This crazy mixed up low carb cake is truly delicious stuff! Keto chocolate cake swirled together with sugar-free cheesecake, pecans, and coconut for a healthy take on the famous earthquake cake.
Sometimes, messy food is the best food. And this keto Earthquake Cake is the perfect example. It’s messy to make and messy to look at, but it’s crazy delicious.
Just think about it: all those mixed up layers, jumbled and swirled together, studded with pecans, coconut, and low carb chocolate chips. It’s like a keto chocolate cake slammed into a keto cheesecake, turned upside down, did a couple of backflips, and landed in a baking dish.
And with every bite, you get a mouthful of all that goodness mixed together.
That’s my kind of keto dessert!
What is an Earthquake Cake?
I know what’s going to happen here. Call me clairvoyant or something but I know that the minute I publish this recipe, I am going to be inundated with questions. Why is this delicious chocolate and cream cheese concoction called “Earthquake Cake”???
This is Geology 101, friends, so hark back to your freshman year and remind yourself how the top layer of soil always sits neatly on top of clay or sandstone or granite layers.
But then an earthquake comes along and all those neat layers get churned up and messed up. Some bits that used to be on top are now on the bottom. And some of the bottom layers come all the way to the top. So that when you cut down into it, you see a bit of one layer here and a bit of another layer there.
Which is exactly what happens with this crazy mixed up keto earthquake cake…you pour everything into neat little layers and then you churn it all up. Some of the bottom layers of coconut and pecans comes to the top and some of the top layer of cream cheese sinks down to the middle or the bottom.
It’s a cake that looks like an earthquake hit it. Makes perfect sense to me!
How to make Keto Earthquake Cake
The chocolate cake
Conventional earthquake cake is made with chocolate cake mix, and you could certainly go that route for this keto version. My personal favorite is the Swerve Chocolate Cake Mix, but there are other good options out there like Good Dee’s.
But you can also make it from scratch, as I did, and I have provided those directions in the recipe.
The cheesecake filling
This is not a standard cheesecake filling, as you don’t add any eggs. You simply beat softened cream cheese with melted butter, sweetener, and vanilla. The makes the cheesecake extra gooey and delicious.
The add ins
Earthquake cake typically takes shredded coconut, chopped pecans, and plenty of chocolate chips. But if any one of these additions doesn’t appeal to you, feel free to leave them out. They are not critical to the outcome of the cake itself.
The baking pan
A few readers have had trouble with the cake being a bit dry and I believe the baking pan is a likely culprit. I recommend baking a cake like this in a glass or ceramic baking dish. It makes a big difference, as metal pans conduct heat more efficiently and so your cake will bake through more quickly and dry out.
Give it a jiggle
Because of the mixed up layers, it’s hard to be sure when this cake is cooked through. You want the edges to be set, but the center should jiggle somewhat when you shake the pan. If you are baking in glass or ceramic, it holds onto its heat for a while after the cake is out of the oven so it will continue to cook.
Let it cool properly
As with any keto cake, it’s important to let it cool completely before cutting into it. Otherwise it may fall apart too easily.
Can you make Keto Earthquake Cake ahead?
This is a big cake that feeds 20 so it’s great for parties and get togethers. You can make it a day or so in advance and refrigerate it.
Wrap it up tightly so that it doesn’t dry out, and let it come to room temperature before serving.
More Delicious Keto Cake Recipes
- Keto Almond Ricotta Cake
- Keto Gooey Butter Cake
- Keto Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
- Keto Lemon Poppyseed Cake
- Keto Red Velvet Cake
- Keto Hummingbird Cake
Earthquake Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 14 tbsp butter melted, divided
- 1/2 cup cold coffee or water coffee helps boost chocolate flavor
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 cup sugar-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9x13 baking pan. Sprinkle the bottom with the shredded coconut and the pecans.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the eggs, 6 tbsp melted butter, coffee or water, and vanilla extract until well combined. Pour over the coconut and pecans.
- In another large bowl, beat the cream cheese with the remaining 8 tbsp melted butter until smooth. Beat in the powdered sweetener. Dollop this mixture over the cake mixture by the spoonful. Use a knife to swirl into the cake mixture, scraping all the way to the bottom in some places to mix up the coconut and pecans.
- Sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Bake for about 45 minutes, until cake is mostly set through (will still be slightly soft and liquidy in the middle). Remove and let cool at least 20 minutes before serving.
