Rich and delicious low carb chocolate layer cake with whipped chocolate ganache. A heavenly keto dessert in miniature for you and a friend or two. Or just you. Sugar-free!
If you’re craving even more, check out my full size Keto Chocolate Cake.
This is a little cake with a big name and it’s got big flavour to go along with it. I am really enamoured of these little cakes I’ve started making. This is the second in a series and there is a third one, a lemon cake, already made and waiting to be blogged. And I have many many ideas for making more. So many ideas that I think I could probably spend the rest of my life making mini cakes. Can you see it now? I could start a whole new blog: All Day I Dream About Mini Cakes.
I rather love the idea of remaking all of my best cake recipes into mini cakes for two. Which isn’t as simple as you’d think, just cutting the proportions down and throwing it altogether. It actually takes more work than that, since the proportions of larger recipes don’t always work out nicely into even amounts for a small cake. Eggs are the trickiest part, since there are usually only 3 or 4 eggs in a large cake. While I could always tell you to go and purchase pasteurized egg product and measure it out in tablespoons, where’s the fun in that? Besides which, many of these carton egg “products” aren’t real whole eggs and I typically avoid them. Instead, I use a whole egg and try to work around that to get a proper cake consistency.
This recipe is based on one of my favourite ever low carb chocolate cakes, my Chocolate Layer Cake with Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting. It’s a ridiculously chocolatey affair that I created for Swerve Sweetener a few years ago. I still look back on that cake fondly and have wanted to make it again. And now I have, except this time in miniature. Oh it’s so cute! And so delicious.
I’ve decided not to call this one a “cake for two”. I really found it rich and filling enough to amount to 3 or 4 servings. A quarter of the cake with a scoop of low carb vanilla ice cream was just perfect for dessert. While I am presenting the nutritional info for two servings, I know you can do the math if you cut it into more!
Chocolate Cake with Whipped Ganache Frosting for Two
Ingredients
Cake:
- 4 tbsp sunflower seed flour, or almond flour
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tbsp unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Ganache Frosting:
- 1 ounce good quality unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 1 1/2 tbsp confectioner's Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven (or toaster oven) to 325F. Grease two 4-inch ramekins or mini cake pans well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sunflower seed flour, cocoa powder, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Whisk in butter, egg, and vanilla extract. If your batter is too thick to spread, whisk in a tablespoon of water.
- Divide between prepared baking dishes and bake 12 to 15 minute or until set. Let cool in pans. If your cake layers have humps, slice the tops off to make them flat and even.
Frosting:
- Place chopped chocolate and powdered sweetener in a medium bowl.
- In a small saucepan, heat cream until just bubbling. Pour cream over chocolate and let sit a few minutes until melted. Add vanilla and whisk briskly to combine.
- Using electric beaters, beat several minutes on medium high until lighter coloured and fluffy.
- Place first cake layer on plate or serving dish and spread with half of the frosting. Top with second layer and spread top with remaining frosting.
Notes
Calories from fat: 321
Cholesterol: 72mg
Carbohydrate: 10.22g
Total dietary fiber: 4.85g
Protein: 10.71g
Erythritol: 26.25g
Nutrition
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I used almond flour. The cake by itself was good, but the ganache made it AWESOME! Thanks for the recipe!
Just made this for my post morning workout snack. Wonderful! I used organic raw almond butter instead of peanut butter.
This is the best keto dessert recipe period! So perfect and delicious. Thank you for this amazing yummy treat!
So glad you liked it!
Good morning, I was wondering If would bake it in 4 , 3 inch mini cake pans ( to got 2 nice round cakes:) how would it turn out? Is the batter enough ? Should I adjust the bake time? I would greatly appreciate your advice!
This looks amazing!! I’m sorry to ask about the whey protein powder after so many others…. but I have some Vital Proteins Gelatin, do you think that might be a replacement for the whey? I try to stay away from Whey powders. Or maybe the Collagen peptides would work better? It’s mainly a “protein powder.” I’ve been wondering this for awhile. Thank you for any help you could provide!
No neither of those will do, they make things very gummy. Just leave it out or buy egg white protein powder.
