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I originally made this fun and easy cake recipe in 2021 but it lived on another website.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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Is there a printable version?
I love this cake and so did my guests.
Thanks,
Nancy
Not sure if the recipe on Pete and Gerry’s has a print button. You could ask them!
If you scroll to bottom of recipe on their link…it has option to share, print, email 🙂 I just printed it out, complete list of ingredients and instructions!
The recipe at the Pete and Gerry’s link is now incomplete/truncated. It does not list all ingredients (for example it never lists the pumpkin, cream cheese, or chips that are obviously needed, not sure what else is missing, butter?). Are you able to share the full, untruncated, unabridged recipe here/somewhere? This looks delish!! Long time fan…
I am going to have to look into it…
The recipe is still truncated. You would have to make up how much to add of ingredients like butter and cream cheese. Thank you for all that you do!!
I can’t find it either anymore! I will try to find my original recipe and post it soon. Sorry! 🙁
I’m a huge fan of sweet potato casserole around the holidays. I wondered if I could find something similar using pumpkin instead to save about 30 grams of carbs. I figured if ANYBODY had tried it, it would be Carolyn. So I searched this site. Didn’t find what I initially was seeking. But stumbled upon this bit of deliciousness!! Y-U-M-M-Y!!
I have tried a couple of different pumpkins muffin recipes but have not found one that is as scrumptious as this one. Love to eat for breakfast. Thank you so much!
There is no recipe listed here.
No… but there is a link to it. 🙂
So good! I made this to bring to a Thanksgiving dinner, which mostly consisted of non-keto eaters. Everyone who tried this cake loved it! I’ve made the chocolate version a few times and it’s always a hit. Glad this pumpkin version came out just as good. This will be my new favorite dessert to bring to holiday gatherings.
I baked this yesterday morning and it is DELICIOUS. I had some canned pumpkin in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I divided the ingredients in half and baked the cake in an 8×8 glass pan for about 30 minutes or so- it turned out perfectly! Great Fall recipe! Thanks, Carolyn.
Hi Carolyn-wondering if you could “Ketofy” Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Cream Liquor? I’d love to try it myself but it’s loaded with sugar I’m sure. Of course, being that it’s alcoholic they don’t list the ingredients. Any ideas? Thanks for sharing your fabulous recipes with the world!
Do you have a link so I can take a look?
To die for… so so good! I mde half a batch in a glass pie plate and it turned out beautfully. My only complaint: the serving size is too small–I keep going back to the kitchen for another forkful:)
I am allergic to almonds, so I substituted walnut flour. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly and this is delicious!!
Tasty!
I feel really silly but I can’t find the recipe here, help!
Big link at the bottom that says “please see my….”. The recipe lives on the Pete and Gerry’s website.
I made this last night sticking to the recipe exactly. For us the only thing I would change is the chocolate chips. We love chocolate chips but it made the cake way to sweet. Instead, next time I’m going to add some toasted pecans to the top in it’s place. Other than that it is a delicious cake.
These are wonderful and I’ll put some aside for Thanksgiving to have a variety of desserts. I’m also serving your gingerbread bars. And I made your Morning Glory muffins for the first time yesterday-love those also! (and the fact that it makes so many) Your recipes will keep me going for a long, long, time 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!!
Oh my, I always think I have my top favorite recipe of yours and then you come up with another. I think this will be at the top of my winter list for years to come! Absolutely fabulous!
Right?! Just when you think you have your favorite Carolyn recipe, another one pops up to move to the top! I’m excited that we have some of this cake leftover for the next few days 🙂
Hello Carolyn, you have so many amazing recipes thank you so much! I’ve noticed you use in the recipes I looked at ( maybe even always) Bobs Red Mill Almond Flour. I cannot find the information if that flour is de-oiled, partly de-oiled or blanched almond meal/flour as that’s the three type of almond flour we have in Europe. Would be thankful if you could tell me which one it is so I can get the right one to make your recipes:)
Here in the US, “almond flour” simply refers to blanched, finely ground almonds, not the de-fatted kind. That works very differently because it’s so powdery and won’t really work in my recipes.
perfect because that one is even cheaper than the de-fatted one:) I will get it today and will start making your recipes! Thank you so much for your quick response
Is there a substitute for the whey protein powder?
Thanks!!!
Egg white protein powder works well too.