Strawberry rhubarb embodies everything I love about spring and early summer, with all the fresh produce coming into season. And this easy keto dump cake recipe showcases those fresh flavors to perfection. Served slightly warm, with a scoop of keto ice cream, it just makes my heart burst with happiness.
If rhubarb makes your heart sing too, then you will love my recipes for Keto Rhubarb Crisp and sugar-free strawberry rhubarb sauce!
I had honestly never heard of dump cakes until a few years ago. I don’t know if it’s my Canadian upbringing or what, but they were entirely foreign to me. But I can understand the appeal! You simply dump all of your ingredients into the pan and bake it. And they come out more like a delicious fruit cobbler, rather than a sponge cake.
Sounds great, right? Except for the fact that most dump cakes are made with canned pie filling and boxed cake mix. Gasp, splutter, gasp! Oh, the sugar, oh the carbs!
But it really doesn’t take much to make it from scratch with healthier, low carb ingredients. And the popularity of this luscious cake proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Why we love this recipe
- Easy to make: Just mix, dump, and bake – it’s that simple!
- Sweet and tart balance: Strawberries and rhubarb are magical together. The tartness of the rhubarb offsets the sweetness of the berries perfectly.
- Buttery crisp topping: The “cake” topping becomes slightly crisp on top, which complements the luscious fruit filling.
- Versatile serving options: It’s delicious on its own or topped with keto ice cream or whipped cream.
- Low carb and gluten-free: Made with almond flour and keto sweetener, this is a wonderful summer dessert that won’t spike your blood sugar.
Reader’s Thoughts
“After going to at least 3 grocery stores and the farmer’s market, I finally found rhubarb! So glad I didn’t give up because this was absolutely delicious! The perfect balance of sweet and tart, you’ve done it again, Carolyn! Thank you!” — Katy
Ingredient Notes
- Strawberries: Use fresh berries for the best results, as frozen can make the filling rather soupy.
- Rhubarb: I also recommend fresh rhubarb. I’ve made it with frozen (thawed) rhubarb and it definitely was soupier than with fresh.
- Almond flour: You really do need to use a good finely ground almond flour for this recipe.
- Coconut flour: A little coconut flour in the crust mixture helps offset the moisture in the almond flour.
- Sweetener: You need a powdered sweetener for the filling, and an erythritol-based granular sweetener for the topping. Please see Tips for Success for more information.
- Glucomannan: This helps thicken the filling as the fruit releases its juice. You can also use xanthan gum.
- Kitchen staples: Butter, baking powder and salt.
Quick Overview: How to Make Keto Dump Cake
- Prepare the filling: Make your life simple by tossing the strawberries, rhubarb, sweetener, and thickener right in the baking dish!
- Make the “cake mix”: This keto mix uses a scaled down version of the dry ingredients from some of my keto cake recipes. You then simply sprinkle it overtop the filling as evenly as you can.
- Drizzle the butter: I actually found that spooning the melted butter over the dry mix gave me better overall coverage.
- Bake the cake: Pop it in the oven and wait until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edges. Heavenly!
Tips for Success
For fruit fillings like this, I always recommend a glass or ceramic baking dish. The acidity from the rhubarb can react with metal and give the dessert a tinny taste.
You can make this recipe with other fruits, such as berries or peaches. But that will change the carb count. Rhubarb is very low carb and helps keep this recipe in range for people who eat a keto diet.
Err on the side of the cake becoming more browned on top, rather than less. It will allow more of the topping to become crisp.
As you drizzle the butter over the “cake mix”, try to get as even as possible. But it’s okay to have a few dry spots, they will still cook through. I found that spooning the butter over, rather than pouring from a bowl, allowed me to distribute it more evenly.
Sweetener Options
For the filling, you want to use a powdered sweetener to avoid any grittiness. But it can be erythritol or allulose, or really any sweetener you like best. The topping requires an erythritol based sweetener, with NO allulose in it, to crisp up properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fresh rhubarb contains very few carbs per serving and is an excellent addition to your keto diet. Diced rhubarbs stalks have only 6g of carbs and 2g of fiber per cup. And it’s delicious in low carb desserts like dump cake!
A cake like this is best served fresh, although it will last in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days. The topping won’t stay as crisp but it’s still delicious. Simply cover the whole dish with plastic wrap before refrigerating.
