This low carb gingerbread cake roll is holiday happiness in a sweet little package. Full of sugar-free vanilla cream, it’s a keto dessert you won’t want to miss.
You can’t see me, but I am dancing around with excitement at sharing this recipe with you. It’s the first day of December and I do declare Gingerbread open for the season. And the absolute best way to celebrate is with this spectacular low carb gingerbread cake roll. Seriously, this is the bomb-diggity. And I don’t say that lightly. In fact I never say it at all. It’s a phrase that heretofore has never passed my lips. So you know it’s going to be good, if I stoop to using teenager-like terminology to describe it. Wait, is that even teenager terminology? Maybe it’s too old for that. Those kids have probably moved on to much more interesting phrases. So I am stuck here in old fogey-land, trying to make myself sound hip and cool and messing it all up. But what do I care? My mouth is too full of this cake to pronounce it properly anyway.
So yes, serious holiday deliciousness that you don’t want to miss. It’s my new favourite low carb cake, honestly. Actually, don’t listen to me when I say stuff like that because I say it all the time. I am a fickle cake lover, and am always switching allegiances to whatever new cake strikes my fancy. I have many favourite cakes and if you held a gun to my head, chances are I wouldn’t be able to name the one I love the most. Boston Cream Poke! No wait, White Chocolate Cranberry! Ohhh, hold on a sec, is that Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter? Look, something shiny! Oh no, wait, that’s just chocolate ganache pouring over Death By Chocolate Cheesecake.
You catch my drift? That said, this really is a delicious cake and worth all the trouble of whipping the egg whites and carefully rolling the cake in a tea towel while you make the filling. It’s an impressive looking thing, too. So you can make it for holiday gathering where all those non-low carb naysayers will be talking about how nothing can taste as good as wheat and sugar. Oh no, they are so glad they don’t have to eat low carb or gluten-free, because that stuff tastes like sawdust. But look at this pretty gingerbread cake roll, you must try a slice! It’s so good, it just has to be made with high carb ingredients. Right? Right?
Word to the wise on low carb cake rolls. You really don’t want to skip the grassfed gelatin, as it helps it be flexible and not crack as much. You may be able to sub in an envelope of Knox gelatin but I am not certain because I have yet to try that.
Now go. Go make this bomb-diggity cake and impress the heck out of your friends and family. And yourself. Happy Gingerbread Season!

This low carb gingerbread cake roll is holiday happiness in a sweet little package. Full of sugar-free vanilla cream, it's a keto dessert you won't want to miss.
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp grassfed gelatin
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 4 large eggs room temperature, separated
- 1/4 cup granulated Swerve Sweetener divided
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt divided
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 1/2 cups whipping cream divided
- 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
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Preheat oven to 350F and line an 11x17 inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and pan sides very well.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, powdered sweetener, cocoa powder, gelatin, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
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In another medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with 2 tbsp of the granulated sweetener until lighter yellow and thickened. Beat in the vanilla extract
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Using clean beaters and a large clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt and cream of tartar until frothy. Beat in the remaining two tbsp sweetener until stiff peaks form.
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Gently fold the egg yolk mixture into the whites. Then gently fold in the almond flour mixture, taking care not to deflate them, until no streaks remain.
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Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking pan and bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the top springs back when touched.
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Remove from the oven and let let cool a few minutes, then run a knife around the edges to loosen. Cover with another large piece of parchment paper and then a kitchen towel. Place another large baking sheet overtop and flip over.
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Gently peel the parchment from what is now the top of the cake. While still warm, gently roll up inside the kitchen towel, starting from one of the shorter ends. Don't roll too tightly or it will crack. Let cool while preparing the filling.
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In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese with 1/4 cup whipping cream until smooth.
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In a large bowl, beat the remaining whipping cream with the sweetener and vanilla extract until it holds soft peaks. Then add the cream cheese mixture and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Do not over-beat. Remove 1/2 cup and set aside for decorating.
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Gently and carefully unroll the cake. Do not try to lay it completely flat, let it curl up on the ends. Spread with the remaining filling to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Gently roll back up without the kitchen towel. Place seam side-down on a serving platter.
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Sprinkle with some more powdered sweetener, if desired. Pipe remaining vanilla cream mixture in stars or other shapes down the center of the top of the cake.
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Refrigerate 1 hour before slicing. Store in the refrigerator.
Serves 12. Each serving has 2.52g NET CARBS.
Food energy: 206kcal Total fat: 18.06g Calories from fat: 162 Cholesterol: 107mg Carbohydrate: 3.99g Total dietary fiber: 1.47g Protein: 5.68g
Steven Ciannavei says
I have a box of Knox. I’ will make this using that gelatin and let you know the results. Thanks Carolyn!
