Love at first bite with this keto caramel cake. Your tastebuds will dance for joy and you won’t believe it’s low carb and sugar free! Tender almond flour vanilla cake with a rich caramel glaze.
There are some recipes that just make me absolutely jump for joy. And this caramel cake is one of those recipes. It will make you jump for joy too, when you taste it. Two layers of the most tender low carb vanilla cake with a rich glaze of sugar free caramel. Really, this is keto dessert heaven.
And I don’t say that lightly because I make a lot of heavenly keto desserts. I have a sweet tooth and I am not afraid to use it. Nor am I afraid to get in there and attempt to make a keto version of traditional dessert like Southern Caramel Cake. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
The inspiration for this Caramel Cake Recipe
Why is it that this Canadian seems to love southern recipes so much? Especially southern dessert recipes. This keto cake recipe was inspired by the one from my friend’s blog, Grandbaby Cakes. Jocelyn is a genius with cakes and other desserts and she’s also a total sweetheart in real life. But I may really just follow her so I can salivate over her recipes and then attempt to keto-fy them. Because inspiration abounds from that quarter!
I actually made this gorgeous caramel cake recipe over the summer and served it at a small 4th of July gathering. So why am I just sharing it with you now?
Well the summer was long and hot and who wants to be heating up their kitchen during a heat wave? Am I right? But also I needed to get my updated Sugar Free Caramel Sauce recipe in place before I could share this beauty with you. Which took me a while because I wanted to create a how-to video for the caramel sauce.
And finally, it occurred to me that this is such a great keto holiday dessert, especially if you aren’t a pumpkin or pecan fan.
Tips for making Keto Caramel Cake
- The cake itself is simply an almond flour based vanilla cake, although it does have a little bit of coconut flour in it for better texture. I find that these two really work to create the best cake-like consistency.
- Yes, the cake also contains protein powder. As I have said about a million times, protein powder helps keto baked goods rise and hold their shape in the absence of gluten. You can use egg white protein instead. Check out my primer on the science of baking with almond flour for more info.
- Having all of your ingredients at room temperature is a must. It does you no good to soften your butter properly and then to dump in cold eggs, causing the butter to clump up again!
- The glaze for this sugar-free caramel cake is simply a double batch of my Sugar Free Caramel Sauce, but you leave out the extra water at the end. This helps it thicken up more and become a spreadable frosting. It will be quite liquid when it’s warm so be sure to let it cool properly before trying to frost your cake.
- The caramel sauce isn’t hard to make but if you find it too thick or too thin, you can still rescue it. For thin caramel sauce, add a tablespoon or two of powdered erythritol such as Swerve Confectioners. For overly thick sauce, stir in some water while stirring over low heat. Just a tablespoon or two should do it.
- The updated sugar free caramel sauce uses BochaSweet, which is part of why it stays so soft and doesn’t re-crystallize. Unfortunately, because of the popularity of some of my recipes made with this sweetener, they have sold out on Amazon and their website is taking backorders. Hopefully they will clear this up soon! You sub in xylitol or allulose in its place. See the notes in the recipe for more details.
- This is a RICH cake, coming in at a whopping 388 calories and 35g of fat per serving. I set the servings at 12 but it can easily extend to 16, especially if you serve it with a little keto vanilla ice cream!
Honestly, this sugar free caramel cake is so good, it might just leave you speechless. Sometimes I amaze even myself. And that’s a very good thing.
More Delicious Keto Caramel Recipes
Keto Caramel Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup unflavored whey protein powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ⅔ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup almond milk
- 2 batches sugar free caramel sauce
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325F and grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. Cut parchment to line the bottoms of the pans and grease the parchment as well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sweetener together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time and scrape down the beaters and bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract
- Add the dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with the almond milk. Beat until well combined.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans and spread to the edges. Smooth the tops and bake 25 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are firm to the touch.
- Remove and let cool in the pans, then flip out onto a wire rack. Be sure to peel off the parchment paper if it sticks to the cake layers.
Caramel Glaze:
- Prepare a double batch of the Sugar Free Caramel Sauce but DO NOT add the additional water at the end of the recipe. Be sure to use a large saucepan (at least 3 quarts) as it will bubble up quite a bit.
- Let the sauce cool down to room temperature. It should be quite thick at this point, but still pourable, and it will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Place one layer of cake on a serving plate and pour about ⅓ of the caramel sauce on top. Carefully spread to the edges with an offset spatula and let sit another 10 to 15 minutes to thicken further.
- Place the second layer of cake on top. Pour some of the caramel over the top, letting it drip down the sides, spreading it over the top and sides as you go. Continue until the top and sides are well covered. Alternatively, you can simply let it drip down the sides and not spread it over.
- ***If your caramel is too thin and is dripping too much off the sides of the cake, you can whisk in a tablespoon or two of powdered Swerve to help thicken it up. If it gets too thick, you can gently re-warm it over low heat to thin it up again.
