When it comes to decadent keto cake recipes, I do not mess around. I take the responsibility very seriously. I do my research, I study the classics, and I do everything within my power to nail both the taste and the texture. And this Keto Chocolate Pound Cake is the perfect example.
There are so many wonderful ways to make keto chocolate cake, from classic layer cakes to easy Texas sheet cake. But this keto pound cake recipe is in a class of its own. Don’t be fooled by the unassuming appearance, as it belies an unbeatable texture and rich, deep chocolate flavor.
I really did spend some time researching pound cakes and what makes them unique. And I came away with a better understanding of how to achieve the same results with keto-friendly ingredients. I used more eggs and less leavening agents, and I let it rise slowly in the oven.
The results are truly spectacular so I hope you will give it a try!
Why you will love this recipe
- Moist and tender: This keto cake contains both butter and sour cream, so it is incredibly moist and rich.
- Perfect crumb texture: I was worried the crumb might be a bit spongy but it turned out perfectly!
- Rich chocolate flavor: The deep, dark chocolate flavor comes from the combination of Dutch process cocoa, black cocoa, and espresso powder.
- Easy to make: While it does take some attention to detail, this keto pound cake is quite easy to make.
- Great macros: With 7 grams of carbs and 3.6 grams of fiber, this delicious dessert is ideal for low carb and keto diets.
Ingredient Notes
- Almond flour: Fine blanched almond flour provides the best results for all sorts of keto cakes. I do not recommend coconut flour in this recipe, but you could try sunflower seed flour if you want to be nut-free.
- Cocoa powder: I use a combination of Dutch process cocoa powder and black cocoa powder. If you can’t find black cocoa powder, just use more of the Dutch process.
- Protein powder: Even for pound cake, a little protein powder helps the texture. I really love the chocolate protein powder from Just Ingredients. But any whey, egg white, or vegan protein should work.
- Sweetener: I recommend using a brown sugar substitute for the best flavor. You do need a granulated sweetener for this recipe, as beating it into the butter helps the texture.
- Coffee: I add a little brewed coffee and espresso powder to help enhance the chocolate flavor in this pound cake.
- Sour cream: I love using sour cream in baked goods like keto muffins and cakes. It makes this pound cake extra tender. You can sub Greek yogurt if you must, but it’s not quite the same.
- Heavy whipping cream: This is used to make the chocolate ganache glaze for the cake.
- Sugar-free chocolate chips: Your preferred brand will work well.
- Kitchen staples: Butter, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt.
Step by Step Directions
- Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk together the almond flour, cocoa powders, whey protein, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt. Break up any clumps as much as possible.
- Combine the wet ingredients: In another large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and beat in until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the beaters and the sides of the bowl.
- Beat the two mixtures together: Add the almond flour mixture and beat until well combined, then beat in the coffee (or water).
- Bake: Spread the batter in a greased 9×5 inch metal loaf pan lined with parchment paper and smooth the top. Bake at 325ºF for 60 to 75 minutes, until the top is risen and is just firm to the touch. Do not over-bake. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Loosen the edges with a sharp knife and lift the loaf out by the overhanging parchment. Let cool completely.
- Prepare the glaze: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and allulose. Bring to a simmer. Add the chocolate chips and let sit a few minutes to melt, then whisk until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled pound cake.
Tips for Success
Pound cake isn’t hard to make but it’s worth taking the time to do it right. The unique dense-but-tender quality takes some attention to detail so don’t skip steps or try to take shortcuts!
Be sure to have all of your cake ingredients at room temperature. That includes the butter, eggs, sour cream, and coffee. Also be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters multiple times to get everything properly mixed in.
Whisk the dry ingredients together before you start, and use a fork to break up any clumps in the almond flour, cocoa powder, or protein powder. This goes a long way to making a smooth batter.
Do not over-bake this cake. Keep a close eye on it while it’s in the oven. When the top has risen and feels firm to the touch, with no squishiness underneath, get it out and let it cool.