This keto strawberry rhubarb dump cake recipe has 7.4g of carbs and 3.4g of fiber per serving. If you count net carbs, that comes to 4 grams per serving.
Keto Dump Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 1/2 cups (305 g) chopped rhubarb
- 1 cup (144 g) chopped strawberries
- 1/2 cup (91 g) powdered sweetener
- 1/2 tsp glucomannan, can sub xanthan gum
Topping
- 1 1/4 cup (140 g) almond flour
- 1/3 cup erythritol sweetener
- 1/4 cup (30 g) coconut flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup (151.33 g) butter, melted
Instructions
Filling
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 2-quart glass or ceramic baking dish.
- Add the rhubarb and strawberries to the dish and sprinkle with the sweetener and glucomannan. Toss well to combine.
Topping
- In a medium bow, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, coconut flour, baking powder, and salt. Sprinkle evenly over the filling in the dish.
- Drizzle the melted butter as evenly as possible over the topping. This works best by spooning it over, rather than pouring from a bowl.
- Bake about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown all over and the filling is bubbling up through in places. Remove and let cool (the topping will crisp up some as it cools).
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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I live in Minnesota and am a rhubarb purest ……. so I would like to try this recipe without strawberries. Would you recommend increasing the sweetner? Anything else you can think of that I may need to compensate for since there would be no strawberries?
Thank you, Carolyn! I So appreciate your gift of Keto baking.
Cindy
Being Canadian… you’re almost one of us! I love rhubarb on its own. I think it depends on how tart you like rhubarb. I like mine rather tart. But if you don’t, add another tablespoon or two of sweetener.
I made this today. Although I thought it tasted good it was a bit salty tasting. What is causing that?
I am not quite sure. Did you use salted butter?
I love this ‘feel like I’m eating something I shouldn’t be eating’ dessert!
I used less sweetener with the fruit, but used the ‘correct’ amount for the topping.
So glad I found this recipe!!
This is so good🙂. I even made one with frozen drained rhubarb and fresh berries and it wa still delicious. Thanks again for a great recipe.
So good! I used xanthum gum and swerve… I’m going to try it with other berries, too! Thankyou!
can you substitute a different fruit? Maybe blueberries? I’m not a fan of Rhubarb but this looks so good!!
Please read the blog post!
Hi Carolyn,
I made the recipe as stated but used xanthan instead of glucomannan. I let it get nice and brown but the topping was very soft not crispy. It tasted very good but the topping had been crispy, that would have made the recipe!
What sweetener did you use in the topping?
This was super easy to make and so delicious! I’m making it again while I can still find rhubarb in Florida!
So tasty! This browns nicely and tastes very similar to “regular” dump cakes. I made one with fresh rhubarb and one with frozen rhubarb (fresh strawberries each time). The frozen rhubarb worked, but the extra moisture definitely changed the texture. This will be a go-to recipe!
I found EXACTLY the same thing with the frozen, which is why I am now recommending only fresh!
I am only finding Swerve, both brown and granulated with Allouse. Are there other sweetners you suggest if we should not use those with Allouse?
Is Stevia ok?
Stevia won’t work well here. I recommend making my homemade “keto brown sugar”. https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/brown-sugar-substitute/
Carolyn’s brown sugar sub works great and is easy to make. There are still some brands that have regular granulated without allulose, Lankato is one and Carolyn’s recipe has a link to another..
My husband and I finished this wonderful dessert last night. I didn’t have strawberries, so subbed blueberries and topped with homemade ice cream. Absolutely delicious. BTW, it was so good warm, but we actually preferred it cold.
What sweetner can be subbed for erithrol…(which does not agree with me)
Please make sure you are reading the post and the “sweetener options” section. I am sorry that erythritol doesn’t agree with you but if you want a crispy topping, it’s the ONLY thing that works.
I made this and it’s so good. I’m making it again today and going to double the strawberries and rhubarb, because I love more filling. But still this is a good recipe.
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Have you ever tried it with frozen rhubarb? I had some left from last year, so I froze it.
Should be fine, just thaw and drain it first.
I would like to try this with chayote instead of rhubarb *chayote is DH’s favorite vegetable!) And it’s strawberry season right now!
Have you or your tasters tried it with chayote? Do they parboil it or throw it in raw!
TIA.
I am sorry, I haven’t ever made it that way.
Hi! Do you have the weight of the fruit?
No, I measured by volume.