This keto zucchini cake is so rich and moist, it makes me do the happy dance. You know that dance, surely. That happy, spontaneous wiggle that can only come from putting a bite of something utterly delectable on your tongue.
I have multiple keto chocolate cake recipes on this website, each with a different twist. But every single one of them makes me do that happy dance.
And this is one of my favorites to make in the summer. It’s simple to make and turns out beautifully every time. I take this keto bundt cake to many parties and get togethers and it always meets with rave reviews!
Why you will love this recipe
Anyone who has ever grown their own zucchini knows how crazy it can get come mid-summer. You find yourself picking three or four large ones on a daily basis and you can’t keep up.
So any delicious recipe that includes zucchini is a good one! My classic Keto Zucchini Bread becomes very popular at this time of year. But this cake is a nice way to switch it up for a lovely dessert. With only 4g net carbs per serving, it fits well into a keto diet.
This keto bundt cake is not overly sweet, but the chocolate glaze makes it extra appealing. And I’ve simplified the recipe so that you can whip it up quickly and easily. It’s perfect for summer gatherings!
It even freezes well too. You can freeze it with or without the glaze.
Reader reviews
“This cake was absolutely incredible! It wasn’t dry in the slightest and even got two thumbs way up from my sweets-loving 7 year old (who could NOT believe there was zucchini in it). You truly are the queen of keto baking!” — Courtney
“I followed the recipe to the letter and I have to say that this cake is so moist and it has an absolutely lovely texture! The ganache is heavenly. Thank you Carolyn for making it so much easier and more satisfying to live a Keto lifestyle. How can you say that you’re missing out on anything when you provide us with recipes like this! ??” — Laura
“I made this cake for the first time 2 days ago. So nice, great texture and very moist. I can’t get Swerve, so I used erythritol and added a bit of liquid stevia, both in the cake and in the glaze. We really love this cake! Thanks again for all your recipes.” — Robin
Ingredients you need
This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
- Zucchini: This is a wonderful recipe to use up some fresh zucchini. You can grate it with a box grater or a food processor. And with this updated recipe, there is no need to salt and drain it!
- Keto flours: I use a combination of almond flour and coconut flour for this cake. The coconut flour helps offset the moisture of the zucchini. For a nut-free option, you can substitute with sunflower seed flour.
- Sweetener: You can use almost any sweetener you like best for the cake, but the glaze requires a powdered sweetener like Swerve Confectioners. See the Expert Tips section for more sweetener options.
- Cocoa powder: I prefer Dutch process cocoa for its deeper chocolate flavor.
- Protein powder: Like many of my other keto cake recipes, I use unflavored whey protein to help it rise and be more fluffy. You can also use egg white protein powder or pea protein powder.
- Heavy whipping cream: The glaze is a ganache-style glaze so it uses heavy cream as the base. You can also use coconut cream for dairy-free.
- Unsweetened chocolate: Make sure to use 100% unsweetened chocolate, which means no sweetener whatsoever. If you do choose to use keto chocolate like ChocZero, you will need to add a bit more to thicken the glaze.
- Pantry staples: Eggs, butter or oil, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract.
Step-by-step directions
1. Grate the zucchini: Use a box grater or a food processor with a grating disk to grate the zucchini finely. Measure out 2 cups, do not pack it. No need to salt and drain it either.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the wet ingredients: Add the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract, then add the zucchini and stir until well combined. If your batter is very thick, add liquid one tablespoon at a time. It should be easily spreadable but not pourable.
4. Bake: Spread batter in a well-greased bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake at 325ºF for 45 minutes or until the top is just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool 30 minutes before flipping out onto a platter to cool completely.
5. Prepare the glaze: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cream or coconut milk and the sweetener. Bring to just a simmer, then remove from heat and add chopped chocolate and vanilla. Let sit 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
6. Drizzle over: Let the glaze cool for a few minutes to thicken, then drizzle over the top of the cake and let set.
Expert tips
Bundt pans can be tricky, especially if they have lots of small crevices that cake can stick in. I highly recommend getting a real good non-stick, non-toxic bundt pan like this one from USA Pan. It’s pricier, but it lasts forever and always releases the cakes easily.
