This delectable Keto Ding Dong Cake features tender layers of coconut flour cake with a creamy filling and a sugar-free chocolate glaze. Just like your favorite snack cakes but so much better for you!
It was high time that I gave my famous Keto Ding Dong Cake an update. But don’t panic, friends. This keto chocolate cake recipe is just as delicious and decadent as it ever was!
Okay, I admit it. I really just wanted to make it again for me and my family. In fact, I made it as my keto birthday cake this year, and it made the occasion extra special. I wasn’t sad about all the delicious leftovers, either. We feasted on this beautiful low carb dessert for several days in a row.
How can you go wrong with a giant chocolate snack cake?
Why you will love this keto cake
This recipe has long been one of my most popular cakes, and I originally created it for Swerve Sweetener using their boxed cake mix. But the company has changed a lot of their products and they aren’t as easy to find as they used to be.
I want all of my readers to be able to enjoy this delicious cake, so I have updated the recipe with my homemade coconut flour chocolate cake. I’ve also taken new photos and added tons of great tips and information.
For such a beautiful layer cake, this recipe is quite straightforward. The cake layers take only about 30 minutes to make. The filling is an easy stabilized whipped cream. And the sugar-free chocolate ganache is practically foolproof.
The resulting cake is rich and indulgent. And yet each slice has only xg net carbs per serving!
Ingredients you need
- Coconut flour: I like to make the cake layers with the same batter I use for my keto cupcakes. Check the expert tips section if you would prefer to use almond or sunflower seed flour.
- Sweetener: For the cake, you can use your favorite sweetener. Do be mindful that it may bake faster if you use allulose. For the filling and the glaze, you will need a powdered sweetener like Swerve. I like to add a little allulose to the glaze as well, to help keep it from recrystallizing.
- Cocoa powder: I always use Dutch process cocoa, as it has a deeper chocolate flavor and combines better in cake batters.
- Protein powder: You can use whey protein, egg white protein, or a plant-based protein, but collagen protein will not work well.
- Eggs: Coconut flour takes a lot of eggs so don’t skip them!
- Coffee: I often use leftover coffee as the liquid in this cake, because it enhance the chocolate flavor. But you can also use water.
- Whipping cream: You will need plenty of whipping cream for the filling and the glaze.
- Gelatin: A little gelatin helps make the filling firm enough that it doesn’t squish out between the layers.
- Unsweetened chocolate: Make sure you use entirely unsweetened chocolate for the glaze, as it will set better.
- Pantry Staples: Vanilla extract, baking powder, salt, butter.
Step by Step Directions
1. Prepare the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the eggs, butter, and vanilla extract until well combined. Stir in the coffee about ¼ cup at a time until the batter is thick but easily scoopable.
2. Bake the cake: Divide the batter between two well-greased 8 inch round pans lined with parchment paper and spread to the edges. Bake at 350ºF for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops of the cakes are just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool before flipping out onto a wire rack.
3. Dissolve the gelatin: Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin. Whisk to combine. Heat for about 30 seconds in the microwave and whisk until the gelatin is dissolved. Cool 10 minutes.
4. Whip the cream: In a large bowl, combine the cream, Swerve, and vanilla extract. Begin to beat at high speed and slowly pour in the water/gelatin mixture. Beat until the cream holds stiff peaks.
5. Assemble: Place one layer of cake on a serving platter and spread with the cream filling. Top with the second layer of cake and press down lightly so the cream comes to the edges of the cake. Place the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up.
6. Prepare the glaze: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and sweetener. Bring to just a simmer, then remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate and vanilla extract. Let sit 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
7. Glaze the cake: Let cool another 5 to 10 minutes to thicken, then slowly pour of the cake. You can use an offset spatula to cover the sides or simply let it drip down. Let set 20 minutes before serving.
Expert Tips
Coconut flour varies brand to brand, so you may need to adjust the batter with a little less or a little more liquid. You want the batter to be on the thick side but still easily spreadable in the pans.
As with any keto cake recipe, it’s important to make sure you don’t over-bake it. Watch it carefully in your oven, testing it early. The best way to know it’s done is to touch the top of the cake. If it feels firm to the touch, remove it immediately.
