Keto Pumpkin Earthquake Cake is a deliciously twisted low carb dessert! Pumpkin spice cake swirled with cream cheese, pecans, and chocolate chips, it’s the perfect treat for fall celebrations.
If you aren’t familiar with keto earthquake cake, you are in for a real treat. It’s a wonderfully mixed up concoction with cake batter, cream cheese filling, nuts and chocolate chips all swirled together in one pan. Add in a little pumpkin puree and some pumpkin spice, and you have yourself the perfect fall dessert!
I originally made this fun and easy cake recipe in 2021 but it lived on another website. I remember loving it so much, so I decided I needed to make it again and share it here with you. I am happy to report that it’s just as good as I remember!
★★★★★
S says: “Carolyn, how are you so good at this?! This cake is delicious! Wow. And I mean it’s a great pumpkin cake, not just a great low carb cake. I’m looking forward to trying your other versions. Thank you for all of your amazing recipes, they bring me so much joy and make managing diabetes less sad.“
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Almond flour: This cake works best with almond flour. If you wish to make it with coconut flour, you can follow my recipe for keto pumpkin bread. It may take longer to bake so please keep your eye on it in the oven.
- Sweetener: I recommend a good brown sugar replacement for the cake and a powdered sweetener for the filling.
- Pumpkin puree: A thicker canned pumpkin puree works best.
- Pumpkin pie spice: This is usually a combination of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg and/or cloves. If you can’t find a pre-made version, you can make it yourself.
- Cream cheese: Make sure it is well softened before mixing with the butter and sweetener.
- Butter: Both the cake batter and the cream cheese filling require melted butter. Make sure to note that it is “divided use” in the recipe.
- Pecans: Feel free to use walnuts or another nut instead.
- Chocolate chips: I love using Lily’s chocolate chips but any brand you like best will work.
- Baking staples: Eggs, baking powder, vanilla, and salt.
How to Make Keto Pumpkin Earthquake Cake
- Prepare the cake batter: Whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, butter, pumpkin puree and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- Prepare the cream cheese filling: In another bowl, beat the cream cheese with the remaining melted butter and powdered sweetener until smooth.
- Swirl them together: Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan and dollop the cream cheese mixture overtop. Sprinkle with the pecans and swirl everything together with a knife.
- Bake: Sprinkle the cake with the chocolate chips and bake at 325ºF, until mostly set but the center is still soft and jiggles slightly when the pan is shaken. It will continue to cook after it comes out of the oven.
Carolyn’s Tips for Success
I recommend using a glass or ceramic baking dish for this cake. You will be cutting the pieces right out of the pan and you don’t want to scratch up your non-stick bakeware. If you use a metal pan, the cake may bake through more quickly so please keep your eye on it.
Depending on how thick your pumpkin puree is, you may need to add water to the cake batter. Keto batters are thicker than their conventional counterparts, but you should be able to spread it easily in the pan and swirl in the cream cheese.
The cake won’t be totally firm when you remove it from the oven and you don’t want it to be – otherwise, it become over-baked and dry. The center should have a bit of jiggle still when the pan is shaken. It will continue to set up as it sits and cools in the pan.
Sweetener Options
While you can technically use any sweetener you like for this recipe, I want you to be aware of how it may affect your results. I tend to use erythritol-based sweeteners for keto cake recipes like this, because allulose often causes the cake to over-brown on the exterior. They can even taste a little burnt. You can use allulose, or a mix of allulose and erythritol, but keep a close eye on the cake while it is in the oven.
For the filling, any powdered sweetener will work well.
More Delicious Keto Pumpkin Recipes
Keto Pumpkin Earthquake Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cups (261.33 g) almond flour
- 2/3 cup (133.33 g) brown sugar replacement
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cup (163.33 g) pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup (170.25 g) butter, melted, divided
- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup (95 g) powdered sweetener
- 1/2 cup (54.5 g) chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup (90 g) sugar-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease a 9×13 inch glass or ceramic baking pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, granular sweetener, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Stir in the eggs, pumpkin puree, 1/2 cup of the melted butter, and the vanilla until well combined.
