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.
Notes
suzanne says
How much egg white protein? Do you mean just use egg white and if so how much? thanks
Carolyn says
No, I mean egg white protein powder, and you use it in the same quantity. More liquid egg white would throw off the wet to dry ratio here.
Andrea says
Has anyone used monkfruit sweetener for the caramel sauce and it not turn out gritty?
Carolyn says
Do you mean a monkfruit blend with erythritol?
Andrea says
Yes ma’am
birdsinthetrees says
This was delicious! We didn’t have whey powder so we did the flaxmeal replacement someone else mentioned and it worked well. New to keto and most of our dessert experiments have not gone well – this impressed our non-keto guests! Our friends mentioned it tasted like pancakes so now we’re having leftovers for breakfast 😉
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Kathy Malcolm Hall says
So delicious and beautiful! A family tradition in our home is a southern caramel cake. It was first lovingly baked by my grandmother. As we have begun keto for health reasons (diabetes), I am so grateful to have found this recipe. I followed the directions exactly and it doesn’t disappoint both in appearance and taste. I plated it on my grandmother’s milk glass cake plate and my daughter’s 17th birthday was deemed a success. I am so pleased to be able to care for my daughter and celebrate her birthday with our familiar tradition.
Thank you Carolyn for your brilliance and tenacity in creating yummy and healthful options!
Jamie says
Finally got around to making this awesome cake. It’s SOOO good. Thanks Carolyn! You knocked it out of the park again.
Lesley says
Hello! I am having a hard time finding unflavored whey protein where I’m located in Germany. Do you think I can use vanilla flavored whey protein? Or would that be a terrible idea? This cake looks delicious!
Carolyn says
In a sweet recipe like this one, you can use vanilla and leave out any additional vanilla extract.
lt273 says
I made this the other day as a trial run for a birthday cake I’ll be bringing to work for a coworker on keto. I was pleasantly surprised! The caramel glaze actually resembles regular caramel sauce. One question though – how far in advanced would I be able to make the cake? I wonder if I can make the cakes ahead and freeze them until ready to use… Thanks in advance!
Carolyn says
You can absolutely make the cake layers and freeze!
Lauren Bomhof says
Made the cake part today (Tuesday) and I am serving on Friday. What do you think, freeze it until Friday, or store in the fridge? Thanks
Carolyn says
If you think it won’t last much past Saturday or Sunday, in terms of leftovers, then I think the fridge is fine.
Sim @ Sim's Life says
I have to make this ASAP, especially with a few family birthdays coming up! I have never made caramel before so am reassured to know you can still thicken/thin it out! I follow Jocelyn over at Grandbaby Cakes too – cake is one thing I miss being on Keto, but now there is no excuse not to enjoy, thank you for the recipe! Sim x
Carolyn says
Thanks.
Holli says
Love that word, juxtaposition. So clever. Now I need to go get the dictionary! This caramel cake looks like I want to eat it, I’ll share though. I want to make it soon. Thanks (:
Jason says
I have a new gas oven, and 325 was NOT hot enough to cook the cake. I had to bump it up to 375 and bake it another 25 minutes! Otherwise, love this recipe!
Carolyn says
You need an oven thermometer, because new or not, your oven is off. I have one and it registers exactly 325F when I preheat my oven. I bake ALL of my cakes at 325F so I know it works.
melvin says
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.
Carolyn says
I am so glad to hear that!
Lauren Bomhof says
Did anyone ever try to freeze this, glaze and all? Just interested!
Hope says
Could I use whole milk instead of almond milk? It’s all I have!
Carolyn says
Sure, or you can use water or half water/half milk to keep the carbs lower.
Donna says
I am wondering if I could make this as a sheet poke cake? I love the caramel sauce.
Carolyn says
That should work!
Kristal119_ says
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.
Lou says
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.
Christine Douglas says
Perfect, thank you. This recipe is amazing!!
Christine Douglas says
What about monkfruit/stevia blend in the cake??
Carolyn says
The cake is a place you can use your fave sweetener. The frosting requires the sweeteners I discussed. Hope that helps!
Laurel says
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.