This three layer Keto Carrot Cake is a stunner of a low carb dessert. Frosted with the best sugar-free cream cheese frosting, this cake will wow your friends and family. And it’s remarkably easy to make!
I am absolutely over the moon about this keto carrot cake recipe. Simply and utterly obsessed with it and I want to make it over and over again.
Trust me, this is high praise coming from someone who bakes a lot of keto desserts. And who typically leans hard toward the chocolate variety of anything. But I took one bite of this moist, tender keto carrot cake and I was instantly in love.
And it was high time that I posted something like this. I have many carrot cake flavoured recipes, like my popular keto carrot cake bars. But not a single one of them is a classic layer cake.
Many of you have asked for a classic Keto Carrot Cake and so I thank you for pushing me to this. Because it is beyond delicious!
Keto Cake Cookbook
Confession time! Part of the reason I chose to share this recipe now is that I am working on a new e-cookbook devoted entirely to keto cake recipes.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I love making low carb cakes that rival the conventional wheat-and-sugar variety. I derive so much pleasure out of creating something that no one guess is keto friendly.
I’ve got a classic keto birthday cake, of course, and a rich and delicious keto chocolate cake. But then I have more extravagant creations like Berry Chantilly Cake and Praline Sheet Cake.
I hope to have this book out by May or June, so keep your cake-loving eyes peeled!
Ingredients
For this recipe, I tried to stay true to the classic, with some notable keto substitutions.
The flours
Because carrot cake typically takes chopped pecans, I decided to use pecan flour as the base. It has great flavour and slightly fewer carbs than almond flour. I also added some coconut flour to help the overall consistency of the cake.
The sweeteners
Staying true to conventional carrot cake, I incorporated both a brown sugar replacement and granulated sweetener. Swerve Brown is, by far, the most like real brown sugar, and it deepens the flavor of the cake.
The spices
Carrot cake is really a kind of spice cake, so don’t skimp on the spices. I used plenty of cinnamon and some ground cloves. You can also add in nutmeg and a bit of ginger. But don’t overdo the ginger as it can overpower the rest of the flavors.
The carrots
As most of us are aware, carrots are not the most keto friendly vegetable. But you don’t have to add a lot to the recipe to give it the right taste and texture. Conventional carrot cake usually takes 3 cups of grated carrot. I cut this back to 1 1/2 cups and it was perfect.
How to make keto carrot cake
Making a keto carrot cake is really quite similar to the conventional version. Here are my best tips for getting it right.
- Prep your pans properly: This means both greasing them and lining them with parchment paper. Don’t skip this step!
- Finely grate the carrot: Choose the smallest holes on your box grater or food processor grating blade. This ensures better distribution of the carrot throughout the cake.
- Whisk the dry ingredients: Make sure to break up any lumps in the flours before proceeding.
- Beat the wet ingredients together, then add the dry ingredients all at once and beat to combine.
- Bake the cake layers: Be sure to divide the batter into the pans as evenly as possible. If you have a kitchen scale, that can help!
- Let cool completely: You know I always stress this, as keto cakes are very fragile when they are still warm.
How to make the best keto cream cheese frosting
Classic carrot cake takes cream cheese frosting and this one is no different! A few tips for a truly creamy, smooth frosting:
- Properly soften the cream cheese and butter: Make sure that they are soft enough to beat very easily. If you live in a cooler climate, as I do, room temperature may not be sufficient. I always give mine a few seconds in the microwave before I beat them together.
- Add the sweetener after they are smooth: Don’t try to beat it in right away, as it can cause some clumping. Wait until the cream cheese and butter mixture is nice and smooth first.
- Use room temperature cream: Adding cold cream can also cause the frosting to clump up, so make sure to let the cream sit out for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Crumb coat the cake: For this keto carrot cake recipe, I went with the more naked look. I simply spread enough frosting on the sides of the cake to coat it lightly. It was plenty of frosting in the end, as the cake is wonderfully moist.
Frequently Asked Questions
While carrots aren’t the most keto friendly vegetable, they are fine used in a recipe that serves 12 to 16. I found I could use up to 1 1/2 cups without raising the carb count much.
I haven’t tried making this recipe without nut meals as yet. But you could try replacing the pecan flour with sunflower seed flour. You will need to add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to offset the green reaction.
Then simply leave out the added nuts in the cake and the garnish.
The cake will probably turn out with other sweeteners but I do warn you that allulose causes baked goods to darken very quickly and look almost burnt. For the frosting, you need a good confectioner’s style (powdered) sweetener.
Protein powder is a critical ingredient as it helps baked goods rise and hold their shape properly. You will find that my keto cake recipes are lighter and fluffier than many others. You can skip it, but please understand that your cake will be more dense and more fragile.
You can use whey protein, egg white protein, or some plant-based proteins. But don’t use collagen protein as it will make the cake gummy and hard to cook through.
You can make 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 times the frosting recipe to make a fully frosted cake.
Storage Information
Store the keto carrot cake in the fridge, with any cut edges covered with plastic wrap. I like it best served at room temperature so I recommend cutting slices when it’s cold and letting them sit out for a few minutes. The cake should last for up to a week in the fridge.
You can also freeze this cake, tightly wrapped up, for up to 2 months.
Want more keto layer cakes?
- Lemon Cream Cake
- Keto Margarita Cake
- Keto Marble Cake
- Cookies & Cream Cake
- Butter Pecan Cake
- Sugar Free Spice Cake
Keto Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 cups pecan flour/almond flour, See Notes
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup unflavoured whey protein powder, or egg white protein powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup avocado oil, or another neutral oil
- ½ cup Swerve Brown
- ½ cup Swerve Granular
- 1½ cups finely grated carrot, lightly packed
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature
Garnish
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- 1 tbsp finely grated carrot
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease 3 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and grease the paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the pecan flour, coconut flour, protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cloves.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs and oil with the sweeteners until well combined and the sweeteners are mostly dissolved. Beat in the carrots and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients and beat on low until combined. Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Divide the batter evenly among the baking pans and spread to the edges. Bake 18 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and the tops are firm to the touch.
