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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
Check out all my best Keto Desserts here!
Keto Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 1/2 cups (260 g) almond flour
- 1/4 cup (30 g) coconut flour
- 1/4 cup (27 g) unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (227 g) butter, softened
- 1 cup (182 g) Swerve Granular
- 5 large eggs, room temperature.
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (119 g) whipping cream
- 1/2 cup (118.29 g) water
Butter Glaze:
- 5 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) Swerve Granular
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Garnish
- 1 to 2 tbsp Confectioner's Swerve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a bundt cake pan VERY well and then dust with a few tbsp 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
Nutrition
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Hi Carolyn. Your recipe looks fantastic! I am not following a true keto diet–more of a low histamine/anti-inflammatory diet. Meanwhile, my husband specifically requested Kentucky Butter Cake for his upcoming birthday, and he also recently received info from his doc that he is pre-diabetic. Enter the need for low carb KBC.
My question: Is there something simple I can substitute for whey protein powder? I don’t want to purchase a whole container of that, as I doubt I will be frequently doing this type of baking. Just want a decent replica of my KBC for his bday.
Thanks so much! Keep on cranking out those recipes! 😀
The only good replacement is egg white protein powder.
Carolyn, I must say everything I have tried of yours never disappoints…I just made this cake today and its amazing…I do have a question can you freeze this and if so how long …I always share your recipes in our low carb group where I live , and everyone says how good they are, but I give you full credit everytime…Looking forward to trying many more of your recipes
Yes, definitely freezable! Any cake like this is, especially when it doesn’t have a thick frosting or glaze. Should keep for at least 2 months if it’s wrapped up tightly.
I don’t usually comment but I just made this cake and it’s a GAME CHANGER. I wasn’t able to make it as per the recipe because I only had enough vanilla for the cake so I didn’t make the butter glaze ( was to lazy to run to Walmart to get more vanilla). Next time I will make sure I have all the ingredient and try it with the topping. I did have some strawberries on hand which I sliced and put on top with homemade whip cream soooooooooooooooo good, thought I was cheating the system. You are a genius
So glad you liked it!
I just made this and I think I mixed mine too long. Looked a little like scrambled eggs. It has been in the oven for one hour and jiggling, but the top is cooked and my tester comes out clean? Is it supposed to be loose and then firm up? Or did I just botch this one.
Did you by chance add cold eggs to the creamed butter? That can make the butter clump up again. and no, it really should not be jigging at all.
I am allergic to coconut but would like to try this recipe out. What can I use in its place if anything?
You can use more almond flour but it has to be triple the amount of the coconut flour.
I just started getting your emails and am excited to start trying sooo many of your recipes. You mention using egg protein powder instead of whey. Will hemp protein powder also work as a substitute?
It should… but just make sure it’s not one of the ones that has a greenish tinge, because that might make your cakes a touch green.
Oh my! This was so amazing! So moist and buttery… loved it!
Yummy! This looks so delicious! My family is going to love this recipe!
This is absolutely my favorite cake! It was my fave pre-keto… and now I can continue to enjoy it on my new dietary lifestyle. So flavorful and absolutely yummy!
Thanks! I did use baking powder just checked. Thanks for telling about the texture. Love your recipes!
If you’re tasting baking powder, I recommend switching brands. It’s probably the aluminum that’s in a lot of commercial brands. Try to find aluminum free.
I made this cake last night and although it came out well, it tastes ‘wet’ to me and I do seem to taste the baking soda. Any ideas to resolve that? I’d appreciate it.
I don’t know what you mean by tastes “wet”. It’s meant to be very moist. And it doesn’t use baking soda so if you used that, it would be a problem.
Made this butter cake and it was very good. Hubby likes it too. It’s dense, moist, not crumbly and sweet but not too much. I used a blend of sweeteners and I subbed 1/2 cup of the almond flour for 1/2 cup of lupin flour because that’s what I had on hand. I double greased the bundt pan with butter then light olive oil and it popped right out when cool. It took 50 minutes in the oven and my bundt pan is dark metal and I think I’ll start checking at 45 minutes next time. I think I will try different flavors for the glaze next time too as the glaze is what kicks this up a notch. Thanks for this recipe Carolyn!
Thanks for the feedback!
Dear Carolyn, when I post your recipes I always give you credit, even if I change some of the ingredients! I bought three of your hard cover books as xmas presents this year, you are truly an inspiration . Just made this cake and posted it in my facebook group. I could never have continued with Keto without you! That is the truth.
This cake was Y U M M Y
Thanks, Penny!
Looks like I’m late to the game but this cake is amazing! My husband says it’s one of the best things he’s ever tasted! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe
Forgive me if you have already answered this question, but is whey protein powder the same thing as whey protein isolate? I suppose what I’m really asking is if you think the isolate will function in the recipe the same way the whey protein powder will? Thanks so much for all your great cookbooks and this website.
Don’t know if you ever got an answer to this but I used Whey Protein Isolate and it was fine!
Carolyn,
I love all the recipes I’ve tried from your website and just recently purchased your baking book! Got one for my sister as well. I want to make this cake this coming weekend to try it out before adding rum to it. How would you add that? Replace the water for rum on the glaze? Thank you for all your delicious recipes!!
Which book do you have? If you happen to have the big baking book, there is a rum cake quite similar in style to this. If you don’t, I’d do 1/2 cup rum in the cake itself (reduce other liquid by 1/2 cup), and replace some of the water in the syrup with rum as well, after baking.
I have the 2017 version of this recipe. I see the ingredients amounts have changed. Do you feel this is better? I’ve made the original and it’s yummy!
have not made this yet but it is on my list. I was wondering how much the carbs would change if I used some bourbon in place of the water in the cake and the glaze. After all it is Kentucky cake and Kentucky is famous for bourbon.
Hi Carolyn.
I’m attempting this cake tomorrow so I was wondering if I could sub brown swerve and rum in the sauce for a richer taste.
What do you think. I used to make the Bacardi Rum cake so I’m trying to recreate that.
Yup, absolutely!
Carolyn!!!!
This cake is the BOMB! I usually make it without the glaze (a bit to sweet for my taste) and make either a whipped cream or cream cheese or chocolate frosting for it if I want a frosting with it. This stuff is amazing toasted for breakfast. And yeah, I will make this cake JUST for that reason. I have also fed this cake to non keto/LC folks and they have no idea it is sugar and wheat flour free. They love the cake. I very much look forward to trying more of your recipes. Thank you for sharing it!
-Rena
Thank you, Rena!