Megan Goodman says
This was amazing! Our family has been eating low-carb for 7 years and we have attempted SO.MANY
desserts that look good, but ultimately disappoint. But you have never let us down. Your Kentucky Butter Cake and brownies were recent hits, but this is my new favorite. We made this for Easter and even our non-low carbers went back for seconds. Way to just nail this, Carolyn! You made our holiday 🙂
Carolyn says
I am so happy to hear it!
Patricia says
This is hands down the most amazing cake I have ever had!! My mom used to make the best caramel cake and I have been craving it but it doesn’t fit into my Keto lifestyle. This was sooooo good!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Even my non-Keto family live it!
Carolyn says
I am so glad to hear it!
Orla says
Hi,
I’m really eager to make this for my boyfriend’s birthday. I live in the UK where we use the metric system so I don’t understand the 1/4 cup etc. I was wondering if i did an online convert to grams, would this be okay?
Carolyn says
It won’t be accurate but for your info, a cup of blanched almond flour is about 100g and a cup of coconut flour is 110g.
D'Lovely says
I spent hours in my kitchen creating this last night. It turned out wonderful! The cook time for my cakes took almost twice as long at 325, the sauce took a lot of whisking to make sure the xantham gum dissolved properly, AND the red sharpie marks I made on the parchment paper from creating the perfect circle for my pans transferred to my cakes making the edges pink, BUT in the end, the cake came out beautiful. It is moist, and rich, and could almost pass for bakery shoppe caramel cake.
I even served my non-keto, non-low carb spouse and she loved it too.
Thank you!
Carolyn says
So delighted to hear it! Now… you may want to check that oven temp, because it sounds like it’s off a bit. Could be the kind of pan you used too but oven temp is the first culprit.
Pam says
I’m at high altitude (4200 ft) and my baked goods take additional time to bake. Could this be her problem?
Tessi says
Maybe flipping the parchment paprr over so the ink is not on the batter side will stop the ink transfer.
Megan says
Wow. This is by far the best Keto cake I have ever made, and I have made many! I did not even have all of the right ingredients but I don’t mind flying by the seat of my pants when I am too excited to try a recipe. I did not have whey protein isolate so I ground a 1/4 c. of flax seed meal and added that instead. The rise was perfect! I did let the cakes cool for 10 min before placing on wire racks because they were a bit delicate. For the caramel sauce I only had powdered Swerve and used that for the whole recipe and added the molasses. I assumed it would crystallize due to the comments in the post and from personal experience but it has not yet (24 hrs later) yay! I plan on using the cake recipe for any kind of cake, can’t beat it. I NEVER comment on recipes, but this is too good not to! Thank you!
Carolyn says
I am delighted it worked out so well!
Dana Cox Berryhill says
Could you use 6in pans?
Carolyn says
I am sure you could but I don’t know the bake time for that.
Tracey J says
Can’t wait to try! Can I use something besides Swerve Brown for the caramel sauce?
Carolyn says
Please read the recipe, I am pretty clear about your options in it.
Paula says
I see that several people have asked for various portion substitutions and I have read through them and through your recipe notes .. but nobody has asked if it would be ok to use pea protein substitute? Would that be okay in this recipe?
I can’t wait to make this cake!!!
Thank you so much!
Paula
Carolyn says
Any dry protein powder should work EXCEPT bone broth protein (tends to make things gummier). The only thing I would worry about is… will it make it greenish? Most pea protein powder is a greenish tinge.
Roberta Martinez says
The cake looks very dense and did not rise well to bring it to an airy like cake. I didn’t use whey protein and used an extra 1/4 cup of coconut flour. I’m not sure what I did wrong. The baking powder should have made it rise. Please help.
Carolyn says
Well I will be honest here, I am not accepting your review. You made a major error by your changes. Whey protein helps gluten free baked goods rise and hold their shape in the absence of gluten, which is a protein. And to sub it with coconut flour? No wonder it was so dense. Sorry, you need to read my primer here on baking with coconut flour. Please never ever give a crap review unless you make the recipe exactly and it doesn’t work out. That’s absolutely unfair to me! https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-basics-baking-with-coconut-flour/
Sheryl says
I hope it’s not too late to ask, I noticed the thread is a few years old , but I can’t wait to make this cake. Caramel cake is my favorite and now on keto I never thought I’d have it again.
I’m wondering if the Bocha sweet should be powdered or granulated? I have never used it before.
Also the swerve is brown sugar so that’s granulated just to confirm.
Carolyn says
I use the granulated.
Kelly Piper says
I was so excited to make this cake I made it before I bought all ingredients. My substitutions worked great so I thought I would share. This is the best low carb cake I have ever had. You must try it. I have already shared this recipe with my family and colleagues. So I did not have the whey protein powder so I used 1/2 C coconut flour instead of 1/4 C. I also did not have bocha sweet for the sauce so I substituted erythritol same measurements. This is so amazing I can not wait to make it again maybe I will put sugar free chocolate chips in the batter. Thank you for this recipe. I will now make another one of your gems!! Good job.
