For serious chocolate lovers only! This rich keto chocolate pound cake gets a holiday twist with some sugar-free chocolate peppermint ganache and a drizzle of low carb white chocolate. This post is sponsored by ChocZero.
I like to cover all of my bases when it comes to holiday flavor. This year alone, I’ve posted recipes for Keto Gingerbread Cake, Keto Cranberry Bliss Bars, Keto Butter Cookies, a Keto Yule Log, and in a few days I will be posting a recipe for a keto pie made with my sugar-free eggnog.
Of course, it would be remiss of me to leave out the ever-popular chocolate mint flavor. Oh I do love chocolate and mint together, and I can eat it all year long. But there is something so special about chocolate peppermint during the holidays.
So consider this gorgeous Keto Chocolate Pound Cake my chocolate peppermint offering of the season. Now, if you aren’t a fan of mint with your chocolate, you could do this as a regular chocolate pound cake. The mint could easily be left out or replaced with the flavouring of your choice.
And now that keto-friendly white chocolate chips exist, it makes this cake extra festive and delicious. I recommend the ones from ChocZero.
Can pound cake be keto friendly?
In the keto world, there is a lot of faking it. There has to be, since we simply can’t really stay true as true to the original as we might like, and still be keto.
A true pound cake would have a pound of flour, a pound of butter, a pound of eggs, and a pound of sugar, and that’s about it. It’s incredibly rich and dense, and let’s be honest, not so great for you.
But you can achieve a similar texture and richness with keto ingredients, even if they aren’t used in the same proportions. This dense chocolate loaf cake is a prime example. It’s super rich and chocolatey so a little goes a long way!
Tips for Chocolate Peppermint Pound Cake
To get that same dense pound cake crumb, I used a combination of almond flour and coconut flour. Along with the cocoa powder, it produces a denser texture more reminiscent of the real thing.
But don’t leave out that protein powder! It’s not for added protein but for good cake consistency. In the absence of gluten, it helps keto cakes rise better and hold their shape. I left it out once in a chocolate cake like this and I regretted it instantly. The cake was fragile and didn’t rise enough.
My sweetener of choice for this cake is Swerve, of course, but you will notice that it’s not even close to equal a pound of sugar. My tastes have changed considerably and I found ⅔ cup about right for the cake. I wouldn’t have wanted it any sweeter, especially with the ganache on top.
Most granulated sweeteners would work here so feel free to sub. But also feel free to use your judgement on sweetness. If you find dark chocolate flavors too bitter, add more sweetener.
Not all peppermint extracts are created equal, as it turns out. I usually use the Simply Organic brand, which is oil based. But for this cake, I was out of it so I grabbed an alcohol based extract and noticed that it was much less potent so I had to add more to get the flavor I was seeking.
For the white chocolate drizzle, you really want to melt them with some cocoa butter or coconut oil. White chocolate is even more finicky than dark chocolate and this helps keep it from seizing.
For a little added festive touch, I added just a sprinkling of edible glitter from The Sprinkle Company (totally unsweetened). You could do other sugar-free sprinkles, if desired. Or just a light sprinkling of granulated sweetener might look pretty too.
More delicious keto chocolate peppermint recipes
- Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake Mousse
- Chocolate Peppermint Stars
- Keto Peppermint Patties
- Keto Peppermint Bark
- Peppermint Mocha
- Chocolate Peppermint Snowballs
Keto Chocolate Peppermint Pound Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Pound Cake
- 2 cups almond flour
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup whey protein powder or egg white protein powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ⅔ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup water
Chocolate Peppermint Ganache
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoon powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 ounces dark chocolate chips, sugar-free
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
White Chocolate Drizzle
- 1 ounce sugar-free white chocolate chips
- ¼ ounce cocoa butter or ½ tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
Chocolate Pound Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, leaving overhanging sides for easy removal. Grease the parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cocoa powder, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the beaters and the sides of the bowl in between additions. Beat in the peppermint and vanilla extracts.