Steven Ciannavei says
I have Knox gelatin. I’all use it and let you know the results. Thanks Carolyn!
Carolyn says
I think it should work the same but I can’t be sure. Grassfed doesn’t require heat to gel it and Knox does, but that’s when you add it into a liquid application and here you add it in to the dry ingredients.
Steven Ciannavei says
Ok so I have the results. Non grass fed gelatin does require heating and/or liquefying to gel first but it shouldn’t be cooled too quickly. My cake had what’s known as roping, when the gelatin cools too quickly. I did not preheat the gelatin in a liquid first simply because the recipe did not call for it but next time I’ll try to mix the gelatin with the eggs then mix into the batter. Perhaps that will solve the problem. If not, grass fed gelatin it is!!!!!! Thanks again Carolyn! Your recipes have returned me to a life of enjoying desserts.
Donna says
Well dang I thought I could get away with Knox gelatin!! It’s in the oven now…. We’ll see what happens!!
-Donna
Ralph Fusco says
I am a 68 year old male just learning to cook for myself and my 23 year old son. Can you explain the following: Whey you say grease the paper and pan – with what? Do I grease both sides of the paper? When you say whisk – do I use an electric mixer. fork or one of those wire things? I love your website – I get e-mails every day from you and I have tried many of your recipes and look every day to see what’s next – I support all the products you recomend and love your personal comments – I feel I know you – Please keep up the great work so all of us who are old Diabetic cooking dummies can survive and not starve to death – I am on my way to loosing about 100 pounds – Thank You! I wish you the Best in 2017!
Carolyn says
Hi Ralph. These are all great questions for a brand new cook. So:
1. Grease the paper with some sort of liquid oil. I often brush it with avocado oil. In this case, you just grease the top of the paper and the exposed sides of the pan…anything that will touch the cake batter once it’s spread into the pan. For other greasing, when you are putting it directly ON the pan (like a regular cake), I suggest butter or coconut oil.
2. A whisk is one of those wires things (I am linking to amazon here, only to show you what they look like) http://amzn.to/2gplHJN When whisking together dry ingredients like almond flour and sweetener, you can do this with a fork or a rubber spatula too, it’s really to get the ingredients well mixed up before adding them to the wet ingredients. However, whisks are very useful and I suggest having them around because they are the best things for breaking up egg yolks and smoothing out melting chocolate and that sort of thing.
Proud of you for working so hard to lose weight and thank you for reaching out. I’ve been cooking all my life so some things I just don’t even realize are new terms to people!
Stephanie Deal says
Ralph — I loved your post and questions. I too also feel like I *know* Carolyn and talk about her to my low-carb friends like we are old & dear *friends*! LOL Best of luck to you in your weight loss journey and have fun cooking!!!
Vicki says
Thank you! I love Gingerbread and have missed it. Will be trying this today.
Jackie Butts says
It looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it.
Kate says
Much sexier than a regular Yule Log type cake roll. I’ll definitely add this one to this year’s desserts !
Another lovely option from you, Carolyn ! Thanks, as always !
Lisa says
I think they’ve returned to “awesome” again, thinking that it’s new and special to their era. They’ll learn. I’ve never tried any of the cake rolls but this just looks too good not to give it a go. I can only hope it comes out looking as lovely as yours.
Micaela says
As a teen, I’m trying to bring ‘rad’ back. The jury’s out on whether I’ll succeed.
Julienne says
This looks fab for the upcoming festive season (and any other reason to eat cake, like just because we can!) Here in UK I can’t find an exact sub for the GL Grassfed Gelatine’s 225g bloom. Also, most gelatin available here is not produced in an ethical way that I can live with…..so, I’m going to try using Vege-Gel, which has the same setting propensity, is vegetarian, and is produced in an ethical way.
Carolyn says
Okay, go for it and report back please!
Diana says
Hi Carolyn, Like all of your recipes, this looks fabulous. Before I make it, I have one question: I have both kinds of Great Lakes gelatin, the “green can” collagen hydrolysate that doesn’t gel and the “red can” one that does. Which should I use here?
Carolyn says
Use the red can that’s the actual gelatin. The collagen doesn’t gel as well.
Maddie says
This looks amazing. I haven’t done any low carbs baking but if it tastes anything like it looks….
I think I gained 3 pounds just scrolling through the photos at the bottom of the post! 🙂
Carolyn says
🙂
kate says
Can this recipe be used to make ..mini cupcakes , or regulate cupcakes ?
Carolyn says
No, it’s not designed for that sort of cake because It’s meant to be super soft and flexible for rolling. If you’d like some gingerbread cupcakes, I have some here: http://www.swervesweetener.com/recipes/gingerbread-cupcakes/
Tammy says
This sounds so yummy. But I’ve been looking for a low carb red velvet cake roll recipe. Do you suppose I could just leave out the spices & add red food color to this one?
