It’s love at first bite with this Keto Caramel Cake. Just like the classic Southern dessert but with a mere fraction of the carbs.
There are some recipes that just make me absolutely dance with joy. And this Keto Caramel Cake is one of those recipes. With two layers of the tender low carb vanilla cake and a rich glaze of sugar free caramel, it 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 desserts like Southern Caramel Cake. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
You may have noticed that I take a lot of inspiration from Southern desserts. Recipes like Keto Italian Cream Cake and Keto Kentucky Butter Cake are some of my most popular. And this caramel cake deserves its place among them!
Why you will love this recipe
This recipe features two layers of keto vanilla cake and two batches of my well-loved sugar-free caramel sauce. The only real difference is that the caramel sauce is made to be a little thicker, so it doesn’t ooze right off the cake.
It isn’t difficult to make, but it does take some patience to spread the caramel and allow it to set properly. But once it does, you have the most delectably moist, flavorful cake with an ooey gooey frosting.
And while it looks and tastes like the real deal, it has only 3.9g net carbs per serving!
Reader Reviews
“OMG???????? Speechless. I cannot believe how lush this cake is! The cake batter is superb. I’ve found my favourite go to almond flour cake batter. It so moist. I’ve made three cakes this week using the same cake batter but different flavours. Thank you so much for sharing” — Jennifer
“This is the best tasting low carb cake i have ever made and ive made many since my diagnosis. so buttery delicious with high carb texture. i will be making it again and again. thank you very much.” — Melvin
“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 love it!” — Patricia
Ingredients you need
- Almond flour: You really do need to use a good finely ground almond flour for this recipe. See the Tips for Success for other options.
- Coconut flour: A little coconut flour gives the cake a lighter, fluffier consistency. It also helps cut down in fat and calories!
- Protein powder: Adding protein powder to keto cakes helps the rise better and hold their shape. You can use whey or egg white protein powder.
- Sweetener: I use a combination of both Swerve and allulose in the cake and the glaze. See Tips for more info.
- Almond milk: You can also use water or half water/half cream.
- Sugar free caramel sauce: The glaze takes 2 batches of my sugar-free caramel sauce, but you will skip the water because you want it to be thicker.
- Pantry staples: Butter, eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract, and salt
Step by Step Directions
1. Mix the dry ingredients: Whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl.
2. Cream the butter: In a large bowl, beat the butter and sweeteners 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
3. Finish the batter: Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and beat until well combined. Add just enough liquid to thin the batter to a scoopable and easily spreadable consistency.
4. Bake. Divide the batter between two greased 8-inch cake pans lined with parchment paper and spread to the edges. Smooth the tops and bake at 325ºF for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are firm to the touch.
5. Cool the cakes. 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.
6. Make the caramel sauce. 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.
7. Assemble the cake. Place one layer of cake on a serving plate and pour about 1/3 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.
Tips for Success
Make sure you have the butter very well softened and the eggs at room temperature so you don’t end up with a clumps of cold butter throughout your batter!
Protein powder is an important ingredient in this recipe, to help the cake rise better. Should you choose to skip it, I cannot guarantee the results.
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, bring it back to a low boil and cook for another 2 minutes or so. You can also whisk in more sweetener. If it becomes overly thick, you can thin it out by adding a little water over low heat.
This Keto Caramel Cake is very rich and luscious. I have written the recipe as 12 servings but it can easily be divided into 16.
Nut-Free Option: If you would prefer a nut-free recipe, try the batter from my Keto Chantilly Cake. You will still want to bake it in two layers so keep your eye on it.
Sweetener Options
I used a mix of Swerve Granular and allulose for the cake and the glaze. For the cake, you can use your favorite sweetener, but keep in mind that using just allulose may cause it to darken quite a bit on the outside.
The glaze works best with the sweeteners listed in the caramel recipe. If you change the ratios and use more Swerve, it may re-crystallize as it cools. I also find that caramel sauce made with just allulose has a slightly sour flavor, so I can’t recommend that either.
Frequently Asked Questions
Keto caramel is made with butter, sweetener, cream, and salt. I recommend a mix of erythritol and allulose for the best consistency and flavor.
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 caramel sauce.
This keto caramel cake recipe has 7g of carbs and 31g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.9g net carbs per slice.
More delicious keto caramel recipes
Keto Caramel Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups (220 g) almond flour
- 1/3 cup (35 g) unflavored whey protein powder
- 1/4 cup (28 g) coconut flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, softened
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) Swerve Granular
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) allulose, (or more Swerve)
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup (78.86 ml) almond milk, (or water)
- 2 batches sugar free caramel sauce
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of the pans with parchment and grease the parchment as well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, whey protein, coconut flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sweeteners 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 to the bowl and beat until well combined. Add just enough liquid to thin the batter to a scoopable and easily spreadable consistency.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans and spread to the edges. Smooth the tops and bake 20 to 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.
- **If your caramel sauce is too thin, you can bring it back to a simmer and continue to cook it a few more minutes to help it thicken. At this point, you can also whisk in a bit more thickener like xanthan gum or glucomannan.
- Place one layer of cake on a serving plate and pour about 1/3 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.
- Refrigerate the cake at least 1 hour to help set the glaze.
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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Did anyone ever try to freeze this, glaze and all? Just interested!
Could I use whole milk instead of almond milk? It’s all I have!
Sure, or you can use water or half water/half milk to keep the carbs lower.
I am wondering if I could make this as a sheet poke cake? I love the caramel sauce.
That should work!
I have made the cake portion of the recipe several times and it is always delicious! Recently, I made the cake, baking it in a 13×9 pan, once cooled I poked holes in the cake using a wooden skewer, then poured sugar-free jello liquid over the cake. Refrigerated the cake 4-5 hours then served it with fresh whipped cream. So delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Even though its wrong to rate a recipe when I haven’t made it exactly as written, I just had to let you know how good the cake was. I didn’t have access to the sweetener but I’ve been so craving carrot cake or spice cake, I decided to make 1/2 this cake recipe as cupcakes with spices and cream cheese icing. It turned out so good. The texture is so nice. Thank you for this recipe. I will definitely be making the “caramel” cake as soon as I can get the sweetener.
Perfect, thank you. This recipe is amazing!!
What about monkfruit/stevia blend in the cake??
The cake is a place you can use your fave sweetener. The frosting requires the sweeteners I discussed. Hope that helps!
Any special suggestions for turning these into cupcakes? Would really love to bring in a treat for the office that was single serve! Thanks so much.
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 🙂
I am so happy to hear it!
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!
I am so glad to hear it!
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?
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.
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!
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.
I’m at high altitude (4200 ft) and my baked goods take additional time to bake. Could this be her problem?
Maybe flipping the parchment paprr over so the ink is not on the batter side will stop the ink transfer.
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!
I am delighted it worked out so well!
Could you use 6in pans?
I am sure you could but I don’t know the bake time for that.
Can’t wait to try! Can I use something besides Swerve Brown for the caramel sauce?
Please read the recipe, I am pretty clear about your options in it.
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
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.