- Add half of the almond flour mixture and beat until well combined, then beat in the cream and water. Beat in the remaining almond flour mixture until combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake 60 to 70 minutes, until the top is firm to the touch and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely in the pan and then use the overhanging parchment to lift out of the pan.
Chocolate Peppermint Ganache
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the heavy cream and the powdered sweetener. Whisk until smooth, then bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
- Add the chocolate chips and let sit a few minutes to melt. Add the peppermint extract and whisk until smooth.
- Let the ganach sit 3 to 5 minutes to thicken. It should still be pourable but not runny. Drizzle over the top of the cake and let run down the sides. You can spread it over the sides if you prefer.
- Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
White Chocolate Drizzle
- In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, combine the white chocolate chips and the cocoa butter. Watch carefully and whisk until smooth (white chocolate can seize easily, especially this small amount).
- Drizzle over the chilled cake and let set.
Dorothy Maloney says
I love your recipes! I also purchased your book Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen and I love it to.
My question is, Should I use unsalted butter in this recipe. Thanks
Carolyn says
That depends on your taste for salt. I use salted a lot of the time (sheer laziness, I hate to purchase two kinds), but I have a high tolerance for salt.
Wendee says
Any idea how many mini loafs that recipe would make? I have some of the cute mini loaf ceramic pans from the dollar store I would like to use and give for gifts.
Silvia Kimbrough says
Would using bakers unsweetened chocolate and more sweetener be ok to use instead of the chocolate chips?
Carolyn says
Yes, you can do that.
Paula says
Hi. If I didn’t have sugar-free white chocolate chips, but I have cocoa butter and sweetner…. could I make the topping with that?
Carolyn says
You can try but it’s likely going to be too runny and liquid when it’s melted.
Diana says
Hi can I use a bunt pan for this recipe? Can I use the same recipe in a bunt cake pan? Do I have to adjust the time of baking? Thank you
Carolyn says
Same recipe, not sure of the timing so keep your eye on it.
Avi says
Hi there,
If I want to make a version of this cake that has lower calories (I’m not Keto but prefer a version with less carbs) can I substitute the butter with unsweetened apple sauce or Greek yogurt? What about the heavy cream? Can I sub that with Greek yogurt? And can I use egg whites instead of eggs?
Thank you.
Carolyn says
Um…I guess? I didn’t try out those methods so you will have to play and experiment.
Courtney says
Hello,
I just made the cake (minus the white chocolate drizzle since I lack white chocolate in any form currently) and its quite delicious! How do you store the cake please? I looked through the comments and such and didn’t see anything related to it. xx
Carolyn says
Any cake like this is fine on the counter for 3 or 4 days, and then fridge after that.
Linda says
Hi Carolyn,
I absolutely LOVE your recipes. I had a question – I noticed that you never use flavored whey protein powders and I was just curious if that was just because it’s easier to keep unflavored in stock i.e., in the house, or because they don’t taste good? I have a bag each of vanilla (which smells JUST like vanilla cake mix!) and chocolate, neither of which I’ve ever used. Any thoughts on them or you’ve just never bothered with the flavored?
Thanks!
-Linda
Carolyn says
The only reason is it’s hard to control. Every company flavors things differently and some flavors can be overpowering. But if you love your vanilla one, then feel free to use it in sweet recipes and skip any added vanilla. Obviously it won’t do for savory recipes! 🙂
Linda says
Thanks! I just saw your cinnamon donuts recipe uses vanilla! Great timing!
Jackie says
You mention heavy cream and water in cake ingredients but not what to do with them? Help!!
Carolyn says
It’s actually there, right in step 4. Please take another look! 🙂
Molly Graham says
Thank goodness for ChocZero! Their chocolate chips do not contain inulin, which disagrees with my digestive system. I wasn’t sure if the soluble corn fiber in ChocZero would work for me, but after using them in numerous recipes over the last week, I can safely say I’ve found my new chocolate chips!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Debra says
I am not a comfortable Baker by nature. Baking makes me sweat. But this looked so good I had to try it and voila it came out so good! I didn’t have mint extract (thought I did but for external use only) so I melted one Russell stover mint patty in both the batter and the frosting. .which seemed plenty minty for me. I have to confess I cut it into 8 pieces not 16. Tooooo good!
