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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So Sunday I had ten minutes to get out the door to church, still hungry and needing a snack for between SS and Church when everybody else is eating High carb cakes with yummy icing. so I made a muffin in a minute, with a nod to this cake by using baking blend, baking powder, egg white, and lemon drop flavoring and stevia. it was fairly dry so when I got home wit the remnant, I broke it up in the book, melted a heaping tsp of butter and a heaping tsp of powdered Pyure. which again, YOU inspired. that remnant was delicious. you’ve taught me a new way of thinking!
Cab we use unflavored isolate whey??
That should probably work.
This is THE BEST LC cake I have ever had. It tastes like a moist pound cake. My new fave desert.
Can I use Psylliym husk insteadtammi of Whey Protein?
No I think that would make it gummy and awful. If you must, just skip the protein powder. Egg white protein is a good replacement, though.
I made this for my uncles Birthday today. All I can say is we only have 4 pieces left. No one was the wiser that it was low carb It was a huge hit. Thank you for an amazing recipe
This looks so fluffy and delicious! I haven’t made a bunt cake in years, I’ll have to try this one out!
This is such a gorgeous recipe. I’m sort of new to lower-carb baking so I was wondering if you could help me out. Can Swerve be replaced with Monkfruit? It’s my favorite sweetener and I never get an after-taste with it. I know it’s typically sweeter than sugar so I’m not sure how that replacement would work!
What brand of monk fruit are you using? And how does it equate to sugar in sweetness?
Well Carolyn I have to say I’m SMH as I read some of the rude comments readers post. I just don’t get it. The service you provide is spectacular and the price ain’t bad either.
I made this cake today. Having lived in so cal my whole life I’ve never had or known a Kentucky butter cake. Holy cow. Decadent is the word. I ate tooooo much of the batter (raw from mixing bowl) because it was smelling so darn good. Made it according to recipe, bought a new bundt pan and baked it 50 min. Flipped it over while warm and the cake came out beautiful and perfect. Sliced a piece without letting it cool and it is just perfection. Butter sauce, forget about it, pushed my cake over the edge, it’s so good. Serving as a strawberry shortcake Friday night for family. Thank you for all that you do for us! Another killer recipe!
Thanks, Anne!
Anne, you are so right. I hate reading the thoughtless comments on this blog. For all the wonderful recipes she shares with us for nothing. You said what a lot of us think!
Made this cake Saturday and took it to the family Easter celebration. No one could believe it was sugar free and low carb. Everyone loved it. Mine did stick a little to the pan (and I buttered the heck out of it!), but it still looked pretty good and tasted great! I think I should’ve let it cool another hour before trying to get it out of the pan. Anyway, won’t stop me from making it again. Absolutely delicious! Another winner, Carolyn.
I have made this cake 4 times now and every time it has received rave reviews. I will say that I thaw frozen mixed (unsweetened) berries, add a little powdered Swerve and spoon that on the cake. The syrup from the thawed berries is so good on the cake. And of course, top with whipped cream! Thanks for this easy, incredibly delicious recipe!
I feel I wanted to add bourbon, would I just replace the water in the recipe with alcohol?
Yes, that should work.
I made this today for Easter and had a bite already. OMG it is WONDERFUL!!! Thank you so much for this recipe. I do count total carbs though so this is 18g a slice for me but much much lower than an other Easter dessert normally served. 🙂
So glad you like it. As someone who tests her sugar, though, I can tell you that erythritol has virtually zero impact.
I have been looking for a way to change grandma’s rum cake to a healthy one and didn’t know how and you have done it for me! I substituted spiced rum for the water in the batter and the glaze. I love it! Thanks!
~Kristen A
Glad it worked out for you!
Oh my gosh, could some kind of coffee cake be made with this?
I am going to make this according to your recipe – but then I also would like to make choc cupcakes out of it. Could that be done by adding cocoa?
I made this yesterday. I used an angel cake (tube pan) with the removable center. There’s so much butter in this cake, it didn’t stick at all. I used Pam spray and a sprinkling of the almond flour to coat the pan. The cake seemed really dense. I loved the flavor, but my husband said there was an aftertaste. Others mentioned an aftertaste to the sweetener (used Swerve, as stated). I didn’t notice the aftertaste. I can’t wait to try it today after I sliced half of it and put the slices in a covered container. Thank you for the recipe.
Some people do have an aftertaste from Swerve and some don’t. I don’t and that’s why I use it.
Almost done! I used part vanilla extract and part Loranne honey flavoring in the cake. Raw batter was yummy and I have to say extremely thick! Just made the butter sauce and used maple extract instead of vanilla. Everything smells wonderful!
update: Oh my goodness! This is so rich and moist and wonderful! The maple extract in the sauce makes this taste like a giant pancake! I had two skinny pieces because I could not believe how good it was!
One note. I baked mine in a bunds pan using a gas oven for 58 minutes. The very outer edges crisped a hair too much and got dark like a pie crust but tasted fine. Next time I might just shield that part of the pan like you do with a pie.
Marvelous cake! Now where to hide it….
So I had to go buy a bundt pan today so I could
Make this cake today. I’ve had a cold so taste buds are gone. Turned out beautiful but I do have a question for you. Do you salted butter or unsalted or it doesn’t matter? . I want to say it’s delish but my tast buds are gone… but I know from all the others recipes I have made I’m sure it is delish.
The standard in baking is unsalted butter. However, I typically use salted because I have a very high tolerance for salt. But none of my guests seemed to notice in this one!
Kentucky Butter Cake was a big favorite of mine back in the “sugar days” of my life. I baked it often for special occasions & there was no better cake out there!! I am so grateful that you have come up with this version. I baked a half recipe in a loaf pan the other day, but forgot to add the water to the batter. Grrrr! I am not sure if the end result was compromised due to this, but the cake still turned out delicious. This is very, very close to the real thing. I can always faintly detect the sweetener, that’s just me. Most of the people I serve my low carb treats to cannot tell the difference. One thing, though. Every time I use coconut flour, I detect a coarseness of texture after the cake has sat for a day. It’s almost like the coconut particles hydrate and expand into little nubs throughout the cake. I use Nutiva Coconut flour. Has this ever occurred for you?
And thank you… I owe you so much for your part in keeping us on the “sugar free/gluten free” road that is imperative to my health & that of my diabetic husband.
Oh no! Well at least it still turned out okay. I use coconut flour sometimes because I find it ends up with BETTER texture so I suspect it’s your coconut flour. I always use Bob’s and have never had that issue.
I have a nut allergy and was wondering if I could subsitute seasame seed flour for the almond flour? I have substituted sunflourseed flour in other recipes but after baking it turns items green, flavor is good but doesn’t does look as appetizing as of would like. Would love to make this cake.
I don’t know if sesame flour would work, I think it’s drier and more powdery than almond so you’d need to account for that. Maybe less of the flour?
I was wondering if coconut flour could be used with no almond flour?
Not in this recipe, no. That would be a very, VERY different recipe and I’d have to rework it entirely.