Some desserts are absolutely iconic and I can say with confidence that this Keto Kentucky Butter Cake is one of them. This is the original, my friends! I first published this epic sugar-free treat back in 2017 and it became an instant success. So much so that look-alike recipes started popping up all over the internet. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as they say!
But you’ve managed to find your way to the OG keto butter cake, and I am glad you’re here. If you love rich, buttery desserts, you’ll be happy to know I have plenty of them. You might also enjoy my recipes for Keto Gooey Butter Cake and Keto Butter Cookies.
My devoted fans know that I am a stickler for both taste and texture. So I took my time developing this recipe, and figuring out how to achieve the classic Southern butter cake experience with low carb ingredients.
This cake has the perfect density, but still comes out with an incredibly tender crumb. And the buttery syrup soaks in while the cake still warm, to make it ultra-moist. It’s really is a stunner of a dessert, so it’s little wonder that there are so many copycat recipes. But now you know where it all started!
Why Readers Adore This Recipe
- Rich, buttery flavor: Readers often tell me that when they take this to a gathering, it’s the first dessert to disappear!
- Unbelievably moist: The cake is moist enough as it is but the buttery glaze adds even more moisture.
- Elegant presentation: Bundt cakes always look so elegant, all they need is a sprinkle of powdered sweetener and a few berries.
- Crowd-pleaser: Many folks report that everyone loves this cake, from kids to grandparents.
- Make ahead recipe: You can make it several days in advance and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Keto-friendly deliciousness: No grains, gluten, or sugar makes this an epic low carb treat.
What readers are saying
“I think this cake might be my favorite, and I’ve made many of your desserts. This moist, buttery cake does not even need the glaze! It’s that good. Comes together quickly, bakes to perfection, and yields lots of servings. It’s 10 ⭐️” — Lynn
Ingredient Notes
- Keto flours: This recipe uses both almond flour and coconut flour. The coconut flour helps with structure and offsetting all the delicious butter.
- Protein powder: As always, protein powder helps the cake rise better and have more structure. I recommend whey or egg white protein. Plant-based may also work but don’t use collagen protein.
- Butter: Butter cake needs to be made with copious amounts of butter. Please don’t ask me how to make this recipe lower fat. It’s a butter cake, after all!
- Sweetener: This bakes for quite a bit of time, so I recommend using mostly erythritol based sweeteners in the cake. See the Tips for Success for more details.
- Whipping cream: I use a mix of whipping cream and water as the liquid in this recipe.
- Kitchen staples: Eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt.
How to Make Keto Kentucky Butter Cake
- Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk the almond flour, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sweetener until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Combine together: Add the almond flour mixture and beat until well combined. Transfer the batter to a large, well-greased bundt pan and bake until golden brown.
- Prepare the glaze: Melt the butter and sweetener together, whisking until combined. Whisk in the water and vanilla extract.
- Pour over the cake: While the cake is still warm, poke holes all over it with a skewer. Pour the glaze over and let cool completely in the pan.
- Garnish: Gently loosen the sides with a knife then flip out onto a serving platter. Dust with powdered sweetener.
Tips for Success
Take the time to grease the pan properly, as directed in the recipe. Bundt pans are notoriously tricky and sticky, and it can be tough to get cakes out in one piece. Particularly cakes as tender as this one! Make sure not to use pans with lots of nooks and crannies – a regular fluted pan works best.
Also let the cake cool completely but don’t let it stay in the pan much longer! I’ve noticed that keto baked goods begin to stick again if they stay in the pan much longer than that.
Use room temperature ingredients. I cannot state this strongly enough! Cold eggs will cause the nicely creamed butter to clump up again.
I don’t recommend trying to replace the coconut flour with more almond flour. Almond flour contains more moisture and it will make this cake far too soft.
Protein powder is an important part of this cake’s success so please don’t ask me if you can substitute anything.
Sweetener Options
I highly recommend using an erythritol based sweetener in the cake itself. Allulose browns more quickly and the part of the cake against the pan will darken considerably – and with a bundt cake, the majority of the cake is against the pan. It may also taste a little burnt.
That said, you are free to experiment with your preferred sweeteners. I just can’t guarantee the results.
You can use allulose-based sweeteners in the glaze, as that won’t cause any issues.
More Keto Bundt Cakes To Love
Keto Kentucky Butter Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 1/2 cups (260 g) almond flour
- 1/4 cup (30 g) coconut flour
- 1/4 cup (27 g) unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (227 g) butter, softened
- 1 cup (182 g) granular sweetener , erythritol recommended
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (119 g) whipping cream
- 1/2 cup (118.29 g) water
Butter Glaze
- 5 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) granular sweetener, erythritol or allulose
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Garnish
- 1 to 2 tbsp powdered sweetener
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease a bundt cake pan VERY well and then dust with a few tbsp of almond flour. Pro Tip: double-grease your pan to help prevent sticking. Use a solid fat first, like butter or coconut oil, and then a spray like coconut or avocado.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sweetener together until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Beat in the almond flour mixture and then beat in the whipping cream and water until well combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and smooth the top. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and the top of the cake is firm to the touch.
Butter Glaze
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and sweetener together. Whisk until well combined. Whisk in the water and vanilla extract.
- While the cake is still warm and in the pan, poke holes all over with a skewer. Pour the glaze over and let cool completely in the pan.