- Remove and let cool completely in the pans, then run a sharp knife around the inside of the pans and flip out onto a wire rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until very smooth. Beat in the sweetener and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Slowly beat in the heavy whipping cream until a spreadable consistency is achieved.
To assemble
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or plate. Spread the top with one quarter of the frosting. Repeat with the remaining layers.
- Use the final quarter of frosting to lightly crumb coat the sides, so that the cake peeks through.
- Sprinkle the chopped pecans and shredded carrot around the outside of the top of the cake. Refrigerate 1 hour before cutting and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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Love it. Not to sweet. Just right. Perfect. I used the pecan flour as hubby isn’t fond of the almond flour. Actually that is why I was so thrilled when I saw the recipe. It will, for sure, be on my ‘to do again’ list. It definitely satisfies my sweet tooth and has hubby’s seal of approval to.
I absolutley love Carrot Cake and since my Birthday is comming up soon I made myself a Birthday Cake! The cake is really flavorful and I love how moist it is and the cream cheese frosting is a must. Thank you for the recipe.
This recipe is great! My kids do not like nuts, so I left it out. I also used butter instead of avocado oil because I did not have any. Definitely a cake to make to take to events.
Carolyn! Made this again yesterday. Love your step by step straightforward instructions as well as your pictures. It is easy to make, beautiful and so yummy! You explain every detail, answer all questions as well as giving options. I increased the frosting by a half encouraged by you giving that option. Thanks again for another winner!!
How about a “full” nutritional value listing?? Sodium, sugar, fiber, etc???
You can calculate that if you need it… free online calculators. 🙂
can I make this into cupcakes instead of layers??
Sure!
I saw and made this recipe last night- however I made cupcakes and they turned out great. I didn’t have pecan flour so I made my own. I used 1/8 cup per cupcake and baked for 12-15 minutes.
I took pictures but cannot find a way to upload…
Can I make this in a glass oblong pan if I watch the time? It should be a good size for the amount of batter for three 8 inch round pans. Making for a birthday treat. Or should I use two 8 inch pans? I dont have three. Thanks
I think you will need to experiment.
This is the best keto carrot cake recipe on the internet. My husband loves carrot cake, so I’ve tried a LOT of recipes. He also loves icing, so I double the icing recipe. (If there’s any icing left over, I freeze it and we grab a spoonful of it for a treat when we just want a bite of something sweet.)
My first Keto cake! I did not know what to expect, but every dessert from Carolyn has been amazing, so gave it a try. Wonderful! I love this cake! I did not have pecan flour, so used all almond flour and baked in two 8″ pans. So moist and delicious. Also made
1 1/2 times the frosting, because well, it’s cream cheese.
So glad you liked it!
I saw this post in my email this morning and made it right after wor. The cake is so moist, I baked it exactly as written, the amount of sugar didn’t make the cake too sweet. So glad I had 3 8” pans, the layers were thin. About 300 grams of batter per pan, they baked up for me right at 20 minutes. The layers were perfect with the frosting between the layers, I will definitely double the frosting the next time as it was so light and delicious. Sharing with my keto buddy at work and my sister, they are doing to love this! Thanks Carolyn for another superb recipe!
Delicious recipe, I added a bit of nutmeg and went heavy on the cinnamon. This was a big hit with coffee in our house!
Thank you so much.
Seriously, a fool-proof recipe! I made these into cupcakes for easy snacking! Such a tender cake and a true carrot cake frosting to boot!
This is a good recipe.I use to make carrot cake once a year for a birthday request. Then we went keto. But when I found this recipe, it brought carrot cake back into our lives. I always start out a little less sugar substitute in frosting just because we sometimes like a little more tartness. But typically recipes from Carolyn are pretty much in line with the right amounts.
is there a way to make this dairy free?
Not really sure, I think you will need to experiment with some vegan cream cheese.
Carrot cake is my all time favorite cake! I even had a carrot cake for my wedding, but it was not keto back then. This cake came out great! I did make a few changes though due to what I had on hand. The whey protein I have is vanilla flavored, but since there is vanilla in the cake, I did not worry about it. I did not have a brown sugar substitute so I used all regular allulose. I also did not have cloves, but I did not miss the flavor. I made this about a week ago and neglected to take a picture. 🙁 Now it is all gone. But it looked nice with chopped pecans on it.
My husband loves carrot cake so I was skeptical about trying a keto version. I love Carolyn’s recipes so I tried it. Honestly, I thought it was “ok” when I 1st tried it. BUT the next day it was phenomenal !!! Hubby LOVED it and now it’s in my dessert rotation! Thanks Carolyn !
Was wondering if this recipe would work to make cupcakes? I would love to make it but can’t eat it all before it would go bad and would rather freeze cupcakes (or eat them for breakfast).
Certainly but I can’t really guide you as to timing. You can look at my other cupcake recipes to get a sense.
Hi Leesa!
I just made this recipe today as 12 regular cupcakes in a silicone cupcake pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes until golden and you get a clean toothpick when tested. it was perfect! Hope that helps 🙂
thank you!!
Hello! I have your baking keto cookbook, it lists a cream cheese filled carrot cake. I can’t find it on your website. It this one tastier? If so, I would use all almond flour, I don’t have pecan. Will that be an issue?
Hi Karen… most recipes in the cookbooks are exclusive. Neither one is tastier, they are just different. You can use all almond.
fantastic and delicious