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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Can I replace the whey protein with collagen?
NOooooooo! It’s not good. It get’s all gummy, I’ve tried it in other cakes.
My neighbor just gave me duck eggs. Could I use them instead? I have never cooked with duck eggs. They are larger than a large chicken egg.
Yes, but I would cut back by one egg. Or possibly two eggs. Maybe google how big the average duck egg is compared to chicken eggs.
I finally tried this recipe last night. Half way through the baking time, I realized I forgot the cream and water! When it was done baking and ready to serve, I was pleasantly surprised — it still tasted delicious!! I’m sure it is much more dense because I forgot the cream and water, but YUM! Thank you for this recipe!!
I would like to share that I poked the holes too far through the cake. The liquid ran through to the other side, and that’s why mine stuck to the pan. So be sure to poke lots of shallow holes, not fewer ones that go all the way through! Also I replaced the water one-for-one with bourbon, and it tastes a little too strong to me. I would maybe try mostly bourbon and a little water next time. But big-time bourbon fans might well disagree!
Okay, that’s a good tip thanks!
I’ve made this cake three times. This is the best low carb cake recipe I have tried.
Thanks, Pam!
Could u use 1 1/4 cups almond flour, 1/2 cup oat fiber , 1/2 cup whey protein isolate to lower the carb count even more? Would it change the consistency?
Yep, it sure would change the consistency. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Adding right now to my AnyList “Favorites” folder! Wish I had seen this before my birthday. LOL! Loving your cookbook btw! Best Christmas present I had under the tree!
OMG This has become my go to cake for holidays and special occasions. I had to make extras for Christmas since I and my sister are low carb BUT I have a close friend who has wheat issues and another family friend who is a celiac. This cake was perfect for both of them.
My only issue I find is that I have to cook this for almost 2 hours. I have checked my oven and the temp is fine (I always have an oven thermometer in it). I also use a silicone bunt pan and that does help with the sticking.
FYI: Tastes amazing when you use Rum or Bourbon in place of the water in the recipe (for both parts).
I am guessing the silicone pan is part of it? Hard to say but I am glad you love it!
Cake is great, even better the second day!!! Any ideas why mine stuck to the bundt pan? I sprayed generously with cooking spray and then a sprinkled with a bit of almond flour. It really stuck; I had to scoop it out of the pan. Before keto I always sprayed pan and sprinkled with flour or sugar and never had a problem. Unitl I figure it out I may skip the bundt pan and make a loaf. This is not a complaint!! I am a newbie at keto cooking. Going from gourmet cook to ameteur keto cook is stretching me. I don’t have a clue what to do most of the time :))
This is a cake that although amazing can tend to stick for a lot of people. It can depend a lot on your pan and just how non-stick it really is.
I don’t know if this will help you, but I don’t have much luck flouring my pans with almond flour for some reason. I bought a small bag of gluten-free flour (because I’m gluten-free), and I use that to flour pans only (not to bake, since it is high-carb). And instead of spray, I use softened butter rubbed on with a paper towel (getting into the crevices). That method works great for me. It’s more work, but the cake looks lovely!
Best yellow cake I’ve made to date! This is a stunner. I’d like to use it for a layer cake. Would this make 2 or 3 layers if the layers were 8 or 9 inch rounds? Thanks for a gorgeous creation!
I’d go for 3 layers, personally, but you could do either.
I made this yesterday. There were small differences though as I used iLite cook&bake as substitute for swerve (couldn’t find Swerve) and added 2 tbsp of pure maple syrup. Also as my oven seemed to be stuck at a burn to a crisp temperature, I decided to divide the mixture into 2 and baked one half in my rice cooker which has a cake function and the other half in a 5 x 5 inches round pan by steaming it in my wok (with a closed lid). I had never baked/steamed like this before so I was quite anxious if it would turn out right. I also mixed chopped pecans into the mixture that went into the rice cooker and chopped unsweetened chocolate into the mixture that went into the wok. Both cakes came out beautifully although I had to microwave the cake from wok for about 5 mins on high as there were some parts within the cake that seemed a little wet. Ultimately both cakes tasted so good and my husband and kids (who haven’t liked a single low carb/Keto cakes I’ve made so far) had to ask me to remove the cakes from next to them as they were going to finish them in 1 sitting! They managed to finish half of the cakes in 15 mins!! Husband said he couldn’t believe this was a low carb cake and that it was really really good. I’m so happy this turned out so well even without the oven. Will be making more of this cake and can’t wait for my oven to get fixed. Thank you so much for your effort to perfect this cake and for sharing it with us. Such a satisfying feeling baking something that everyone in the family loves eating.
That is some creative baking! Way to go making it work! 🙂
I have a question about the carbs. You came up with 2 net carbs per 1/16th serving. Swerve has 4 net carbs per tsp and the recipe calls for 1 cup of swerve which is the same as 48 tsp. That would make it 192 net carbs for the entire cake and 12 net carbs for 1/16th. I’m wondering if I calculated something wrong. I did not calculate the frosting etc. Just he cake.
Thanks for your help.
What you did was actually count the carbs in Swerve…which, since it doesn’t affect blood sugar at all, shouldn’t be counted. I think that they shouldn’t technically even be called “carbs” since they bypass the blood stream. It’s hard to believe but true, and I know this because I actually test my blood sugar.
So…WOW! This is hands down my favorite low carb cake. I made only one change to the cake and that was to use my favorite sweetener, Trim Healthy Mama Gentle Sweet, because for my tastebuds, it tastes more like real sugar. But… where some special, grown-up magic happened was in making the change to the butter sauce! I doubled the recipe and used heavy cream instead of water, I used the THM Gentle Sweet, AND I thickened about 1/3 cup of brandy with a dash of zanthum gum and added it to the sauce. It turned a lovely golden color and kept a nice, smooth, thicker consistency. I drizzled each cut piece with a generous bit of sauce and served it with whipped cream. It was divine, and people actually came back for seconds! This will be my go to company dessert now!! Carolyn…THAK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
Sounds fantastic!
Made the cake last night and while it’s delish, I did run into an issue. I verified that I followed the directions exactly as written but needed to bake the cake 80 minutes. When I removed the cake from the pan I noticed that the center of the bundt cake was still a bit undercooked. Perhaps 350°?
No, it should be done at 325F but it sounds like your oven runs on the cool side.
Hi Carolyn!
I am making a chocolate fondue to bring to a New Year’s Eve party. Do you think this cake would hold together when I chunk it up to dip in the chocolate? Or do you think a different pound cake recipe would work better?
If you let this cool properly before cutting, I think it would be fine. But you could also take the batter from my Cranberry Pound Cake and do that one, minus the cranberries and orange.
Hey Carolyn!! Is this cake a high riser or does it rise only a very small amount (as most of these type seem to be denser) I just wanted to know what I should expect in that department. AND…will my batter be thick…med?? This way I know I have it right from the beginning!! Very nice cake!!!