Looking for the perfect keto vanilla cake? You’ve come to the right place! Tender and moist with plenty of sugar free buttercream, it’s the ideal dessert for birthdays or any keto celebrations.
I have a whole slew of keto birthday cake recipes already, so why am I adding one more? Well, I recently realized that there was a glaring oversight that I needed to address.
That wonderful selection of cakes does not include a classic keto vanilla cake. What the heck? There is a keto chocolate cake, and a beautiful marble cake. And there are more outlandish flavors like keto caramel cake and even margarita cake.
But until now, no plain vanilla. Seriously, what was I thinking???
What’s your favorite flavor?
Given a choice, I almost always lean toward the more chocolatey desserts. I can’t help myself, plain vanilla just seems so… vanilla!
But then I make some and taste it, and almost without fail, I say “This is really good! Why don’t I make this more often?”. Really, my chocoholic tendencies blind me to other delicious flavors sometimes.
And this keto birthday cake was so rich and moist, with the best sugar free frosting, it won me over quickly. I can’t say that vanilla will ever become my favorite flavor. But it certainly deserves an honourable mention.
Especially when it’s decorated so beautifully with sugar free sprinkles!
How to make keto vanilla cake
This is a basic keto almond flour cake with plenty of vanilla. If you would prefer coconut flour, please make sure to read the FAQ! Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- Grease and line the pans. The best way to prep round cake pans is to grease them generously and line them with parchment. This ensures that the bottom of your cakes don’t stick to the pan.
- Use finely ground almond flour. When people say that almond flour is grainy, it’s usually the brand that’s the issue. I prefer Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour, as they are so fine, they make cakes with perfect crumb.
- Don’t skip the protein powder. If you want a truly light and fluffy keto birthday cake that rivals conventional cakes, the protein powder is a must. It helps lighten the cake and make it hold together better.
- Cream the butter properly. Just like conventional cake, you want to spend some time creaming the butter with the sweetener. This helps whip air bubbles into the cake batter, again making it lighter and fluffier.
- Room temperature eggs. Don’t forget to let them sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes! All your effort creaming the butter will go to waste if you add cold eggs.
- Let cool in the pan. Let the cake layers sit and cool for at least 30 minutes before flipping them out. They will be too fragile until they cool a bit and firm up.
How to frost keto birthday cake
There are so many ways to frost and decorate a keto birthday cake, and you certainly aren’t limited to vanilla. Here are some great ideas:
- Keto Swiss Meringue Buttercream: This is what I used for my cake and it’s truly the silkiest, smoothest keto vanilla frosting you can make. You will need about 1.25 times the recipe if you want to pipe rosettes on the top of the cake.
- Keto Chocolate Frosting: This easy frosting is smooth and creamy. You will need about 1.5 times the recipe for this cake.
- Peanut Butter Frosting
- Caramel Frosting: The frosting from these cupcakes would be delicious. You would probably need 2 times the recipe for this cake.
- Nutella Frosting: My homemade Keto Nutella is fabulous in buttercream frosting too! You will need 1.5 times the recipe for this cake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use my Keto Chantilly Cake recipe as the base for a coconut flour version and simply spread the batter into 2 cakes pans, rather than 3. Skip the almond extract and use another teaspoon of vanilla instead.
You can make the cake layers dairy free easily by using egg white protein in place of whey and coconut oil in place of the butter. The frosting is dairy based, however. You could try the dairy free chocolate frosting from my keto chocolate mayonnaise cake.
Gluten is a protein and in its absence, another dry protein powder helps baked goods rise and hold their shape. I do not recommend skipping it, nor do I recommend collagen or bone broth protein.
Heavy cream will weigh down this cake so you’re better off doing half water and half cream.
You can make them yourself but they are definitely labor intensive. I recommend these sprinkles from Good Dee’s.
Storage Information
A cake like this with rich, creamy frosting, is best stored in the fridge. But I personally like to eat it at room temperature, so I let mine sit out for a bit before serving. The cake and frosting both hold up well, and it can be refrigerated for up to a week.
The cake layers can be made ahead and frozen for up to two months, tightly wrapped up. Freezing frosted cake is harder since the frosting can be easily squashed, but it can be done. You can also cut it into slices and freeze those.
More delicious keto vanilla recipes
- Keto Vanilla Ice Cream
- Mini Keto Vanilla Bean Scones
- Easy Vanilla Pudding Pops
- Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
- Vanilla Mug Cake
- Keto Vanilla Rhubarb Custard
Keto Vanilla Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- ½ cup whey protein powder or egg white protein powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup granulated Swerve Sweetener
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unflavored nut milk
Frosting and Garnish
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease two 8 inch round metal baking pans well. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and grease the parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until lightened and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well incorporated, then beat in the vanilla extract.
- Add the flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the nut milk. Divide the batter among the prepared baking pans and spread to the edges.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and the tops are just firm to the tough.
- Remove and let cool in the pans 30 minutes, then run a sharp knife around the edges and flip out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Frosting and Garnish
- Prepare the frosting according to the directions. Reserve about ½ to ⅔ cup of the frosting for piping decoratively.
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or plate. Spread the top with one-third of the remaining frosting. Place the second layer on top and spread the top with another third of the frosting. Spread the sides with the final third.
- Use the reserved frosting to pipe rosettes or stars around the edge of the top of the cake. Sprinkle the top with 1 tablespoon sugar free sprinkles.
- To add sprinkles to the side of the cake: Set the cake plate on a clean counter. Pour sprinkles into your hand and gently press around the bottom 1 to 2 inches, letting any that don't stick fall onto the counter. Turn the cake as you press more into the bottom.
Tracy Taft says
Do you think this would work as a sugar free jello poke cake?
Carolyn says
Absolutely!
Daphney says
Thanks Carolyn for another wonderful recipe! I made this cake for my birthday yesterday. 🥳 I wanted a tall cake, so I made it twice. I also saw your video advising not to over-bake keto cakes. It worked, it came out nice and fluffy.
The meringue was from the Margarita cake, I made it with lactose free butter and cream cheese. That one was a bit tricky, but my husband helped me out and we succeeded. 😉
Carolyn says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Harmeet says
I made this recipe last week and it was delicious. The cake was very easy to make. The Swiss Butter cream was trickier but well worth it. I used a hand mixer and kept a close eye on temperatures using a food thermometer. The cake tasted even better the next day! Thank you very much!
Carolyn says
So glad you enjoyed it!