- Gently loosen the sides with a knife or thin rubber spatula, then flip out onto a serving platter. Dust with powdered sweetener.
- Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
This is a very butter-forward recipe, so dairy-free substitutions will change the flavor and texture. Some readers have had success using high-fat plant-based butter, but the result won’t be quite as rich or classic as the original.
Because this is a large cake, I recommend using a 9-inch spring form pan or two 8-inch round cake pans. Baking time will vary, so start checking early and take it out when the top is just firm to the touch.
This keto Kentucky butter cake recipe has 5.5g of carbs and 2.5g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3g net carbs per slice.
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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Would like to give this 10 stars!!! Made this Sunday morning for Easter dinner. My Mom used to make a fabulous rum cake, so I thought why not, right!! Subbed out the water measurements for rum and I had put a small layer of batter in the pans and then sprinkled 1/2 cup of chopped pecans and then added the rest of the batter. It came out beautiful!! a bit boozy but no one complained!!
Hi Carolyn, Do you think Vital Wheat Gluten would work in place of the protein powder? I always have it on hand but have only used it in savory breads. Not sure if it has a “flavor” that would be noticeable in a dessert. Thank you & your recipes are amazing!!
I think it would be worth a try!
I have collagen protein powder. Will this work instead of whey?
No, collagen makes cakes like this very gummy.
Awesome! I already know this cake will hit the spot. Thank you!
Caronlyn, please tell me, do you use salted or unsalted butter in this cake?
Oops, I mean Carolyn.
Unsalted is the standard for baking. Admittedly, I often use salted but I have a high tolerance for salt.
Many thanks for your reply!
Your recipes are awesome and I’ll be making this one for Easter. Happy Easter! ????
Made this the other day and wow, it was really good. I used granulated sugar (3/4 cup) as I am not a fan of zero carb sweeteners, but it came out exactly as shown, and had the right consistency and sweetness, with much less carbs and sugar than a normal cake. I am going to experiment with the recipe a bit more to see if I can cut out more sugar and fat, but either way well done and thank you for sharing the recipe.
Hi Carolyn,
Sorry about the Ohio thing it was a typo. I didn’t get an answer on my question. I have a vegan protein powder. Can I use it. It doesn’t say pea just vegan on the label. I can’t use the stuff with whey I. It. Hope you can help.
Thank you so much
I think it should work.
Ohio Carolyn,
I only have a Vegan protein powder from GNC. It’s vanilla. Can I use this. I’m not vegan but I had a friend get it for me and she got the wrong one. Anyway. Hope you can help. I’m from Kentucky and have made the original one before I went Keto.
Thank you for all your hard work. I love everything you make.
Namaste
Sure, use it and don’t add any additional vanilla.
I always know when I want something sweet, I have to come here. I’ve tried many of your dessert recipes and I’ve not been disappointed. You are the Keto Dessert Goddess! I LOVE this cake!
Glad to hear it, Jamie!
Excellent cake with a lovely delicate crumb. Thanks for your hard work!
Delicious
I wish I could say this turned out for me but it did not. . The cake ended up very wet. I unfortunately will not be eating it. So…. any ideas on how to use the final product. Can I add more almond flour and bake again as muffins. Any suggestions would be helpful.
I have so enjoyed your other recipes though.
If it’s very “wet” as you say, then simply cut it into slices, lay it on a cookie sheet, and dry it out a bit in a warm oven. You could then use those slices for trifle or even tiramisu. Or crumble them into cake pops.
Thanks am going to try drying in the oven. Will let you know. I appreciate the feedback. FYI I tried three recipes from the keto dinner cookbook this week. Fabulous!
Glad to hear it! I am of the mind that unless you accidentally mix up salt for sweetener (or baking soda for baking powder), everything can be rescued in some way. 😉
I really want to try this cake, it sounds delish!. My question is, can you substitute the protein powder with Psyllium Husk Powder?
No, they don’t work at all the same way. Gluten is a protein and in its absence, a dry protein helps the cake rise and hold its shape.
I’ve made this delicious cake a couple of times. Does this cake need to be refrigerated or can it sit out after it is baked?
Thanks.
It can sit out for a day or two but should be refrigerated if longer than that.
I made this cake a few days ago. I heavily greased my non-stick bundt pan and dusted with almond flour. I cooled the cake before flipping and the entire top stuck to my pan. I used to make a cake called Crack Cake that was similar to this. After pouring the melted butter on the hot cake, I only let it cool enough to be able to handle the pan and flipped it while still very warm. When I let it cool completely, the butter hardened and caused the cake to stick. I will definitely make this cake again – we have enjoyed it, but it wasn’t one I would serve to company because it looked so sad. I’ll try flipping it while still very warm.
Hello! This is truly a great receipe! My question is if I want to make it lemon how much extract do I add and does it replace the vanilla or do I need vanilla extract too? Thank you for sharing and i look forward to your response!
You can replace the vanilla fully with lemon. I might also add the zest of one lemon, since that really helps the lemon flavor without adding carbs.
I love the flavor of this, but it turned out SUPER oily. Like if you tried to pick up a piece, you could SEE the oil seeping out Where did I go wrong? I double-checked that I used the correct measurements and everything, and I just cannot figure it out!
What brands of almond flour and coconut flour did you use? I suspect the almond flour. More coarsely ground almond flour tends to let oil leach out.