Video
Sheila Parrish says
Fabulous !!! Your website is the only place I go when looking for anything sugar-free! Thank you so much!!!
Gwen says
Can you use collagen protein powder instead of whey?
Carolyn says
It makes baked goods gummy and hard to cook through.
Gwen Larson says
Just bought 2 Swerve cake mixes to try, one vanilla, one chocolate.
I assume I would mix up the cake mix according to package directions and pour it into the 9×13 pan over the pecans and coconut?
Do I need more than 1 box of cake mix (each box makes 1 8-inch round)?
Thanks!
Tree says
I’m returning to follow up on my previous post from yesterday about my accident in making the recipe. Even with mixing all the ingredients together rather than keeping the cream cheese separated, it still came out good. However, I don’t think I’ll make that mistake again because I really like the cream cheese filling swirled in throughout the chocolate cake. At least the cake still came out delicious!
Tree says
I’ve made this cake multiple times and it’s awesome every time! However, I am in the process of baking an interesting version of this cake which happened purely by accident. I mixed all the dry ingredients together and then in the other bowl I ended up mixing the cream cheese with eggs when I suddenly realized I made a big mistake! Instead of wasting the eggs and cream cheese I just went with it and added the melted butter and mixed everything together in the pan. So I won’t have that awesome cheese cheese layer mixed in but I’m hoping it still turns out OK. I’ll let you know the results.
Lori says
The 45 min was to long for my oven but it was still delicious! I will make again and cut my baking time.
Laura says
This cake is amazing! I made it to enjoy with my family, but my husband said it tastes like keto. Whatever that means. 🙄😂 I read through a few comments and couldn’t find the answer to my question … can a portion of the cake be frozen? There’s no way I can eat it all before it goes bad. Thank you!
Carolyn says
Sure, wrap it up tightly before you sock it away! Maybe even wrap up individual portions?
Felicia says
Can you use something besides whey protein?
Carolyn says
It’s important in helping the cake rise buy you can sub egg white protein powder.
kelly says
can i make this without the coconut flakes allergic and also the nuts allergy. and no chocolate chips on hand 🙁
Carolyn says
Yes, but if you have nut allergies, this is made with almond flour…
kelly says
for being keto low carb i always use CarbQuik
carol walter says
Hub says this is really good. I find it pretty crumbly and does not look like your moist pic. It is still a bit warm so it may have better testure and taste tomorrow. I used Hersheys cocoa and bob’s almond flour and Pyure with a bit of xylitol. I taste an aftertaste now, which I usually don’t notice with Pyure, but it is alway better the next day. My batter was very thick and hard to spread on the coconut but I could spread it. Not sure what happened. Perhaps I am still comparing it to my friend’s sugary earthquake cake and my love for super heavy, super moist cake with wheat flour and sugar. I will keep following to see if I can find tips here for an even better cake. I will be making it again, hopefully with even better outcome. I still don’t have the keto touch.
Carolyn says
If it’s hard to spread, it’s definitely too thick and you need to thin it out more before spreading. It should be spreadable but not pourable, if that makes sense. It also sounds like it’s getting over-baked. Remember that every oven is different. If you’re using a metal baking pan, that might be part of the issue… they conduct heat better than the ceramic pan I used.
Barb C says
It’s not an earthquake but it is a catastrophe, and taking the time to bake this cake as chocolatey-cheesecakey comfort food seemed like a good use of my time this morning! It’s in the oven now and my family and I will be excited to have some soon. Hopefully my teenagers sleeping in will feel like this was worth getting up for! LOL
Stacy Russell says
This looks so good. I might leave out the coconut and use Truvia. I’ve made plain cheesecakes adding chocolate chips but this looks like an even better combination. Glad I found you on Pinterest!
Sydney says
Has anyone ever tried making this without any sort of sweetener? Did it turn out ok? I generally don’t miss sugar/sweet things and the idea of sweeteners kinda weirds me out.
Carolyn says
It would be awful. Why make a cake if you don’t want something sweet?
Cat says
I rarely use protein powder, but have some plant-based (not whey) that is vanilla flavored (Vega Protein & Greens). I don’t want to go out and buy whey protein just for this recipe. What do you think would happen if I omitted it all together? Or if I substituted the plant-based protein powder for the whey? I’m dying to make this!
Cat says
Oh my, I just saw the question/comment not too far above mine. *eye roll* Sorry! I’ll try it with the plant-based protein!