Delicious keto lemon truffles made with lemon cupcakes! These sugar-free cake balls are a fun and easy dessert. Dip in white chocolate for an extra special treat.
It’s that time of year again, when the dreary winter weather seems to drag on forever and spring seems a million years away.
Which clearly means we all need more keto lemon recipes in our lives! Bring on the bright, tangy flavors of Keto Lemon Cheesecake Bars, or some Keto Lemon Sugar Cookies. And you can’t go wrong with this easy Keto Lemon Curd.
We all seem to associate lemon with springtime and warming temperatures, although it’s actually a winter time fruit. I find myself craving it in the dark days of February.
So I whipped up these Keto Lemon Cake Balls to brighten my spirits. I think they will brighten yours too.
Keto cake balls are fun and easy
One of my biggest pet peeves is food waste. Whenever someone says a cake didn’t turn out perfectly so they threw it away, I nearly have a conniption. There is simply no excuse for that, and there is almost always a way to rescue a baking mistake.
Cake balls are a great way to use up some cake that didn’t come out of the pan properly or didn’t rise well. All you need to do is crumble it up into a bowl, add some softened cream cheese, and roll into balls.
Then you can roll in sprinkles or dip in chocolate. You can even stick them on lollipop sticks for cake pops. My kids love it when I do that.
What cake to use?
For this recipe, you have some great options for the keto lemon cake itself. You can make the lemon cake from scratch, or you can use one of the many wonderful keto bake mixes that are out now.
I happened to have a bag of the Low Carb Lemon Cake Mix from High Key, so I made a half batch as cupcakes.
Other options include using a keto vanilla cake mix like Swerve or Good Dee’s, and adding some additional lemon extract to increase the lemon flavor.
If you would like to make the cake from scratch, I recommend my Keto Lemon Poppyseed Cake. Just leave out the poppyseeds!
You really only need a half batch of cake to make 24 truffles, so you can either bake a whole cake and freeze the rest for later, or make a half batch as 6 cupcakes.
How to dip cake balls
For decorating, you have a couple of fun options.
White chocolate and lemon go so well together, so dipping them in sugar free white chocolate like ChocZero or Lily’s is absolutely delicious. And so very pretty.
Another option is to roll them in sugar-free sprinkles or “sanding sugar”. I happened to have a bag of yellow “glitter” from Good Dee’s, which is just granulated erythritol with some natural yellow food coloring.
Tips for making Keto Cake Balls
These little lemon truffles are a fun project. Here are some additional tips for getting it right:
- When working with any recipe that calls for both zest and juice, zest the lemons first. It’s much easier to zest a whole lemon than one that’s been cut up and squeezed already (I’ve made this mistake before!).
- Making the cake as cupcakes saves time, since they bake more quickly than a full cake. Use silicone or parchment liners to keep the cupcakes from sticking.
- Taste the cake ball mixture before rolling into balls. If you want more lemon flavor, add more zest or a bit of lemon extract.
- Freeze the balls before dipping or rolling. They are pretty soft and tender at room temperature, but much easier to handle when frozen. Freezing them also helps set the chocolate coating faster.
- When melting any sugar free chocolate for coating, I always recommend using some cocoa butter. It helps the chocolate melt more smoothly and keep from seizing.
- Sprinkle the tops of the cake balls with zest or any other decoration right after they’ve been dipped. The chocolate sets quickly so decorations won’t stick if you wait.
How to store keto lemon cake balls
These delicious keto truffles are best stored in the fridge, to keep them from becoming too soft. Simply pop them into an airtight container.
They can easily be made ahead and will be fine for up to a week.
More delicious keto lemon recipes
- Keto Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Keto Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins
- Keto Lemon Cream Pie
- Keto Lemon Curd Ice Cream
- Creamy Keto Lemon Custard
- Keto Lemon Chaffles
Keto Lemon Cake Balls
Ingredients
Lemon Cupcakes
- 1/2 bag keto lemon cake mix (5 ounces), (see recipe notes for other options)
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
Cake Balls
- 6 keto lemon cupcakes
- 2 ounces (56.7 g) cream cheese, softened
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
Decoration
- 3 ounces (85.05 g) sugar-free white chocolate chips
- 1/4 ounce (7.09 g) cocoa butter
- Yellow sanding "sugar"
- Lemon zest
Instructions
Lemon Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a muffin pan with 6 silicone or parchment muffin papers.
- Measure out half of the cake mix (by weight or volume). Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions and divide among the prepared muffin cups. Bake according to the package directions.
- Remove and let cool completely.
Lemon Cake Balls
- Crumble the cupcakes into a large bowl. Add the cream cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and really mash them together until very well combined.
- Roll the cake mixture into 1 inch balls and place on a waxed paper lined baking sheet. Freeze until firm, 1 to 2 hours.
To dip in white chocolate
- In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, combine the white chocolate and the cocoa butter. Stir very frequently, until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
- Dip the frozen cake balls in the melted white chocolate, tossing to coat with two forks. Lift out and tap the fork gently on the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate.
- Place the dipped balls onto a waxed paper lined tray to set. Sprinkle the tops with lemon zest immediatly after dipping, before the chocolate sets.
- The chocolate dip should be enough for about 2/3 of your cake balls. Roll the remaining balls in the keto sanding "sugar". (You can also do them all in white chocolate or all in sanding sugar).
Notes
If you would like to make the cake from scratch, I recommend my Keto Lemon Poppyseed Cake. Just leave out the poppyseeds!
Nutrition
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We love lemon at our house . These are so yummy!
Trouble is I want to eat them all!
Thank you for all the great recipes.
This is the best and easiest keto lemon dessert I’ve found so far! What cute lil’ delicious morsels! They’re almost too pretty to eat! Simply adorable!
Wonderful way to “fix” a batch of cupcakes! (Not yours)Found this on your Facebook page. Thank you!!!
Yay! I am so glad you found a way to rescue some cupcakes that didn’t work out. I hate when people throw things away!!!
This is such a great idea! You should definitely still be able to have a treat while on keto.
Yummy! I love lemon anything, and these look mouth watering!
Yes! That was a great tip! I love this recipe. I have an ankle boot on now and can’t work out. I’m trying to lose weight but it’s hard when I can’t really exercise. Sometimes I want something sweet so this is great!
Oooo! These look very nice! I will definitely be making these as I have a Costco size bag of lemons on my countertop!
And let’s expand on the food waste idea: keep the zested and squeezed lemon rinds to use when you clean your dishwasher and garbage disposal. I have a bag in my freezer for just those reasons. ????
Great tip!