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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What quart-size bundt pan do you use in this recipe, Carolyn?
Thanks
Standard size, which is about 9.5 inches in diameter and 12 cups or so in volume. It can vary a little on that.
I just bought your book, “Easy Keto Desserts”, yesterday at Costco!! Loving your recipes!! Thanks for sharing with us!!
Thanks, Jane! Hope you enjoy it.
Hi!
This might be a completely silly question though I am wondering, could I make the whipping cream with heavy whipping cream?
Thank you!!
PS!!!! Your recipes never disappoint! <3
Whipping cream and heavy whipping cream are essentially the same thing. They only vary by a just a little fat content. So what I actually use is heavy whipping cream anyway.
Can’t wait to try this. Can you please tell me, is the missing net carb due to the sweetener? It comes out to 3 net carb just subtracting the fiber. So im assuming since you had put 2.04 carbs that the other is sugar alcohol. My dad’s my tester and he is very strict with his carbs and always asks. Lol.
Thank you
No I think I just made a calculation error there. The net carbs should be 3.04
Hi Carolyn,
What an amazing cake! I’ve did it for my birthday and it was a huge succes, my best friend said that this is the best cake she ever tasted, including sugary ones!!
I didn’t have powder protein so I’ve used psyllium husk powder and it worked really well in terms of texture.
Reviewing all the comments about some difficulties for release the cake from the mould I tried to loose the cake whithout take it out, before I add the syrup, when it was still hot, and it worked too!
It last easily a week in the fridge, but it’s way better to eat it at room temperature.
Thank you soooo much for your great web, it’s one of my main references on my journey to a better health!
I made this cake the other week and had to cut it into servings and freeze them to keep myself from eating the entire thing in 1 sitting. IT WAS AMAZING. I will surely be making it again. I did have the same problem others had with it not coming out of the bundt pan despite heavily greasing it with Crisco. I don’t think that mattered much as I simply devoured it anyway.
My I ask what brand of whey protein you used and where purchased?
Thank you,
Pam
https://amzn.to/2uq8Ehf
I’ve made this as a bundt cake (stuck horribly despite tons of buttering AND parchment paper liner) but I’m attempting this as a layer cake. It’s in the oven now. Hoping it works!
Is it okay to use Pyure in place of Swerve? Would the measurements be the same?
Honestly, I can’t tell you. I don’t use Pyure
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made it for the first time yesterday and it turned out great, very delicious! I did notice bloating and minor upset stomach. This was also my first time baking with almond and coconut flour and used stevia packets. I’m wondering what would give me this reaction? I’m new to low carb baking and would like to continue desserts without having stomach issues.
If you’ve never had that reaction from almonds, than I doubt it’s the almond flour. But it is very filling so perhaps that made you feel bloated? Not sure what stevia brand you used but if it was pure stevia, I can’t see it being that.
This recipe is delicious. Just be sure to let it cool in the pan longer than you think. I made this for a family get together and everyone loved it!
Absolutely amazing. The best LC cake ever!
This amazingly tasty, it remains me of cake doughnuts! My kids loved it.
Really delicious. I don’t add the butter glaze on top because I’m watching my fat intake. But it’s delicious without it or with it. I’ve made this into muffins as well. Another winner recipe from Carolyn.
This is an amazing cake! So easy and fast to put together and wow so dam good! It makes great for a fabulous Rum cake too! Love love that glaze on it!!
Can you use a plant protein instead of the whey protein?
I cut the sweetener a bit and used a mixture. About 1/3 cup granulated swerve, about 5 packets truvia, and about a tablespoon of sukrin confectioners. I added some lemon juice and lemon zest to the glaze. I greased my bundt pan with Pam brand spray. Came out great! Will make it again. Thinking I’ll try it as cupcakes.
Amazing cake and a great keeper
This is one of my top 10 recipes of yours that I love !!
This recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! can you tell me if it would be okay to omit the whey powder? and also have you ever tried baking with sesame seed flour as a substitute for almond flour?
It won’t hold together as well without the protein powder.