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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I made the cake! It is so delicious. Since I’ve been on low carb I’ve wanted a good rum cake, this is it! Used rum extract instead of vanilla and rum instead of water. It’s perfect with a little whipped cream. Thank you so much for your great easy to follow recipes.
Wonderful! Beautiful! Easy to make! Baked for 50 minutes to a gorgeous golden brown. Used allulose in the glaze to prevent grittiness. Came out super moist and, yes, deliciously buttery. I bet it would be good with some almond extract in place of some of the vanilla or with caramel sauce instead of the butter glaze just to change things up. Fantastic recipe! Thanks, Carolyn!
Is this baked in a normal size bundt pan or is a smaller one?
Standard, which is 9 to 10 cups.
Thank you.
Several of your recipes call for unflavored whey protein powder. Can I use the vanilla instead?
Vanilla protein powder can sometimes be overpoweringly vanilla! But use it if you must and leave out additional vanilla.
This is by far my favorite non-chocolate low carb cake. Absolutely incredible. The first few times that I made it, I used a cheesecake springform pan and it came out just perfect each time.
why do you add protein powder to the cake mix. I haven’t figured out why you would need it. Can I replace it with something?
I answered that right in the blog post! 🙂 It’s a critical ingredient.
Excellent cake. It’s perfect for a holiday or special occasion.
This reminds me a lot of the recipe for my favorite Bacardi Rum cake, which I used to make at Christmas. So what would happen if I put 1/2 cup of rum instead of water in the batter, and 2 T. of rum in the butter glaze instead of water? Then pecans in the bottom of the bundt pan before the batter? Garnish with whipped cream & powdered Swerve? Do you think that would work? Yum!
Sure!
I did it. Just replace vanilla with rum extract and water with rum. Came out beautifully.
Can I replace the whey protein with egg white protein?
Yes, that works!
this is one of the best ones I try to stay away from cake because of the taste but this one is really. really good thank you
Can this be baked as cupcakes instead of a whole cake? If so, what would the baking time be?
It can be but I can’t totally advise as to baking time since I haven’t made mine that way. That said, I have a number of cupcake recipes that could guide you. This one might be close. Make sure you check on them frequently! https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-strawberry-lemonade-cupcakes/
I think this cake would make more than 12 cupcakes FYI. 15 to 16 probably.
I just made this and it is delicious. Do I refrigerate leftover cake or put it in the fridge?
Refrigerating is fine. It’s also fine on the counter for 4 days or so.
What can I use instead of protein powder? It’s super expensive where I live and really want to make this cake.
Nothing. It is CRITICAL to the outcome of the cake. Please watch my video to see just how big a difference protein powder makes: https://youtu.be/8SA_iBl0pUU
Hi there- I had the same issue w/ spending $$$ for a quarter cup of whey protein powder- My solution was: I bought a single serving vanilla shake mix($1.75) at Ingles-its made by Gatorade.The whole package is one half cup dry powder. The vanilla flavor did not affect taste, worked like a charm- best keto cake I have ever tried!!!
I buy protein powder at Sprouts where they have it in bulk…I get just a small amount & it’s not expensive when purchased like that…if you don’t have a Sprouts, you might check other stores that have a bulk section.
This is one of my favourite, never fail, go-to recipes when it comes to low carb cakes that even carb lovers will enjoy!
I love hearing that!
I have made this yet but “Why does the sweetener need to be granulated?
Well a crystalline structure helps whip air bubbles into butter, making the cake lighter and fluffier.
I am drooling over this and want to make it but too much almond flour doesn’t sit well with my stomach. Can this be made with all coconut flour? If so, what would the measurements be?
Thank you (and I hope you or someone responds because I’m desperate to try this).
No sorry, it cannot. I have plenty of coconut flour cakes but this is tested and re-tested with the specified ingredients.