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    Home » Gluten Free » Kentucky Butter Cake – Keto Cake Recipe

    Published: Feb 28, 2017 · Modified: Sep 28, 2020 by Carolyn

    Kentucky Butter Cake – Keto Cake Recipe

    This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    75.6K shares
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    Kentucky butter cake is a moist and buttery pound cake with a sweet butter sauce that soaks through the cake. This indulgent keto kentucky butter cake  is going to blow your mind! It’s easily one of the best low carb cake recipes I have ever made.

    titled photo (and shown): Kentucky Butter Cake on a white cake stand with a slice of the low carb pound cake sitting on a dessert plate in front of it

    Sometimes, size matters and sometimes, bigger is better. I know many of you are enjoying my mini low carb cakes and keto desserts for two, but that’s not where we are going today, my friends. Oh no, today, we are going big, bold, and beautiful. And we are heading down into the heart of Dixie and taking inspiration from our beloved Southern friends, who do big, bold and beautiful better than the rest of the world. Take, for example, the beloved Kentucky Butter Cake.

    I mean, people in the south know how to use butter in a big, BIG way. And anyone who can liberally throw huge amounts of butter in a cake and then drizzle that cake with butter sauce has my respect.

    I am pretty certain that I’ve never been to Kentucky. I have a decent sense of US geography but some of those states down in the southeast corner of the country confuse me so I might not even be able to place it on a map. Sorry, Kentuckians, but it’s true and I wager that many of you wouldn’t be able to place the Canadian provinces, so there!

    Sugar free butter syrup pouring over a low carb almond flour butter cake.

    But I have plenty of respect for you because hey, you created bourbon, you’re pretty awesome when it comes to horse races, and you know how to knock it out of the park when you make pound cake.

    I confess I’d never heard of Kentucky Butter Cake until I saw this glorious salted caramel version from Wishes and Dishes. Quite literally, I sat there with my jaw hanging open and there is a slight chance that I may have drooled a little. I instantly knew I had to make a low carb Kentucky Butter Cake recipe.

    a low carb pound cake called Kentucky Butter Cake sitting on a white cake stand. Cake is sliced so you can see the inside

    How To Make Kentucky Butter Cake

    Creating a low carb recipe for Kentucky Butter Cake needed some careful thought, since low carb ingredients don’t behave the same way as flour and sugar.

    Butter: You need ridiculous amounts of it. Well, of course you do, it’s a butter cake after all. You need a full cup of butter for the cake itself and even more butter for the glaze. Please don’t ask me how to make this recipe dairy free. It’s a butter cake.

    Almond Flour: This is where the keto version of Kentucky Butter Cake differs from the original. Now this presents a bit of an issue with all that butter, because almond flour already contains much more fat and moisture than wheat flour. Which means it could be too soft and too moist.

    Coconut Flour: To offset the moisture content of the almond flour, I also added some coconut flour. It’s incredibly absorbent and helps soak up all the moisture and give the cake some structure.

    Protein Powder: Yes, you need it. It doesn’t have to be whey protein, it can also be egg white protein. But you need it. Because gluten is a protein and since this cake is entirely gluten free, adding in a dry protein powder helps the cake rise and hold its shape.

    Room Temperature Ingredients: This goes for almost all keto cakes, but it’s really important to have your butter properly softened and your eggs at room temperature. For the butter, you should be able to easily press a finger into it and leave a dent, but not have it squish all over. And if you add cold eggs to that, it’s just going to clump up all over again. So make sure you leave them out for at least 30 minutes before using.

    Grease It Good: This cake is so tender, it has a tendency to stick in the pan. Do yourself a favour and grease that pan really well. Not once, but twice. I like to grease once with butter and once with coconut oil spray. Then I like to dust lightly with almond flour. Be sure not to use a pan with deep crevices, where the cake is more likely to stick. And try to use a very good non-stick pan.

    The Glaze: Glaze may not be something of a misnomer, since you aren’t glazing the top of the cake. Rather you are poking the cake with holes and allowing this amazing buttery syrup to soak into it. So good! Feel free to make some of the best low carb caramel sauce to drizzle over yours, if you prefer.

     

    slice of grain free Kentucky butter cake on a dessert plate, garnished with a fresh strawberry

    Everyone loves my Keto Kentucky Butter Cake

    Ever since I first published this recipe, it’s been a beloved favorite among my readers. You don’t have to look much further than the comments to see that.

    There are also a lot of copycat recipes out there now. I’ve even had people take this full recipe and pretend that they created it themselves! Yep, one woman on YouTube made a video and took full credit for my recipe. And a lot of other low carb bloggers have now copied it, changing just one or two little things and giving me no credit whatsoever. That’s unfortunately the way things seem to be these days. I might be old school but I believe in giving credit to my inspiration.

    So make no mistake, my friends, this is the original low carb Kentucky Butter Cake recipe. And I feel confident that it will stand the test of time!


    slice of low carb, grain-free Kentucky Butter Cake on a dessert plate

    Check out all my best Keto Desserts here!

