As far as I am concerned, birthdays must involve chocolate. While I can appreciate a pretty keto vanilla cake as much as the next person, it simply doesn’t say “Happy Birthday!” to me.
I much prefer the classic combo of moist yellow cake and rich chocolate frosting for a keto birthday cake. It brings together the two flavors into a marriage of perfect harmony. With every forkful, you get a little vanilla and a little chocolate, and they meld together delightfully on your tongue.
Of course, I recognize that everyone has their own flavor preferences. And I have a whole host of keto cake recipes that are perfect for birthdays. From triple layer Keto Chocolate Cake to luscious low carb Lemon Cream Cake, you have many wonderful options.
But this keto yellow cake is one of my favorites. It’s so insanely moist and tender, with the perfect balance of flavors. And it’s perfect for any occasion – no need to save it for your birthday!
Why I love this recipe
- Perfect texture: Moist and fluffy, with a tender crumb, you will hardly believe it’s keto-friendly.
- Heavenly flavor: The subtle vanilla flavor of the cake complements the rich chocolate frosting perfectly.
- Easy to make: You will be delighted to find that it’s no harder than making a regular cake.
- Frosting options: You can mix and match frostings from any of my other keto cake recipes!
- Low carb and gluten-free: Made with almond flour and keto sweetener, it has only 3.4 grams net carbs per slice.
Ingredient Notes
- Almond flour: Make sure to use a good finely ground almond flour for the best cake texture. If you would prefer to use coconut flour, check out the Tips for Success.
- Protein powder: This helps the cake rise and be lighter and fluffier. I don’t recommend skipping it, but you can use whey, egg white, or plant-based protein.
- Sweetener: You can use either erythritol or allulose based sweeteners.
- Almond milk: This adds a little extra moisture. You can also use water or half water/half cream.
- Keto chocolate frosting: This cake is frosted with my delicious keto chocolate frosting.
- Kitchen staples: Butter, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt.
Overview: How to Make Keto Birthday Cake
- Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk together the almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Cream the butter: In another bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sweetener and mix until combined. Beat in the eggs, then mix in the egg yolk and vanilla.
- Finish the batter: Add half of the almond flour mixture to the butter mixture, then beat in the almond milk. Mix in the remaining almond flour mixture until well combined.
- Bake the cake: Divide the batter evenly between two greased 8-inch round cake pans and bake until the tops are golden brown and just firm to the touch.
- Frost the cake: Place one cake layer on a plate and spread the top with one-third of the frosting. Add the second layer and frost. Use the remaining frosting to cover the sides of the cake.
Tips for Success
Line the cake pans: I always recommend lining the cake pans with circles of parchment or silicone cake mats. This helps ensure you can flip the cake out of the pan without sticking.
Room temperature ingredients: When baking any cake, keto or not, make sure that the butter and eggs are both room temperature. Adding cold eggs into the creamed butter will make it clump up again.
Nut-Free Option: If you would rather use coconut flour for this recipe, follow the cake portion of my Keto Chantilly Cake. To make it more “yellow”, use 6 whole eggs instead of 4 eggs and 4 egg whites.
Protein powder: I really do recommend the protein powder for a lighter, fluffier texture. But do not use collage or bone broth protein, as those will make the cake quite gummy and hard to cook through.
Sweetener Options: Normally I don’t recommend allulose for cakes, as it can cause them to become overly dark. But the oven temperature for this cake is lower and I found that allulose actually worked. That said, please keep a very close eye on it in the oven if you use allulose. You may want to turn the oven temperature down to 300ºF if it seems to be darkening around the edges too quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can if it’s a keto cake! Conventional cakes with flour and sugar will kick you out of ketosis very quickly. But this keto yellow cake with chocolate frosting has very few carbs and no added sugar. It’s perfect for celebrating birthdays on keto or low carb diets.
You can bake the cake layers and store it in the refrigerator a day or two before assembling and serving. You can also wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze it. Just thaw completely, then assemble with the chocolate frosting.
This keto birthday cake recipe has 6.1g of carbs and 2.7g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.4g net carbs per slice.
More delicious keto cake recipes
Keto Birthday Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cup (280 g) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (54 g) whey protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup (75.67 g) butter, softened
- 2/3 cup (126.67 g) sweetener, erythritol or allulose
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (118.29 ml) almond milk, or water
- 1 recipe keto chocolate frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and grease the parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sweetener and beat until lightened and well-combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs, one at time, scraping down the beaters and sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.
- Beat in half of the almond flour mixture, then beat in the almond milk. Beat in the remaining almond flour mixture until well combined. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and spread to the edges.
- Bake 18 to 23 minute, until the tops are golden brown and just firm to the touch. Let cool 30 minutes in the pan before flipping out onto a wire rack.
- To frost, place one cake layer on a plate or serving platter. Spread the top with one-third of the frosting. Place the second layer on top and spread with another third of the frosting. Use the remaining frosting to cover the sides of the cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
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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Do your cakes’ nutritional values exclude or include the macros/calories of the frosting?
They include, unless stated otherwise.
Can I use half and half in place of the amount milk?
It’s thicker. I recommend watering it down a little.
What would you recommend for eggs if I want to halve this recipe?
You can always whisk an egg and measure out half of it.
Hi Carolyn,
Can I use Equip Unflavored Protein Powder for this recipe? I am excited to make this recipe but I am not sure if it will work.
Thanks in advance for your response.
No because it’s beef broth protein so it behaves a lot more like collagen.
Is whey isolate ok or should it be whey concentrate? I used whey isolate. I haven’t tried the cake yet. I made it for my coworkers birthday. We won’t try it tomorrow. It looks delicious!!
Isolate should work fine!
This is my favorite also. I can’t wait till my birthday.
Looks fabulous and I’m making it for my birthday in 2 weeks! Thank you
I love this recipe! It’s what made me have more hope about keto baking. I felt as though the only way to get a good keto cake was small sized, but this recipe is top notch!!! Thanks, Carolyn. I found it in your “Ultimate Guito Keto Baking” but am glad to review it here with you all! BTW, non Ketoers can’t tell the difference!! 😃
How did you know to release this 2 days before my birthday?
Well perfect timing! Early Happy Birthday!
Amazing recipe.
Looks yum, any way to make it dairy free?