- If the batter is very thick, add water a tablespoon at a time until spreadable but not pourable. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
- In another bowl, beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1/4 cup of melted butter until smooth. Beat in the powdered sweetener.
- Dollop this mixture over the cake batter by the spoonful and sprinkle with the pecans. Use a knife to swirl everything together. Sprinkle the top with the chocolate chips.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake is mostly set, but the center is still slightly soft and jiggly when the pan is shaken. Remove and let cool completely in the pan before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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’m not seeing the details for the keto pumpkin earthquake cake recipe?. I can see them for others. Using a mac and have tried 2 different browsers with the same result.
Big link to the recipe on Pete and Gerry’s.
Hi
I made the pumpkin earthquake cake yesterday
It is so good
Such a treat to have desert
I have list 11 pounds
My son who needed to lose belly fat in order to have hernia surgery has lost 10 pounds
So thanks for giving us a sweet treat
While not blowing our low carb diets
This is a yummy decadent cake!
Amazing recipe! Easy, different and the product is soooooo good. I have to admit that I had two pieces for dessert when it was still slightly warm. Something about the combo of pumpkin, spice, cream cheese and chocolate… Oh boy…
Can these be cut into single servings and frozen?
All last year the food banks were giving away cans and cans and cans of pumpkin. Not pumpkin pie mix, just pumpkin. I probably have 20 cans in my basement. I’ll happily share.
Hi Carolyn, I made your recipe for the dried cranberries, can they be used in place of the chocolate chips? Thank you
Sure, that sounds fun.
Idiots! Where the ~~????~~~ is the damned recipe? ????
Just curious why can’t you buy Pumpkin puree’ in Australia? The canned puree’ is thick.
My husband and I just made this. It is delightful – just yummy awesomeness! Yet another winner, Carolyn!
Glad to hear it!
What are your thoughts on freezing some for later? Since I am the only Keto/ low carb person in my family, 20 pieces might take me awhile to consume 🙂
I can’t see why not!
I posted the same question before reading this, so please disregard. Thanks!
Where is the instruction and recipe, pumpkin earthquake cake? I don’t see it in my email.
Big link that says “please see my…”
Carolyn, I have recently discovered your bacon peanut burger. I tried it last night and WOW!I loved it. I can’t wait to try this pumpkin earthquake cake! I have gotten a couple of your cookbooks and would love to get even more. You are fantastic and I appreciate all of your wonderful recipes! Thank you so much.
Glad to hear it!
You have the absolute best recipes!! I have made several of your treats and they are delish!! Everyone should buy your books. I have and I will always check out your new recipes Thank you so much. If your looking for a great Christmas gift for your keto friends you can buy Carolyns book on Amazon.
Thank you so much!
I just sent one off as a gift to a family member! No one should ever be alone in the journey to healthier lifestyles thinking there no more guilty pleasures. Beauty, its not even guilty!
That’s so lovely to hear!
Where is the ingredients list?
There is a big link to take you to a full recipe.
I don’t know where to go to ask a question, so I’m putting it out here: for this delicious sounding pumpkin earthquake cake, I’m short about 2/3 cup almond flour. Any substitution I can use? If not, I’ll wait till I get more later today.
I think you’re simply going to have to wait until you have more.
Come to Canada. I have around 40 lbs of roasted pumpkin puree in my freezer lol Every year I buy a bunch of the smaller pie pumpkins and clean and roast them. It takes some time but then I have a years supply to bake with.
Hi Lloyd
I live in Australia, so definitely can’t buy pumpkin purée..!
I’ve been roasting pumpkin to use in these yum recipes as well, however have one major concern.
Do you add water to the pumpkin when you mash it…? How runny is the tinned purée?
Kind regards
Lee
Canned Purée is actually quite thick. You need to actually scoop it to get it out of the can. Hope that helps