    Keto Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe

    Kentucky Butter Cake

    This gorgeous indulgent low carb Kentucky Butter Cake is going to blow your mind! It's easily one of the best keto cake recipes I have ever made.
    4.95 from 119 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: Dessert
    Keyword: kentucky butter cake, low carb pound cake
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour
    Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
    Servings: 16 servings
    Calories: 301kcal

    Ingredients

    Cake:

    • 2 ½ cups almond flour
    • ¼ cup coconut flour
    • ¼ cup unflavoured whey protein powder
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup butter softened
    • 1 cup Swerve Granular
    • 5 large eggs room temperature.
    • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ½ cup whipping cream
    • ½ cup water

    Butter Glaze:

    • 5 tablespoon butter
    • ⅓ cup Swerve Granular
    • 2 tablespoon water
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Garnish

    • 1 to 2 tablespoon Confectioner's Swerve
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a bundt cake pan VERY well and then dust with a few tablespoon of almond flour. Pro Tip: double-grease your pan to help prevent sticking. Use a solid fat first, like butter or coconut oil, and then a spray like coconut or avocado.
    • In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder, and salt.
    • In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sweetener together until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat in the almond flour mixture and then beat in the whipping cream and water until well combined.
    • Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and smooth the top. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and the cake is firm to the touch. A tester inserted in the center should come out clean.
    • Butter Glaze:In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and sweetener together. Whisk until well combined. Whisk in the water and vanilla extract.
    • While the cake is still warm and in the pan, poke holes all over with a skewer. Pour the glaze over and let cool completely in the pan.
    • Gently loosen the sides with a knife or thin rubber spatula, then flip out onto a serving platter. Dust with powdered sweetener.
    • Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries.

    Video

    Notes

    Serves 16 (this is a big, rich cake!). Each serving has 3.04g NET CARBS.
     
    Nutrition Facts
    Kentucky Butter Cake
    Amount Per Serving (1 /16th of cake)
    Calories 301 Calories from Fat 244
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 27.07g42%
    Cholesterol 109mg36%
    Carbohydrates 5.54g2%
    Fiber 2.5g10%
    Protein 7.34g15%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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    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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      Recipe Rating




    1. Shirley says

      May 05, 2022 at 5:41 am

      This cake is a 5 star, of the low carb cakes I have been baking/ eating this Kentucky butter cake exceeds them all. Deliciously beautiful I am in love 🥰

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        May 05, 2022 at 7:39 am

        Glad to hear it!

        Reply
    2. Sara Pomish says

      May 01, 2022 at 2:04 pm

      I’m making this next week for a Derby party and thinking about adding a shot of bourbon to the glaze….because Kentucky. 😉

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        May 01, 2022 at 5:39 pm

        Sounds fab!

        Reply
    3. Nicole Sandelius says

      April 25, 2022 at 3:44 pm

      What if i have half and half instead of heavy whipping cream?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        April 26, 2022 at 6:58 am

        Sure.

        Reply
    4. Kim says

      April 22, 2022 at 5:01 pm

      Can I use unflavored garden of life vegan protein powder? I accidently ordered the wrong one.

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        April 22, 2022 at 5:57 pm

        I think so… I can’t be positive but I think so!

        Reply
    5. Nicole says

      April 19, 2022 at 8:16 pm

      Can you substitute something other than the whey protein powder?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        April 20, 2022 at 7:48 pm

        Egg white protein powder works.

        Reply
    6. Mary Blaize says

      March 27, 2022 at 11:59 am

      5 stars
      This was so delicious! I made it to take to my sister who had knee surgery and it was sooo good. I came home and made another one. Problem is to just have a slice and not slices** 😂😂 Going to share this one with my daughter when she comes over. Whipped some heavy cream and have berries alongside. Thank you!

      Reply
    7. Kathy says

      March 19, 2022 at 10:03 pm

      5 stars
      Great recipe, I added about a tablespoon of cocoa powder to the butter mixture (3 carbs ). We think it would be great with walnuts or pecans too. Moist cake and great flavor.

      Reply
    8. Kim says

      March 16, 2022 at 11:57 pm

      Can I substitute the granulated swerve with monk fruit sweetener?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        March 17, 2022 at 6:19 pm

        Take look at the back of your bag of sweetener. If the main ingredient is erythritol, then yes.

        Reply
    9. Mary says

      March 15, 2022 at 12:34 am

      5 stars
      Best cake ever. Omg will try with different icing flavour but honestly doesn’t need anything

      Reply
    10. Debi Frank says

      March 14, 2022 at 3:35 pm

      5 stars
      This is by far the best Keto cake I have ever tasted!!! I served this at a dinner party and people loved it and were shocked to find out it was Keto! Like you, I believe credit is due where credit is due, so I find it irritating people are stealing this exquisite recipe without giving you the credit. Shame on them!

      Reply
    11. Nicole says

      March 14, 2022 at 3:33 pm

      can I sub egg white powder for the whey?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        March 15, 2022 at 7:00 am

        Yes, that’s fine.

        Reply
    12. Amy says

      March 10, 2022 at 1:07 pm

      5 stars
      Love,love,love! My all time favourite treat. Perfection.

      Reply
    « Older Comments

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