You can make the cake in other pans, like a 9-inch springform pan or a 9×13 rectangular pan. It would even make great low carb cupcakes. But the baking time will vary depending on what pan you use so keep your eye on it. It’s an incredibly versatile keto cake recipe, so sock this one away in your arsenal for all that summer zucchini.
Dairy-Free Option: Use egg white protein powder or a vegan protein powder in the cake, and swap butter for coconut oil or avocado oil. Then use coconut cream for the glaze.
Sweetener Options
The cake can be made with your favorite sweetener of choice, but do keep in mind that allulose can make it cook faster and darken more on the part that touches the pan. It can even taste a little burned. So keep your eye on it if you swap sweeteners.
The glaze needs a powdered sweetener for the right consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Zucchini is very keto friendly. One medium-sized zucchini has only about 4 grams of net carbs. Now you know why it is so popular with those who follow a low carb diet.
Leftovers can be kept on the counter for up to 2 days in an airtight container. I recommend covering the leftovers and refrigerating it for up to a week. You can also freeze this cake for up to 3 months.
This keto chocolate zucchini cake recipe has 7.5g of and 3.8g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.7g net carbs per slice.
More delicious keto bundt cakes
Keto Coconut Cake
What could be better than this fluffy white Keto Coconut Cake? It’s easy to make, and it’s so light and airy, it’s like biting into a fluffy coconut cloud. Nut-free and sugar free. If you love baking with coconut flour, this is the cake for you!
Keto Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Keto lemon poppy seed cake is a classic dessert and perfect for Spring. This bundt cake recipe is low carb and grain free so it fits in well with your healthy keto diet.
Keto Gingerbread Cake
Heavenly keto gingerbread cake! This tender cream cheese pound cake is flavored with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves for a classic low carb holiday dessert.
Keto Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups (248 g) finely grated zucchini, about 10 ounces
- 2 cups (210 g) almond flour
- 2/3 cup (121.33 g) granular sweetener
- 6 tbsp (6.09 tbsp) cocoa powder, Dutch process
- 1/3 cup (40 g) coconut flour
- 1/3 cup (36 g) unflavored whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp (1.01 tbsp) baking powder
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Cold coffee or water, as needed
Glaze
- 1/2 cup (118.29 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup (48 g) powdered sweetener
- 2 oz (56.7 g) unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325ºF and grease a large bundt pan (9 to 12 cup capacity) very well.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener cocoa powder, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract, then add the zucchini and stir until well combined. If your batter is very thick, add liquid one tablespoon at a time. It should be easily spreadable but not pourable.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is just firm to the touch.
- Let cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack or cake platter to cool completely. Do not let it cool in the pan longer than 60 minutes or it will start to stick again.
Glaze
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit a few minutes to melt, then add the sweetener and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
- Let the glaze cool for a few minutes to thicken, then drizzle over the top of the cake and let set.
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.
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
why do you need unflavoured whey protein powder please? I see it alot and it makes a simple relatively cheap recipe expensive.
Why? Because gluten is a protein and it’s what helps conventional cakes rise and hold their shape. In its absence, another dry protein powder does that same thing. You can leave it out, but your cake won’t be nearly as good.
Just yesterday I was thinking to myself what I would do with all the zucchini in the garden. Every day I pick two or three beautiful ones, and I ran out of ideas for using them. Apparently Carolyn picked up on my thoughts. Thanks for the recipe, I’m going to try it today.
This cake was easy to make and moist and delicious. With an abundance of zucchini, in South Carolina, this was a wonderful use of it.
I’d like to try this but I have someone who cannot eat/tolerate anything coconut. Would it be possible to substitute oat fiber or bamboo fiber for the coconut flour? Or is there another substitute? I didn’t see mention of any substitutes for coconut flour in the blog post. Or would I be better off finding another recipe of yours I could use that does not contain coconut flour?
use more almond flour… you will need 3x as much as there is coconut flour. So if it’s 1/3 cup coconut flour, you will need one additional cup of almond flour.