Sweetener Options
I recommend a granular sweetener for the cake itself, as you need to whip air bubbles into the butter and only a crystalline structure will do that. I also caution against using allulose in the cake, as it takes a long time to bake. Allulose will brown it much faster and the outside will likely become burnt.
For the glaze, I add 1 tablespoon of allulose to keep it from re-crystallizing. If you don’t have allulose, you can try xylitol. You can make the glaze without it but it often does get that re-crystallization as the erythritol sweetener cools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pound cakes typically contain a higher proportion of butter/fat and eggs than classic sponge cakes. They also contain less leavening agents such as baking powder. This results in a texture that is more dense and often more moist than regular cake.
Store the cake, tightly covered, on the counter for up to 4 days or in the fridge for up to a week. It can also be frozen for several months.
This keto key chocolate pound cake recipe has 7.1g of carbs and 3.6g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.5g net carbs per slice.
More luscious chocolate cake recipes
Keto Chocolate Pound Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Pound Cake
- 2 cups (224 g) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (43 g) cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp (10.14 g) black cocoa powder, (or more cocoa powder)
- 1/3 cup (36 g) chocolate whey protein powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (150 g) brown sugar substitute
- 2/3 cup (153.33 g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (59.15 ml) room temperature coffee
Chocolate Ganache
- 1/3 cup (78.86 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp allulose , or xylitol
- 2 ounces (56.7 g) sugar-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease a 9×5 inch metal loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper with overhanging sides and grease the parchment.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cocoa powders, whey protein, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt. Break up any clumps as much as possible.
- In another large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and beat in until smooth.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the beaters and the sides of the bowl.
- Add the almond flour mixture and beat until well combined, then beat in the coffee (or water).
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 60 to 75 minutes, until the top is risen and is just firm to the touch. Do not over-bake.
- Remove and let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Loosen the edges with a sharp knife and lift the loaf out by the overhanging parchment. Let cool completely.
Chocolate Ganache
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and allulose. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the chocolate chips and let sit a few minutes to melt, then whisk until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled pound cake.
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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Made this today for my father’s birthday & it was a hit!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this cake! My favorite cake (other than Black Forest Cake) is a rich moist chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream! Mixed together! This fit the bill perfectly!! Even my husband who doesn’t usually like keto/low carb sweets LOVED it! Plus, the glaze tastes like decadent fudge! I’m going to try your vanilla ice cream recipe next! Thanks for the great recipes!
I have the carb manager app to record my intake of carbs. Have you considered publishing to the database? I looked but it wasn’t there.
I didn’t add the ganache to my cake and it was great.
The nutritional info is published here and that is the best I can do. Carb Manager often gets my recipes wrong because it will count the “carbs” in erythritol, even though they don’t affect blood sugar. So glad you enjoyed the cake!
Ok, this is by far the best keto chocolate cake I have ever made (although I have not tried your chocolate ricotta cake so I can’t comment on that one). I struggle mightily with chocolate desserts on keto; they either have a funny aftertaste or are too dry. This one is incredibly moist and has zero aftertaste. I actually think I could serve this to non-keto people and they wouldn’t know the difference. This will definitely be on repeat at my house from now on. Thank you thank you thank you for your commitment to creating really good keto meals.
I’ll be making this in a couple of days but want to use a 9 x 9-inch pan.
Will the baking time be less? If so, how long would you suggest baking it for.
Thankyou
The baking time will be less but I can’t really say by how much. I would bake for 40 minutes or so and start checking on it very frequently after that.
Another winner! I love chocolate pound cakes – the heavy, chocolately goodness of it all! I often skip the frosting when I make your cakes, but I listened to one of your reviewers and did make the ganache for this one. Am I ever glad I did!! I only have the Krisda chocolate chips (that are sweetened), so instead I chopped up Baker’s sugar free dark chocolate. It was so good, just the right touch – not too much – of sweetness (my go-to is Bocha Sweet for anything that calls for a non-erythritol sweetener).