Hi Carolyn,
Just curious why you used sunflower seed flour for this – is it preferred over almond flour? I have both, so just interested in your thoughts.
Thanks,
Linda
Not at all preferred, it’s just nice to do some nut-free recipes for people! You can easily use almond flour here.
Just made this now and it turned out really well! For a keto recipe, I’d rate it 7 out of 5 stars! Compared to carb-filled recipes, I’d rate it 4 out of 5 stars, which is still really high! The cake turned out perfect–my husband, who is not thrilled with the flavour of almond or coconut flours, felt the cocoa really masks that. And the cake was fluffy and moist! The icing didn’t whip for me, probably because my bowl was too big, so we had a thick glaze that somewhat ran down the sides but solidified. We needed up not making a layer cake and just each had one of the cake layers with the ganache on top. For people who haven’t made it yet–you will love this is you like dark chocolate. If you prefer milk chocolate, the frosting is a bit strong (but maybe it’s less strong when whipped properly??). I think I might try 3/4 oz of the chocolate next time to see if the ganache is less strong.
Geez, typos. “You will love this IF you like dark chocolate”!!
This Cake looks soooo good, can I use a chocolate flavoured whey protein powder as I already have this at home?
Sure, that’s fine.
Unfortunately mine came out a tad dry. Any suggestions?
Don’t bake it as long. Every oven is different.
This recipe makes the best cake pops. Just mix some frosting in with the cake crumbs, then dip in chocolate coating. It was remarked by a 12 year old as better than Starbucks. Loved by kids and adults.
glad to hear it!
I love these mini cakes because a regular size came goes to waste in my house. I used to just make cupcakes and freeze.
Hi Carolyn,
How much calories and carb for the whole cake?
You are so amazing with these recipes and thank you again for sharing them.
I did the nutritional info based on 2 servings so just double that for the whole cake.
This cake was sooo good and super moist! I’d like to make a full version cake with this exact recipe vs the slightly different version this was based off, just because I like this one slightly more. Can I really just take this recipe and multiply by 8 for a full size cake serving of 16? 8 eggs just seems insane? Is there any reason this wouldn’t work, and use 2 8-inch cake pins, maybe bake 30-35 minutes? Thanks!
I already have a full size version: https://swervesweet.com/blog/chocolate-layer-cake
Is there a substitute for the protein powder?
You can leave it out but your cake may not rise quite as well.
Hello… I googled protein powder substitutions and got skim milk powder for a substitute instead of protein powder
Well I will be honest, that will be a terrible substitution because it won’t have the protein content of whey protein. But you can also use egg white protein or hemp protein.
hi… just a littlg thing, your nutritional values chart is based on the high carb low fat approach 🙂 wants people to eat 300 gr of carbs a day …
Yes, I realize that. It’s not something I can change, it comes with the recipe card.
Hi. Can i ask about whey protein. What role does it play in the recipe?. I’ve noticed it being used a lot, especially in low-carb baked goods. Just wondering. Thanks. (The cake will be a HUGE hit with the hubby!!)
Gluten is a protein and in its absence, you need a dry powdery protein to help baked goods rise and hold their shape.
It seems my cake comes out really dry regardless of how long I cook it. It tends to get done much quicker on outside edges while the middle is still gooey. Do you have a tip on how I can get it done all the way through without it being dry? Can I add more liquid? Love the cake!
I see in the recipe that it calls for “Swerve” but in the Notes it says erithritol? Is Swerve erithritol?
Also, if I only have vanilla protein powder will it still work?
Kirsten Low carbing but missing my cake and frosting.
Yes, Swerve is erythritol (mostly) and yes, vanilla should work. Just leave out any additional vanilla.
Can granulated Swerve ground in a coffee grinder be substituted for the confectioner’s Swerve?
You might not get it quite as fine but it’s worth a shot!
The first dessert I made from your blog was the chocolate cake with whipped ganache. It was love at first bite. By far the best dessert! (coconut poke cake a close second) I make the full sized cake, slice it, and wrap the slices in saran wrap and freeze them. When you want one, pop it out of the freezer and let it thaw for 30 minutes. HEAVEN!
So glad you like it!