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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New family favorite! I can’t seem to make enough of this since my sister first discovered it. When following the recipe exactly and in correct order the results are delightful! I like that it doesn’t use a ton of dishes. I use a silicone Bundt mold and it never sticks. This time I’m using cupcake molds since I don’t have the Bundt mold at hand and I’m sure will make great cupcakes too. Shuckers Sugar free caramel syrup on top btw is A+. If I wasn’t being lazy I’d use Keto Copy’s keto salted caramels recipe to make a syrup for it that’s even better than the smuckers.
OMG. This looks great. As I love creamy deserts and doing Keto, I can’t wait to make this! I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Hi
Can you use two regular cake pans or a very deep spring pan instead of a Bundt pan?
I have not tested it that way. If you do, please line the bottoms with parchment to help it come out more easily.
Your absolutely right on the parchment which I didn’t do as I saw your response after making the cake. I used an Angel Food Cake pan that was one piece. It didn’t budge so I scooped out a small piece and when I serve tonight hope the next few come out easier. Not dissapointed to have to cut out a tester piece because I was able to taste the cake and it is absolutely AWESOME!!! my new favorite and I’m a pie person. Thank you for your response…I think if I don’t invest in a bundt pan, i’ll try my five inch deep cheesecake pan and then I can release the spring after loosening the edges.
I highly recommend a silicone Bundt cake mold. Doesn’t stick one bit! No greasing required either. Be sure it’s a good quality silicone with no fillers though. You can test the silicone using the pinch test. If your pinch a couple pieces of the silicone together you should not be able to see the bent part turn white. If it turns white it’s got filler and makes things stick to it which defeats the purpose of silicone molds.
Great tip
Hi,
Is it possible to use vital wheat gluten instead of whey protein powder?
I honestly don’t know. It’s not an ingredient I use often.
Hi Carolyn. Your recipe looks fantastic! I am not following a true keto diet–more of a low histamine/anti-inflammatory diet. Meanwhile, my husband specifically requested Kentucky Butter Cake for his upcoming birthday, and he also recently received info from his doc that he is pre-diabetic. Enter the need for low carb KBC.
My question: Is there something simple I can substitute for whey protein powder? I don’t want to purchase a whole container of that, as I doubt I will be frequently doing this type of baking. Just want a decent replica of my KBC for his bday.
Thanks so much! Keep on cranking out those recipes! 😀
The only good replacement is egg white protein powder.
Carolyn, I must say everything I have tried of yours never disappoints…I just made this cake today and its amazing…I do have a question can you freeze this and if so how long …I always share your recipes in our low carb group where I live , and everyone says how good they are, but I give you full credit everytime…Looking forward to trying many more of your recipes
Yes, definitely freezable! Any cake like this is, especially when it doesn’t have a thick frosting or glaze. Should keep for at least 2 months if it’s wrapped up tightly.
I don’t usually comment but I just made this cake and it’s a GAME CHANGER. I wasn’t able to make it as per the recipe because I only had enough vanilla for the cake so I didn’t make the butter glaze ( was to lazy to run to Walmart to get more vanilla). Next time I will make sure I have all the ingredient and try it with the topping. I did have some strawberries on hand which I sliced and put on top with homemade whip cream soooooooooooooooo good, thought I was cheating the system. You are a genius
So glad you liked it!
I just made this and I think I mixed mine too long. Looked a little like scrambled eggs. It has been in the oven for one hour and jiggling, but the top is cooked and my tester comes out clean? Is it supposed to be loose and then firm up? Or did I just botch this one.
Did you by chance add cold eggs to the creamed butter? That can make the butter clump up again. and no, it really should not be jigging at all.
I am allergic to coconut but would like to try this recipe out. What can I use in its place if anything?
You can use more almond flour but it has to be triple the amount of the coconut flour.
I just started getting your emails and am excited to start trying sooo many of your recipes. You mention using egg protein powder instead of whey. Will hemp protein powder also work as a substitute?
It should… but just make sure it’s not one of the ones that has a greenish tinge, because that might make your cakes a touch green.
Oh my! This was so amazing! So moist and buttery… loved it!
Yummy! This looks so delicious! My family is going to love this recipe!
This is absolutely my favorite cake! It was my fave pre-keto… and now I can continue to enjoy it on my new dietary lifestyle. So flavorful and absolutely yummy!
Thanks! I did use baking powder just checked. Thanks for telling about the texture. Love your recipes!
If you’re tasting baking powder, I recommend switching brands. It’s probably the aluminum that’s in a lot of commercial brands. Try to find aluminum free.
I made this cake last night and although it came out well, it tastes ‘wet’ to me and I do seem to taste the baking soda. Any ideas to resolve that? I’d appreciate it.
I don’t know what you mean by tastes “wet”. It’s meant to be very moist. And it doesn’t use baking soda so if you used that, it would be a problem.
Made this butter cake and it was very good. Hubby likes it too. It’s dense, moist, not crumbly and sweet but not too much. I used a blend of sweeteners and I subbed 1/2 cup of the almond flour for 1/2 cup of lupin flour because that’s what I had on hand. I double greased the bundt pan with butter then light olive oil and it popped right out when cool. It took 50 minutes in the oven and my bundt pan is dark metal and I think I’ll start checking at 45 minutes next time. I think I will try different flavors for the glaze next time too as the glaze is what kicks this up a notch. Thanks for this recipe Carolyn!
Thanks for the feedback!