Jai says
Wish I could give this amazing creation more stars! It was my Xmas dessert made last minute bc I couldn’t stop thinking about this post. I made it into a hot fudge cake. I dreamed of going off keto a bit for the holiday, but after a taste of this I think I will just have my cake and eat it too. Thank you ever so much!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear that!
Pam says
I have Peppermint oil for candy making. How would that sub for extract ?
Meredith says
Yes! This is where those ChocZero white chocolate peppermint chips are going. Thank you, Carolyn, for all your hard work! Have a very happy holiday season <3
Molly Graham says
Carolyn, would you mind sharing the exact brand of protein powder you use in most recipes? As an athlete, I’ve used protein powder for many years, and have done my fair share of baking with it. Now, at age 47, I use a very clean bone broth protein powder for my general consumption, but it certainly doesn’t work in baked goods, because it goes crazy when heated. I’ve been using Quest protein multi-purpose mix which is specifically made for baking, and doesn’t seem to have any of the bad junk in it. Just curious what you’ve found that works well.
Thanks so much,
Molly
Carolyn says
Hi Molly. I don’t have an “exact” brand, but I always choose grass-fed ones like this (and this is currently what I have in my cupboard): https://amzn.to/2s004bf. But you are correct, the collagen protein powder is not a good replacement because it tends to make things gummy.
Adrian says
I wonder if you can give the weight for a cup of whey protein and egg white protein the way you measure it for your recipes. Protein powders weren’t on the list of weights in your Ultimate Baking book, and whey protein is light and fluffy and very compressible, so measuring by volume wasn’t very accurate. I got about a 30% variation when I tried it myself. I also wonder if it might be brand dependent. I noticed that collagen has double the density of whey, which would definitely a gotcha for doing substitutions if you don’t remember to cut the volume in half.
Carolyn says
Just measure by volume… trust me, it’s accurate enough and since you’re never using more than about 1/3 cup, it’s a small margin of error. It’s not a factor that’s going to make or break a recipe, unlike the flours. But as with all dry ingredients, just scoop and level. Never compress unless specified.
But never replace whey protein in my baked goods because, as I mention in the book, things turn out VERY gummy.
Adrian says
For the most part, fairly large variations in measurement will not “make or break” a recipe. If they did, volume measuring never would have worked at all. Precision is more tied to repeatability than success or failure. You can have lots of variation and you’ll still get something edible. But if you want it to come out the same each time (or when others make it) then variation can be an issue. I don’t know how sensitive these recipes are to the protein. It sounds like you’re saying it doesn’t matter much. Generally when I encounter recipes written in volume I convert them to weight so I don’t have to worry about variability because I like having things nailed down. (And note that my cup of almond flour is 13% heavier than yours, so I know we don’t measure the same.)
Don’t worry: I wasn’t planning to substitute collagen and then complain that the recipes didn’t work! But I think it’s an interesting observation that if you want to test the result of replacing a cup of whey with collagen you need to use 5/8 cups of collagen, or it’s not a proper test because if you substitute cup for cup you’re also testing changing the amount of protein you use.
Beth Bush says
Could I use vanilla flavored whey protein or should I be liking for unflavored????
Carolyn says
Vanilla is fine, just don’t add any extra vanilla extract.
Karen says
This looks ridiculous! Bumped it’s way to the top spot on my, “To Bake” list.
Donna says
Hi, Carolyn,
I see that you have a few pound cake recipes with only almond flour and a few with both almond flour and coconut flour. Is there a difference in texture between the two? Is there one that resembles the Sara Lee pound cake sold in the supermarket freezer section?
Thank you for all of your great recipes!
Carolyn says
As I wrote in this post, the combined flours get you a more pound cake-like texture.
Deb says
What a WOW cake with so little work….perfect thing to take to a holiday party next week. Your timing is perfect….THANKS!