JOY says
red velvet also has cocoa powder, so it would need more tweaking than just dropping spices and adding red food coloring
Tammy says
Forgot all about the cocoa powder. Since I’m from the south, I’ve been making red velvet cakes forever. My so very unhealthy recipe also calls for vinegar. This is going to be harder than I thought…
Becky says
This recipe has cocoa powder. ☺️
Angela says
I love your pumpkin cake roll so looking forward to trying this one.
VHM says
HI Carolyn. This looks delicious. Do you think it could be made as something other than a cake roll? Maybe in an 8″ round, cut in half horizontally (into two pieces) and the cream filling spread in the middle? Or as cupcakes with the cream filling on top? Just trying to find some option(s) this is easier and maybe more foolproof for my poor baking skills than a cake roll. Any recommendations? Thank you!
Carolyn says
No, the cake in this is really not meant to be a regular cake. It wouldn’t have the right texture. If you would like a regular gingerbread cake, use this recipe. http://www.swervesweetener.com/recipes/gingerbread-cupcakes/
Amanda says
I made the pumpkin roll with the cream cheese filling from your zucchini whoopie pies, it was soooo good! My husbands asking for another one? I might make this instead!
Question for the pumpkin roll recipe though, do you think adding a tablespoon of gelatin to that would make it roll better?
Carolyn says
Now that I’ve discovered it, I do think it would!
Martina Slajerova says
This looks amazing Carolyn! Gelatine, that’s it! I made a chocolate-nutella roll a few days ago, and to keep the it flexible, I tried protein powder and psyllium powder but I haven’t thought of gelatine. Yours looks much better, I need to try this!
Carolyn says
It really seems to work!
Chocolate Rose says
I’d really like to make this for Christmas. But, I won’t be able to make it Christmas Eve day or Christmas day. Do you think it would hold up if I made it 2 days ahead of time? TIA
Carolyn says
Yes, it should be good for 3 or 4 days. But I wouldn’t make it ahead any further than 2 so you can get the best flavours out of it.
Chocolate Rose says
Awesome!! Thank you! Also, I just finished making your German Chocolate Truffles and Italian Christmas Cookies. Both are excellent! I didn’t have anise and didn’t want to wait to get it, so I used almond extract. I’m going to make a point of purchasing anise before Christmas. I’ll be making them both again.
Carolyn says
Yay, so glad you liked them! This is the anise extract I got and it’s really good. http://amzn.to/2gBk4bp
Jan says
This was so easy to make!!! Took me just about 45 minutes, including clean up. It looks amazing and the sneak tastes I took are very promising.
* I forgot the gelatin but I had a pack of cherry sugar free jello, so I used that and left out the gingery spices (put more cocoa instead) and made it a cherry chocolate almond roll….it smells amazing.
I cannot wait to take it out of the fridge.
Carolyn says
Interesting little twist! 🙂
Jackie says
Wondering if there are other gelatin that can be used? The one linked here is a little pricey in Canada and I’d really like to give this recipe a try. I know from reading above that knox won’t work…
Carolyn says
You can use Knox gelatin but you need to soak it in some water first and add it in at the stage of mixing everything together.
Molly Murphy says
Made this for dessert on Christmas Day! It was a relatively easy recipe to make and looking forward to trying it with my family. Thank you for sharing your time, talents, and gifts with those of us learning to cook low carb!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Catherine says
This is amazing! Was on my sweet table for Christmas day among a lot of regular sugar type sweets for the family. The only disappointing part was how everyone, including the family that is not on a low carb lifestyle, was helping themselves to a piece of this cake roll………. I had to quickly slice off an extra piece for me and hide it in the fridge for this morning’s coffee!
Will be making two for New Years!
Thank you so much for a great recipe!
Carolyn says
Well, I am glad everyone liked it so much!
Dora Spencer says
This is absolutely divine! And all I had was the Knox gelatin and it still turned out great!
Sarah Boyle says
We love this cake!!
Made it 4 times already – so satisfying on our keto diet.
I’ve used Winco gelatin each time, without mixing with water or preheating – worked perfectly as far as we can tell.
Looking forward to exploring your site and trying other recipes.
Thank you Carolyn!
Carolyn says
thanks for the feedback!
Graham Wilson says
I made this for Christmas with my in-laws and my family, and it was a hit! Even among the Baby Boomers! Thank you!
(Also, I added this recipe to Fat Secret with attribution to you so I can feel even less guilty about eating it)
Carolyn says
Hi, I am really thrilled you like my recipes but please do not add them to Fat Secret. I rely on ad revenue as a source of income. By posting the recipe in another location, I lose valuable traffic. I’d really appreciate if you did not do this in the future. Thank you!
