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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Carolyn, I’m fairly new to THM and somehow I stumbled upon your blog. I love your recipes! I’ve made your Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake and I love it! This recipe (Kentucky Butter Cake) looks delicious! I’m noticing, though, that a lot of these recipes require almond flour or coconut flour. My daughter, who would like to do THM alongside me, is allergic to all nuts and coconut. Can you think of a good substitution so we can still enjoy sweet treats? I’ve heard Sunflower Seeds Flour but I don’t know if I should sub it for both or if I’d have to replace one with something else. I’d love your input.
Okay, for this one, sub sunflower seed flour for the almond flour and oat fiber for the coconut flour. And cut back on the liquids a little because oat fiber isn’t as absorbent as coconut flour. Then you will need a few tbsp of lemon juice also to offset the reaction between sunflower seeds and baking powder (it can turn green…perfectly fine for you but not as attractive!). Your cake will have a more grey colour anyway because that’s what sunflower seeds are like compared to almonds.
Made this cake today and it stuck to the pan but I don’t care. This cake is the BOMB! Thanks again
This cake is wonderful! I recently started a keto diet to help in my battle with cancer. I so missed my desserts. My sister and I are trying new recipes weekly to expand our repertoire. This one hit the spot! Our guests just raved about this one! Well done!!
Thanks, Robin. Much luck battling cancer…I am thinking of you!
First of all, thank you for your amazing recipes!!! Your website is my LC lifeline for sure.
I want to make this cake but need to make a nut free version to share. Do you know how I would modify if I used only coconut flour?
Thanks in Advance!!!!
Hello, Just wanted to say thank you for this recipe, its soooo good! I didnt have whey protein, so i used vital wheat gluten, and it turned out fine..i just upped the coconut flour and used 1 tbs of the vwg. I also used whipping cream instead of water, for the butter glaze..OMG! You Rock! Please keep the recipes coming!
I made this yesterday evening and it wasn’t yet cool when I went to bed. I am really impressed with how easily this released from my silicone bundt pan, but I had sprayed it really, really well. I have trouble regulating my oven temp, so it cooked a little high and got overly brown while it wasn’t yet set. After an hour, I turned the oven off and left it in there. I made the butter glaze and put it on and was so afraid it was just going to be mush. I even made my hubby wait until this morning for a piece, and we had it for breakfast. Unfortunately, mine did not have the lovely light yellow color because I was almost out of fine almond flour and had to make some from whole almonds- so I have a brown color which isn’t as attractive. But the flavor and texture are super lovely! We are having friends over for tea tomorrow and I almost don’t want to share. Again, thanks so much for the wonderful cake recipe- all of your recipes really. I have now made the chocolate peppermint bundt cake, the pecan pie bundt cake and this one. I love all of them!
I am glad it worked out okay!
Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes. I am wondering if there is something I can use in place of the whey protein? Whey protein and I do not get along. I really want to try this cake but can not use the whey.
Thank you for your help in advance.
Can you use egg white protein? I find this brand to be a great sub for whey. http://amzn.to/2rr8l6A
No worries! Ill figure it out! 😉
Thank you so much for all of your recipes. I’m following a keto diet, which is the only diet that has ever allowed me to lose weight and keep it off without intense cravings. But, I do love desserts, so your recipes are a lifesaver. This cake is perfect! I would like to make it for my grandson’s birthday, but I am not sure about erythritol for a baby. Would any of the ingredients change if I used maple syrup instead?
Maple syrup is liquid so that will introduce more liquid if you don’t cut back on the other liquids.
Thank you, I made it today and followed your directions exactly and it’s perfect. I will probably leave out the water when I make it with the maple syrup. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Thank you. So im guessing, the vital wheat gluten wouldnt work at all?
I have no idea. Sorry.
Hi, forgive me if you answered this question already..but, I dont have any whey protein or egg white powder. I do have vital wheat gluten, but dont want to experiment, as I hate to waste anything.. 😉 Could you tell me what, if anything I could substitute, and how much.
Thank you so much! Hoping I can perfect this before hubby gets home! He doesnt like low carb, but is diabetic.So I try to sneak sf, lc, in whenever I can! 🙂
There is not a good substitute. And for many recipes, I’d say you could skip it but for this cake, it’s necessary to help it hold together properly.
OMGoodness! I made this cake today and I’m so glad I did! This is simply excellent!! Thank you for creating this LC, Keto-friendly recipe! This will become my go-to cake for entertaining! (BTW: I didn’t use the full measure of strictly Swerve b/c I think the aftertaste could ruin this sweet flavor. I used a blend of Swerve, Xylitol, Sukrin Gold, & Stevia. Tastes like honey!)
Any chance you remember the proportions of Swerve, xylitol, Sukrin Gold, and Stevia you used? I have all those and I’m hoping to avoid the Swerve cooling effect when I make this cake. Thanks!
I live in NZ and wondering are the ingredients available here?
I don’t know, I wouldn’t have a clue what’s available in NZ. Wish I could help!
So I was really excited to try this tonight and I “thought” I had all of the ingredients. Fast forward to the addition of the HWC and water and my container is virtually empty. ☹️ So…. I subbed 1/2 c sour cream and about 3/4 c water. The batter tasted good but I don’t know if it’s actually going to turn out right. It’s in the oven now. I’ll let you know when it comes out. ?
OH MY WORD! This cake is so good! I made this for my family 2 days ago. I am dairy intolerant, but I can handle some butter. My substitutions to reduce the dairy worked so well! Instead of 1 Cup of butter, I used 1/2 Cup butter and 1/2 Cup of Palm Shortening. Then I used egg white protein powder instead of Whey. I also subbed grass fed Ghee for some of the butter in the glaze and I used Sukrin Gold instead of swerve for this step, and OH MY! What a winner! It is definitely better cooled ! We put it in the fridge, and let me tell you that my carbavore son KEPT coming back for more!!! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe that I can take to family gatherings!!!
Glad it worked out!
What can we use instead of Whey Protein Powder?
Egg white protein powder.
Can sucralose be used in place of swerve?
Possibly. I can’t guarantee it as it may change the texture somewhat.
I thought xantham gum helped bind things together? Would that work instead of the whey protein? And if so, do you know how much?
It does help bind things. But whey protein does as well and it also helps the cake rise and holds its shape. There’s already some xanthan in this recipe.
This looks awesome. My new silicone Bunt cake pan arrived today. So I will be baking this for Sunday dessert. I can’t wait to try it.
Any suggestions for best place to purchase the unflavored whey protein? I’m finding it to be very expensive and I hate to throw money away on something I may not like. Also looking for best prices on Swerve.
Thanks
To be honest…Amazon. At least for the whey protein. You can sometimes find better deals on Swerve in-store. Bob’s Red Mill unflavoured whey is reasonably priced. http://amzn.to/2q5f5D6
I used Collagen instead. maybe that would work for you if you already have that?
Sprouts has it in bulk, so you can buy a small amount to see if you like it. It worked great in this cake.