Thank you, Caroline, for all your hard work! You are loved!!
Carolyn can I use a silicone loaf pan as I do not have a metal one. I use my silicone loaf pan to make my regular pancakes in and then come out just fine
I don’t use silicone to bake bread or cake so I can’t really be sure of the bake time, etc. I think you will just need to keep a close eye on it.
Good morning
I do not have chocolate whey protein powder. I only have the
Isopure plain whey protein powder. What do you suggest I use as a substitute for the chocolate? This recipe looks incredibly delicious. Can’t wait to make it.
You can use this and then add a tablespoon of sweetener.
I made this recipe this morning, very delicious! I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream because that’s what I had on hand. the inside is very moist, the ganache is so good on top, don’t skip adding it.
I had a dark medal pan and it was done in 60 minutes.
Thanks for another great recipe Carolyn!
I haven’t made this recipe yet, but I have been working on poundcakes lately and I know yours will be a 5 ⭐️ , as always!
I just wanted to say, that my number 1 fave thing about your recipes is that you provide the grams for ingredients. I really REALLY appreciate that! I weigh ingredients for consistency/reproduction… it makes a difference! I also truly appreciate the time it takes to A) create a new recipe, and B) the expense!, C) all of your comments on the blog post for each one, and D) your photography. It’s all a LOTTTTTT of time and work, even when you love it. I’ve been following you for several years. I appreciate you Carolyn and your completely reliable recipes! Much love…. ❤️
Caroline, what brown sugar replacement to do you recommend. I see that they are adding allulose to the Swerve. It’s the only brand I’ve used but it makes me angry they had to mess with the formula!
She takes you to her brown sugar recipe if you click on the hyperlink in the recipe (ie: click on the word brown sugar in blue)
Thank you! I did not realize that and, in fact, forgot she had a recipe for brown sugar! Duh!
Thank you for removing the ads from the printable recipe! I had discontinued my subscription when they started. I realized I don’t want to live without your wonderful recipes so tested the site again—and the printable version was adfree! Some recipes still have one small ad in the middle, but it does not disturb cooking. — Thank you, Carolyn! 👍🏻
Hi Carolyn,
What can I substitute for the chocolate protein powder?
Thank you,
Priscilla
You can use unflavored but you will need to add a touch more sweetener to the recipe. You can also use vanilla protein powder.
How much sweetener should I add to the protein powder because I do not have chocolate whey protein powder? Thank you
I would just add an extra 1 tablespoon.
Carolyn, you have provided hundreds of recipes to me over the years which were just great. The single issue for me is that there always seems to be a typo, to wit:
“Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease a 9×15 inch metal loaf pan.” Never saw a 9×15 inch loaf pan! I’m happy to take a look, as a former reporter and analyst.
LOL… that’s supposed to be 9×5. Correcting it now!
WoW!! Just made this recipe absolutely delicious! I didn’t have sour cream too lazy to go to the store and I used yogurt. You are amazing you nailed The texture the taste everything was👍🏼
Thank you thank you for helping us us on track while having something sweet.🩷
So glad you liked it!!!
This looks really good but I stumbled for a sec when I read “9×15 loaf pan”. Just a typo, but you should probably fix it! The recipe is correct. That said, I just forwarded this to all the cooks I know and can’t wait to make one myself!
All fixed!
This looks fantastic! The link in the ingredients list for the chocolate protein powder goes to Perfect Keto collagen – what chocolate protein powder do you recommend? (I used to have some in my pantry, but did a clean out yesterday and realized it was unopened… but expired 5 years ago. The perils of being at the back of a high shelf!)
It actually goes to all of Perfect Keto generically and they sell a chocolate whey protein powder as well. :). But I also like the one from Just Ingredients.