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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This recipe is perfect. Will be making it again and again.
Can you use the Swerve cake mix for the topping?
I don’t know, I haven’t tried that.
On the menu for this weekend. The rhubarb crisp recipe was a winner and hubby came home with more rhubarb and asked “what’s next”? A question about using ground chia seeds as a thickener – thoughts? suggested amounts?
I did that in my previous rhubarb crisp recipe. It’s okay…kind of gummy.
RHUBARB ???????????? I made this dump cake for the first time earlier this week. Made it last night with a few alterations….I made it in an unusual loaf pan(4×12) so there would be more edging less middle which became more soggy than the edges when I first made it. I eliminated the strawberries (why mess with rhubarb ????) because I thought it added to the moisture content too. Added another cup of rhubarb. Plus, I added a little more coconut flour (1/8c) I also used less sweetener when mixing the rhubarb with the Xanthan gum. I couldn’t wait to try it last night and it was good but this morning it was even better????????????. Thx Carolyn! Now to try more of your beloved rhubarb recipes
This was way too sweet for me even though I used about 15% less sweetener. I will reduce further next time. I also found it made 6 portions not 10. I love rhubarb so will make again but would love more of a sponge cake topping (lives Eve’s Pudding). Anyone know of a recipe?
I grew up with a family garden and my parents often made rhubarb pie. This recipe took me back to childhood and was equally delicious. I am Type 1 and I cannot tell you how happy it made me to be able to enjoy such a nostalgic treat.
Happy to hear that!
Made this early this morning for our Sunday family dinner. So easy & quick! Huge hit with the family, so much so that I’m making another one tonight. Thank you thank you thank you! Your recipes keep this keto girl goin!
????????????
So glad to hear it!
This is a beautiful recipe. I made it yesterday and it is delicious. Our Sprouts store had just received fresh rhubarb. It wasn’t out in the store yet so they went in the back and brought me two beautiful stalks. I also used fresh strawberries. I will definitely be making this again. I served it with almond milk whipped cream that I also found at Sprouts.
Dump cake is huge in Kansas. We’ve been making them since I was very little. Suggestion: if you want to make sure the whole top is covered in butter, slice the butter in thin pats and lay them over the top. They will melt in and make a wonderful, crisp top. Can not wait to try this. May do it with zucchini and cinnamon making an “apple” dump cake!!! Mmmmm!
What a wonderful idea!
Did you make this with your zucchini & cinnamon suggestion? I suppose thinly (?) sliced zucchini with cinnamon? Did you/would you suggest more sweetener? Thanks for your help. Your suggestion sounds delicious and I bet less carbs too!!!
I made this last night for our dessert. It was so delicious and very easy to make. I’ve never cooked rhubarb before and was afraid it would be sour but it was just right. My husband who won’t try new things even said it was good. I did serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla low carb ice cream. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Hooray!
Hello there sweet, wondering if I can use an unflavored gelatin as a thickener?? Anyone done that yet??
No, I haven’t tried that but I suspect it will make your filling rather jelly-ish.
Any chance you have a nut-free sub for the almond flour?
Try sunflower seed flour.
I have made it with diet straberry jello. Poured it over the rubard and sugar. It was delishous
Most of the dump cakes I have done were in a slow cooker. Do you think this recipe would work in a slow cooker?
I can’t say for sure. I do suspect that the moist heat of the slow cooker will make your topping rather soggy. Tasty, but not crisp.
Hi Carolyn,
Can I use just the strawberries or strawberries with another fruit? Not sure if I would like rhubarb so don’t want to spend money to buy it and have to throw it out.
Thanks,
LIZ J
I am a strawberry rhubarb fanatic! I recently bought a tower garden and am thrilled about being able to grow rhubarb indoors all year round! I also love dump cake! My grandma often made it when we would visit. Her method of distributing the butter so that it completely covered the dry cake mix was to slice a very cold stick of butter into very thin slices and lay them on top of the cake so they were almost touching. It was beautiful!
Okay, please enlighten me…. what is a tower garden?
A tower garden is an indoor garden tower that self waters and you plug into an outlet and whatever herbs or green grow vertically versus horizontally like in a raised outdoor garden. You can grow 10 different herbs or veggies. If you have heard of the aerogarden its the same concept but aeorgardens are table top and much smaller. The water basin at the bottom can self water all the pots so its like a vertical fountain but with herbs or some veggies. They are nice for people who dont have yards or much space to have an actual garden. Or who lack a green thumb and kill most plants. Heres a link on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Stacky-Smart-Farm-Hydroponic/dp/B06VSHBNXS/ref=pd_sbs_86_2/136-7213214-3120949?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B06VSHBNXS&pd_rd_r=150b9aaf-e00b-4a0c-a545-40d49de7c28a&pd_rd_w=Gflbv&pd_rd_wg=93Gn5&pf_rd_p=e20a7044-dca9-4b2c-8da8-05b176efe6fb&pf_rd_r=DQXM344RFJDXC01EJVYM&psc=1&refRID=DQXM344RFJDXC01EJVYM
Rhubarb is rare in my area. I see you mentioned chayote. I have tried chayote before in a recipe. It was quite watery. Do you have any specific tips for using chayote ?
Yup… use the thickener I mention!
Growing up in NY, strawberry rhubarb dump cake was my favorite dessert, although the “strawberry” part was a pkg of dry strawberry jello sprinkled over the rhubarb, then the cake mix, then the butter and a cup of water poured over. I now live in SC and rhubarb doesn’t grow here and you can’t buy it unless you find it in the tiny “foreign and lonely foods” section-right next to the turnips, etc. I also have to eat gluten free now and I have missed it so much-thank you for making this in a gf low carb version so next time I find some rhubarb, I’ll know where to come for the recipe revision! Yay!!
Glad to hear it, Faith! When you do come across extra, buy a bunch and slice it and freeze it. That’s what I do!
Faith, you might be able to find it in the freezer section of a grocery store. That’s where I found some when I couldn’t find it fresh in the store.
I am wondering if one can use frozen strawberries or rhubarb (thawing them first). Also wondering if you can do this with all rhubarb and no strawberries? Where I live (Canada) there is at least a month between rhubarb season and strawberry season…
yes and yes, to all your questions… 😉
Excellent! Thanks. Feeling for all you people unable to find rhubarb, I have all the rhubarb and am always trying to foist it off on people.