipped cream. Perfection !
Susan says
Hi Carolyn. I go back to Atkins’ Diet Revolution of the late 70s so I’ve pretty much seen it all from the dreadfully bitter soy flour and other equally unsavory nasty ingredients to today. You and your recipes ROCK!!! I cannot remember how I even stumbled on your site, but I’m glad I did! I’ve bought three of your cookbooks and everything I’ve tried so far has been out of this world! I’ve never had much trouble with coming up with main dishes and breakfasts, but baked goods and desserts are tricky and I am so grateful for all of your hard work!
I recently moved and my bundt pans are still packed away (translated I have no idea where they are) so I decided to try this batter in cupcake pans and they release very easily from the cupcake papers. I got 16 average sized muffins which was the same as the cake serving size and I plan on baking up another batch in my larger sized muffin tins which will probably yield a dozen. I’m going to freeze them individually and pop them into a freezer bag for my husband’s late night sweet tooth attacks!
Barbara Hanselman says
This recipe for gingerbread is one of the best I have ever tasted! And the salted caramel sauce is a must for this as well as other dessert accents.
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Christine says
I really want to make this, but do not have a bundt pan. Can you suggest an alternative please? Thank you from Scotland x
Carolyn says
Try a 9×9 inch square pan.
Shawn says
Will the cake come out of the greased pan or did you use parchment paper?
Carolyn says
You can’t use parchment paper in a bundt pan or your cake will look all weird and wrinkled. It comes out easily if it’s well greased and truly a good non-stick pan.
Barbara Hanselman says
I didn’t have a bundt pan but a tube cake pan (for making angel food cake) worked just as well.
Sandi says
This looks delicious. I do not own a Bundt pan and was wondering if a silicone Bundt pan would work for this recipe and other Bundt recipes of yours or would I be better off purchasing a metal Bundt pan. Thanks as always.
angela says
I miss starbucks gingerbread loaf with lemon glaze. You have a few different gingerbread cake recipes and wondering which of those you think would resemble it the best? I would want to make the lemon glaze so I don’t know if one recipe over others would taste better with the lemon glaze??
MJ says
Hi, I made this and unfortunately it was very dry. Not sure what I did wrong but used the exact ingredients in the recipe. ???
Carolyn says
Sounds over-baked then, if you did use all the same ingredients, because cream cheese pound cake is overly moist, if anything. What brand of flours and sweetener did you use?
Lauren says
Hi!
I just made this tonight and it’s delicious. Just wondering if the nutrition info is including or excluding the caramel sauce?
Thanks!
Carolyn says
Excluding.