If you would prefer a cake made with nut or seed flour, try making the layers with the batter from my Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. Just spread the batter in two pans, rather than three, and watch it carefully. You can also use a keto cake mix, if you prefer.
The cream filling requires gelatin to be firm enough not to ooze out between the cake layers. Make sure the gelatin dissolves completely in the water and the mixture cools a bit before adding it to the whipped cream.
I like to add a few tablespoons of allulose to the glaze, in addition to the powdered sweetener. This helps keep it from recrystallizing as it cools. If you cannot access allulose, that’s okay. It will work as written but you may get some grittiness in the glaze after it has been refrigerated.
I say that this cake serves 12, but it is rich enough to easily serve 16.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most Ding Dong Cakes have upwards of about 35g of carbs per slice. But this Keto Ding Dong cake has only 8.3g of carbs and 4.2g of fiber. Which means it has 4.1g net carbs per slice.
Store this cake in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week. I recommend placing plastic wrap against the cut edges to keep it from drying out. You can also freeze the cake, tightly wrapped, for several months.
More amazing keto cakes
Keto Ding Dong Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- ⅔ cup coconut flour
- ⅔ cup Swerve Sweetener or other granular sweetener
- 6 tablespoon cocoa powder
- ¼ cup whey protein powder chocolate vanilla, or unflavored
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 large eggs
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup leftover coffee or water more if needed
Filling
- 3 tablespoon water
- 1 ½ teaspoon grass-fed gelatin (or 1 envelop Knox gelatin)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup Swerve Confectioners or other powdered sweetener
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Ganache
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup Swerve Confectioners or other powdered sweetener
- 2 tablespoon allulose optional, can replace with more Swerve
- 2 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease two 8-inch round cake pans very well. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and grease the paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the eggs, butter, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Stir in the coffee about ¼ cup at a time until the batter is thick but easily scoopable. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and spread to the edges.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops of the cakes are just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool before loosening the edges and flipping out onto a wire rack.
Filling
- Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin. Whisk to combine. Heat for about 30 seconds in the microwave and whisk until the gelatin is dissolved. Cool 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the cream, sweetener, and vanilla extract. Begin to beat at high speed and slowly pour in the water/gelatin mixture. Beat until the cream holds stiff peaks.
- Place one layer of cake on a serving platter and spread with the cream filling. Top with the second layer of cake and and press down lightly so the cream comes to the edges of the cake.Place the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up.
Chocolate Ganache
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and sweetener. Bring to just a simmer, then remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate and vanilla extract. Let sit 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
- Let cool another 5 to 10 minutes to thicken, then slowly pour of the cake. You can use an offset spatula to cover the sides or simply let it drip down. Let set 20 minutes before serving.
Kim says
So I made a version of this experimenting, I made the mix into 12 cupcakes, let them cool and then split and filled 1/2 with the filling above, and 1/2 with the peanut butter layer that is on a brownie recipe. Froze them, made the frosting and covered them, let them thaw and they were Amazing. The only difference that I think I will do with future batches “and there will be future batches” is make 24 cupcakes and do 1 layer of cake freezing the whipped filling on top and then covering with frosting/ganache! Thank you so much for satisfying a craving that I’ve had!
Emily says
Hi! Can’t wait to try this out! Anyway we can make the whipped cream chocolate with the same recipe? Not sure you have a chocolate stable whipped cream recipe posted
Carolyn says
Sure! I do have a chocolate whipped cream topping on this recipe for Swerve https://swervesweet.com/recipes/death-by-chocolate-poke-cake The cocoa powder gives it plenty of stability…
Trisha says
What’s the recepe for the filling if the cake?
Carolyn says
The whole recipe can be accessed through the link at the bottom of the post.
Sherri says
How do you store this cake please and how long does it stay good for? Thank you
Carolyn says
In the fridge for up to 6 days.
Deli Caban says
Recipe please
Carolyn says
Big link at the bottom of the post takes you right to it.
Jodi Martin says
I use the Keto Chocolate Coconut Flour Cupcakes recipe rather than the cake mix. Tastes great!!!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Gina says
What kind of oil did you use?