Peggy Whittington says
I would like to know what the cholesterol is in recipes! My husband is Diabetic and has very high Cholesterol.
Carolyn says
You can enter all the ingredients into MyFitnessPal or another calculator to find that out. However, I would HIGHLY recommend reading up on new cholesterol research since we’ve had it wrong for a very long time. Dietary cholesterol is not a major contributor to higher blood serum cholesterol for most people and those who eat a high fat, very low carb diet often find that they’re cholesterol actually goes DOWN over time.
Lynn says
I agree with Carolyn. Really check scientific research. Keto and baked goodies like this one are perfectly fine for those with High Cholesterol! Studies actually show that people following a keto diet reduce their cholesterol levels and many are able to get off the medications they were initially put on.
Sharon says
Hi Carolyn! I really want to make this cake, but before I do I need to get your take on some swaps I would need to make. Hypothetically, if I sub hazelnut meal for the almond flour (allergic), would that just ruin it completely due to the heaviness and the color difference (I realize it would no longer look like a vanilla cake)? Also, what is your opinion on subbing collagen powder or bone broth protein powder for the whey protein powder? I’m really not trying to be difficult…whey gives me a stomach ache. 🙁
Thank you for your opinion!!! No matter what, I am making that icing!
Carolyn says
Okay, hazelnut flour is great but it’s never as finely ground as almond and so definitely would be heavier and more coarse. But that’s fine. Do NOT sub collagen or bone broth powder here, though. It makes things very gummy. But you can do egg white powder.
Sharon says
Thank you so much!!! I appreciate all that you do and share! I will have to wait until I get the egg white powder…will post results if I ever accomplish this.
Sharon says
Carolyn, I made a vanilla cake recipe using coconut flour and used your caramel frosting recipe……..it was phenomenal. Thank you!
Carolyn says
Glad you liked it!
Tera says
OMG – this recipe is amazing!! I made this cake for Christmas and it was a big hit with Keto and non-Keto folks! I altered it the next week and made it a lemon cake with a lemon glaze – for a New Year’s Eve party – again major kudos from both sides of the fence. This feels and tastes just like a carb cake without any of the carbs.
On a separate note, I have been searching (without success- tried and trashed 7 recipes so far) for a great pancake recipe, and I fried a little bit of the cake batter – it also made a PERFECT pancake – now I just have to size it down to make a batch of pancakes.
Thank you so much for sharing!
#ketoforlife
Carolyn says
Thanks so much!
Rebekkah says
I just wanted to say Bravo! You have done it again! This is just wonderful! I added toasted pecans to the top and a little rum to the caramel… absolute heaven. The texture of the cake itself also – just incredible. Thank you so much for all of your hard work! ❤️
Carolyn says
Thanks, Rebekkah!
Azalia says
Thank you for this and all your delicious recipes!
I made half the cake recipe this morning for one layer, and it was delicious. It will probably be gone by tonight.
Making it for a holiday dinner and making your NY cheesecake for Thanksgiving. Love your books.
Thanks again.
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Emma says
Should I store this in the fridge or is it ok on the counter?
Carolyn says
Counter is fine for a day but fridge after that.
Emma says
This looks incredible! I want to make it for thanksgiving- if i make it a day ahead of time how do you suggest storing it?
Gabby says
Love it! Can I use coconut milk instead of the almond milk?
Carolyn says
In the cake? Sure not a problem.
Gabriela Leoni says
Yes. Thank you! Gonna make it tonight!
Kathy says
I can’t wait to try this cake! Caramel cake is my all time favorite and I haven’t had it in years. I have read a few reviews on Amz that say that Bocha sweet caused gas and tummy troubles – have you found that to be the case?
Carolyn says
Not at all but I am not using it full strength so that helps. Friends ate this cake (who aren’t keto) and no complaints from them either.
Natasha Rodriguez says
Has anyone tried using stevia instead of bocha sweet? Im from panama ( a very small country) and i cant find bocha sweet, molasses nor syrup. Thanks for the recipe BTW, looks amazing !
Carolyn says
No molasses in Panama? I would have thought that was sold everywhere. Stevia won’t work, I am afraid.
Tera says
I used Swerve (granulated) instead, and it tasted simply delicious!!! Moist, delicious, and the caramel sauce tasted better than any jar sauce I have ever bought.
Christy says
Thank you for sharing your results using Swerve. Swerve and Splenda are the only sweeteners that I have in my pantry currently. This cake looks delightful! I can’t wait to try it.
Michael Girard says
Follow up to my comment from yesterday…
The cake was a huge hit at my friend’s birthday party. Everyone loved it! The cake part was light and moist and deliciously buttery tasting. The frosting was gooey caramel goodness! Another huge hit, Carolyn!