Verna says
Wouldn’t fat secret just have the nutrition info? A lot of the nutrition info for your recipes have been added to lose it. It just means that it’s convenient to track the nutrition, it doesn’t have the recipe.
Swati says
My cake totall6 cracked and wouldn’t roll. What did I do wrong?
Verna says
I made this recipe for a holiday dessert and my family loved it! I’d love to remake it as a strawberry Swiss cake roll for Valentine’s Day (I always cook at home because I like my cooking more than eating out). Any thoughts on changes to the cake itself? Have you tried making this cake in other flavors? Thanks!
Amy Locurto says
I can’t wait to make this recipe! YUM!
Rachael Yerkes says
I am obsessing over this! Cake rolls are my favorite, but I’ve never had a gingerbread one! So good!!
Allyson Zea says
I can’t believe this is on the healthier side! It looks so delicious!
Jamielyn says
This looks AMAZING! Perfect for the holidays and so pretty too!
Anna says
Gingerbread cake is my very favorite for the holidays! This cake roll is so pretty!
Jacinta Moran-Dunn says
Any ideas for substituting coconut flour.
Carolyn says
Not for this recipe, no.
Candy nelson says
Hello Carolyn
My Family loves chocolate more then anything
Can I make this a Chocolate roll cake? What substitutes would you
Recommend? Thank you in advance we so love your recipes!
Thanks Candy
Carolyn says
Please search my blog for a chocolate strawberry cake roll and you will find exactly how to make a chocolate version. You can use this filling.
Lena Stuckmaier says
Do I wait until it is cool to unwrap it and frost it?
Carolyn says
It will be mostly cooled by the time you’ve created the filling.
Richard Wilson says
This cake is the BEST! I did cheat and cut it into 4 pieces and stacked it instead of rolling it. Hey I was born in an Oregon lumber town and had to make the log into a new product! Delicious!
Carolyn says
Fair enough! As long as it tastes good. 🙂
Nancy Hudson says
Hi Carolyn… Question, would this be able to be made with Coconut flour? I seem to have stomach issues with the almond flour.
Carolyn says
I haven’t tried this with coconut flour. If I were to, I would use only 1/3 cup. It may even need a bit more liquid if that batter is too thick.
J says
will this work in another size glass baking dish like 9 inches by 13 inches?
Carolyn says
No, it will be too thick.
Rachel says
Would this turn out okay with egg substitutes? Such as maybe chia eggs, flax or something else? I want to try it soooo badly but we can’t eat eggs! Thanks!
Carolyn says
I am sorry, I have no idea but I rather doubt it.
Jennifer says
I LOVE this recipe & love that it’s healthier too! Will be making it again and again!
Katie says
Okay, this recipe was just amazing! Can’t believe its healthier for you too! Perfect for the holidays!
Kim says
What a gorgeous recipe. Maybe someday I’ll be brave enough to try it!
Toni says
This is absolutely amazing!! My family really loved it!
Kristyn says
Love these cake rolls!! Love the gingerbread in this one with the filling! It’s delicious!
JanP says
I want to try this. Only 1 question….what is the cocoa for?
Thanks!
Carolyn says
Hi Jan, I answer that question right in the blog post!
Vivian says
Oh, Carolyn! How did I miss THIS one?! I have it down for the holidays this year! Looks delicious! I’m the same way with my “favorite cake”! This could be adapted with any of the new delicious low carb ice creams (I will refrain from brand names but you probably know the ones). 😉
Lucy says
Hi, I have a questions if I can use different sugar instead of Swerve Sweetener? Is no able to buy it in my country. Thanks
Carolyn says
What can you get?
Laura says
Can this be made with allulose? My stomach doesn’t appreciate erythritol! Thanks
Carolyn says
And mine doesn’t do well with allulose. I am sure it would be fine in the cake, though.
Megan says
Oh my…This is delicious!!! I had minor issues with the cake (I misread the instructions which led to having to troubleshoot ingredients) and was worried that it wouldn’t turn out right, so it was a relief when everyone agreed it was great. I will definitely be making this in the future! Thank you so much😁
Metqa says
I made this for my work’s Winter Holiday office party, It was a hit! I used a French Buttercream filling and German Buttercream frosting on it and made crispy bracket mushroom shaped meringue cookies with egg white and xylitol.
I made a photo of the cake if you’d like to see how it came out: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ssgxu8fbGZVpegEf6
Thanks for the recipe
Fara says
Hi Carolyn, I love this recipe but I like to change it to a summertime recipe. Do you think if I omit all the winter spices should I add anything else instead or Vanilla is enough? Thank you
Carolyn says
I think that sounds good.
Michele says
Hello, if doing a paleo version can I use coconut cream/full fat coconut milk? Thanks
Carolyn says
For the cream cheese? I think coconut cream, the thickest you can find, would work.