I made this cake but it came out dry and was not as flavorful as I was expecting. Any suggestions to salvage it? Thanks!
If it was dry, you over-baked it a little. Also, you may need a better cocoa powder… Dutch process has much more chocolate flavor. As for rescuing it now, you can pour more chocolate sauce over it. Or caramel sauce. Or serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
Sounds great but I don’t think these times add up….??? Are there other typos as well?
Prep Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yep, that was an error… it’s 1 hour total.
So what is the new, corrected cook time?
Also, how many ounces is the batter? I don’t have a bundt pan, don’t want to buy one and then not be able to fit it in any of my cabinets. I have a very tiny apt.
Just knowing how many ounces, cups, the batter measures so that I can half it (its just me) and make it in a glass pan, hopefully something like an 8×8, which I already have.
Not sure what you’re asking about cook time, it’s listed in the recipe card. And I am not in the habit of weighing my batters, I’m afraid.
This cake is not good. I used every ingredient exactly as the recipe calls for, and it turned out simply awful. I will add this…I have tried several recipes (from other sources) with almond flour and none have turned out well, so I will chalk it up to that. It was an expensive experiment, and an utter failure. Sorry.
Hi Marcie… what brand of almond flour are you using? I suspect that’s the issue. Most of my readers love this recipe.
Hi Carolyn, I used Blue Diamond mixed with a little Bob’s Red Mill I had left in the bag…maybe 1/2 cup. But, I’ve had lousy results using Bob’s alone, as well! My glaze didn’t thicken up either using heavy cream, powdered Swerve, Lily’s chips. It was a total failure!
Hi Carolyn I have a query about the Cocoa powder. It says 6.09 tbsp (6 tbsp). Is this an error or not? I used 6 tbsp because I wasn’t sure of the correct weight in grams.
This is a good cake. I did make some changes to this recipe and if I make it again I will try replacing the coconut flour because I keep finding that I am not a fan. I only had chocolate protein powder and it worked fine. I added a bit of chocolate stevia (like,4 drops) and I replaced 1/2 of the butter with applesauce. Next time I will figure out a replacement for the coconut flour. I had sugar free chocolate chips so I made the frosting using that and it worked great. My husband liked it. I also might add some sugar free chips to the batter next time. It’s not a bad cake but the next one I am making is the Chocolate Peanut Butter cake for my birthday!
This was the absolute best Keto dessert I have made. Texture is really nice, great flavor, no unpleasant aftertaste. I had a slice with some Breyer’s Carb Smart Ice Cream and was in Heaven! Best part – I wear a continuous glucose monitor and my blood glucose only rose 14 points. This will be my go-to chocolate indulgence. Thank you!
I’ve made this recipe 2x and love it.
Today I decided to see if it works for vanilla, as I had zoodled zucchini cores hanging round in my fridge… no green. it worked well. I just omitted cocoa, backed off the monkfruit and added a tbs (20mL) of coconut flour which helps with absorbing excess liquid.
The cake was nice enough w/out icing.
This was a success… Not too sweet… 6yr old granddaughter also loved…
Can I use egg white protein powder instead of whey protein powder?
Please read the blog post as I always answer questions like this already.
I’d like to try this but don’t tolerate whey. Can I use Chocolate Protein Powder? It’s Bovine.
It may change the consistency a little bit… I find that animal protein like collagen makes it harder to cook cakes through. So keep your eye on it.
Wow!! So very impressed. This cake has a refined dark chocolate flavour that you would expect to find in the finest of bakeries. Followed recipe to the letter. Used coffee at the end to thicken the batter up a bit. An absolute must try.
I just can’t afford the whey protein right now – would it ruin the cake without it? How about adding a few egg whites in addition to the 4 eggs?
You cannot add additional eggs, as it throws off the wet to dry ratio and your cake would be a mess. You can skip it if you need to but the cake won’t rise as well.