Dani says
Where’s the recipe?
Carolyn says
Click the link that says “please see my…”
Sue says
I noticed that the recipe says to use one box to make two layers but one box only makes one layer
Carolyn says
Nope, not when you make this cake it doesn’t. Thinner layers, better cake. 🙂
Yvette says
Hi, the recipe is not posted on this page. I u sweat as you use a cake mix (box) but how to make this recipe is not posted. Can you pls posted so I know how to make. Thanks ????
Carolyn says
There is a large link that says “please see my keto ding dong cake”… click that.
Tina Munn says
Can this cake be frozen after its all put together? I actually made 2 / 4″ cakes and 1 / 5″ cake. I made the whole thing and put them together. Hoping to freeze them individualy. I didnt know if the whipped cream filling would freeze well. This cake is awesome by the way. I did have to sample one of the cakes. ha! It taste just like a Ding Dong!
Carolyn says
The whipped cream filling will freeze fine. It’s the chocolate ganache I am worried about.
jeannette hughes says
What can I say about this cake….Delicious! I made this for the dessert while on vacation and we had it every night. No one would have guessed it was low carb. Please keep putting out recipes for Keto and low carb eating. All of your recipes I have tried have been spot on.
Erica says
I’ve probably made this cake 5 times since I found this recipe. Hands down one of my favs.
Jeanette says
I really want to bake this cake tonight. I just started back keto and is craving something sweet. Will this cake hold if I don’t have the grass-fed gelatin? I can’t find it in my area.
Carolyn says
You can use Knox gelatine too, just only use about half the envelope. you can skip it but you may need to beat your cream until it’s really stiff and that can sometimes be a bit clumpy looking (tastes good, though!).
Samina says
Thank you so much for this recipe – it’s one of the best cakes I’ve ever made. I made it a few times and follow the recipe exactly. It’s perfect. Except I once forgot the parchment paper in the cake pans. It’s a very important step that I won’t miss again.
Niki says
Hi there,
Could the heavy cream be substituted for coconut cream? I have a lactose intolerance and was looking for ways to make this recipe work!
Thank you!
Carolyn says
Sadly, coconut cream won’t stand up to the layers of this cake. And adding gelatin to cold coconut cream makes it very lumpy. I’ve tried!
Joe Colonna says
Hello! Thank you for turning me on to this “Swerve cake mix. I’m making this Ding Ding cake for separate Christmas eve and Christmas family get togethers. What size cake pans do you use?
Carolyn says
The recipe states the pan size.
Joe says
No. It doesn’t. There is no written recipe that list ingredients used, that I can see. There is a video but that doesn’t state what size pan is used. I found the pan size in the comments where someone asked the same question, where you stated 9″-10″ is standard. I really like your videos, recipes and take on the Keto lifestyle but for the time It took you to reply with “the recipe states the pan size” you could have just typed “9-10”.
Carolyn says
Hi Joe, it is there. The whole written recipe is right there on the Swerve website, and the link is at the bottom of this post. You are meant to click through and read the whole recipe, not try to take it from comments or from a video. Videos are added visual keys, not meant to be the full recipe.
I don’t know where you are seeing “9 to 10” in the comments because it’s made with 8-inch pans. And I asked you to look for it in the recipe because part of my job is to teach how to bake, which includes having people read the recipe IN FULL before they start trying to make something.
Lisa Baab says
How would you make the peppermint cream for the middle?
Carolyn says
Simply add a teaspoon or two to the cream as I whip it. 🙂 It depends on how strong your peppermint extract is, I think.
Annette says
Oh my WORD!!! This was fantastic and even my granddaughters LOVED it!! I wasn’t sure how the center would withstand the top layer without squeezing our but it held up wonderfully….I’m sure the gelatin was the key and I’m super excited about the prospects for other recipes! Thank you so much for this super tasty recipe!
Carolyn says
So glad it worked out!
Nicole says
Made this tonight! It was FABULOUS!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Carol Rhodes-Rice says
Dang it! I printed the recipe from the Swerve site and it did not format at all right. GRRRRR.
Carolyn says
I don’t have any input over their printable recipes, but they are super responsive so maybe you can reach out to them.