This slow cooker cake recipe may just be the best low carb hocolate cake I’ve ever made. So rich and moist, it doesn’t need any frosting. And no need to heat up the kitchen when you make a low carb chocolate cake in your slow cooker or crock pot!
There is a serious dearth of low carb slow cooker recipes here on All Day I Dream About Food, and for that I apologize. See, slow cookers aren’t really my thing. At least, they weren’t until about a month ago. I know people who love them and swear by them and there are whole blogs devoted to them, but I never really saw the appeal.
I understand the attraction of popping a whole bunch of ingredients into a slow cooker, setting the timer and walking away, but all the recipes I ever tried turned out rather flavourless and uninspiring. The most action my old slow cooker got was when I went through a bout of making homemade crockpot yogurt. It turned out to be pretty useful in that regard. But most meals were best made on the stove top and in the oven, in my opinion, so my slow cooker hung out down in the basement, gathering dust.
I now think that part of my prejudice against slow cookers was due to not having a particularly good one. The old crock pot we had always gave off a funny smell when it was heating and it took forever to cook things through. I mean, I know slow cookers are supposed to be slow, but this one truly took ages. I finally gave up on it completely after a recipe for slow cooker cabbage and sausage never truly cooked at all and had to be finished off in our oven. That was it for me and slow cookers, I thought.
But this slow cooker cake recipe changed my mindset and my opinion on making low carb chocolate cake in a crock pot is forever changed.
Game Changing Slow Cooker Cake Recipe
Fate, however, thought otherwise. I was invited to be a part of a slow cooker charity cookbook that will be coming out in the fall, and Hamilton Beach very kindly supplied me with a brand new slow cooker to test out for my recipes. I’d met the good folks from Hamilton Beach at a recent conference and they showed me then and there that slow cookers have so much more to offer than I ever thought. They were whipping up plenty of tasty items right there and one of them happened to be a crockpot chocolate cake recipe. Um, chocolate cake in a slow cooker? I was floored. And determined to make a low carb, gluten free chocolate cake to rival it’s high carb, sugary counterpart.
Oh. My. Word. This low carb chocolate cake was so good, so unbelievably moist and rich, I actually made it twice within three days. That is saying a lot, my friends. I love experimenting with recipes so much that for me to make something twice, exactly the same way, is a really big deal. It was a huge hit with the whole family, and if you own a slow cooker, you are going to want to make this as soon as possible. Like…right now! And if you don’t own a slow cooker but are looking for one, I highly recommend the Set & Forget 6 Qt Programmable Slow Cooker from Hamilton Beach.
PLEASE NOTE! I’ve updated this recipe to make the low carb cake a little smaller and a little less carby. Although I loved the original, it was pretty big and each serving came in at a whopping 11.5 total carbs (about 5g net carbs). So I decided to try making it with ¾ the amount of batter and you know what? It was just as good. Possibly better, because then I could top it with some ice cream and chocolate sauce and not feel overly full afterward. And interestingly, the cook time was exactly the same.
Watch and see just how easy this slow cooker cake recipe is to make!
Video: How to Make Low Carb Chocolate Cake
But for those of you who loved the original recipe, don’t worry…just scroll a little further down, it’s still there!
Slow Cooker Dark Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoon almond flour
- ½ cup Swerve Granular
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoon unflavoured whey protein powder can sub egg white protein powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoon butter melted
- 3 large eggs
- ⅔ cup unsweetened almond milk
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup sugar-free chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Grease the insert of a 6 quart slow cooker well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, whey protein powder, baking powder and salt.
- Stir in butter, eggs, almond milk and vanilla extract until well combined, then stir in chocolate chips, if using.
- Pour into prepared insert and cook on low for 2 to 2 ½ hours. It will be gooey and like a pudding cake at 2 hours, and more cakey at 2 ½ hours.
- Turn slow cooker off and let cool 20 to 30 minutes, then cut into pieces and serve warm. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Original (larger) Cake Recipe
1 & ½ cups almond flour
¾ cup Swerve Sweetener
⅔ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup unflavoured whey protein powder
2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, melted
4 large eggs
¾ cup almond or coconut milk, unsweetened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips (optional)
Grease the insert of a 6 quart slow cooker well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, whey protein powder, baking powder and salt.
Stir in butter, eggs, almond milk and vanilla extract until well combined, then stir in chocolate chips, if using.
Pour into prepared insert and cook on low for 2 ½ to 3 hours. It will be gooey and like a pudding cake at 2 ½ hours, and more cakey at 3 hours.
Turn slow cooker off and let cool 20 to 30 minutes, then cut into pieces and serve warm. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Serves 10. Each serving has 11.65 g of carbs and 5.38 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 6.27 g.
Food energy: 275kcal
Saturated fatty acids: 9.62g
Total fat: 22.94g
Calories from fat: 206
Cholesterol: 99mg
Carbohydrate: 11.65g
Total dietary fiber: 5.38g
Protein: 9.91g
Sodium: 209mg
Exploding Mary says
Looks great.
You know, I do love my slow-cookers (I have four), and I have pretty much adapted all of my soup and stew recipes to take advantage of slow-cook convenience, rather than using new “slow” recipes; but this summer I did discover the lovely ease of cooking corn cobs the slow way– simply tossing as many shucked cobs in there as will fit, adding a little oil or butter and some marinade or herbs, and 1/4C water. I like rosemary and orange-flavored oil as a combo, then cook on high for a couple of hours or low for 4/5. The corn is so infused with flavor, you need no salt or butter, and has great texture. And it doesn’t heat the kitchen as does boiling.
Heather says
Thank you for such a delicious recipe! Could I ask your recommendations on a few substitutions? (1) I’m really sensitive to caffeine as well and would like to decrease the cocoa powder. I thought about cutting it down to 1/2 cup or 1/3 cup cocoa powder. How much should I increase the almond flour by and should I add coconut flour? (2) Would it be possible to substitute the butter for olive oil?
Carolyn says
Sure, cut the cocoa powder back. Add the same amount of almond flour that you cut back the cocoa powder, and then add a tbsp or two of coconut flour. I am sure olive oil would work but it will impart an olive oil taste. Hope that works!
diana says
This is hands-down the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted! I made it for our anniversary last night, but while it was cooking, hubby grabbed me and took me out to eat, and I forgot about the cake. My slow cooker has a “warm” function that keeps food hot until you turn it off. This morning I remembered that the cooker was still on and thought the cake would be doomed. But incredibly, it was just as rich and luscious as could be–we just can’t stop eating it!
Carolyn says
Wow, so glad it survived all that!
Cindy Maddux says
I just bought a rice cooker that has several functions on it, one of them being Slow Cook. The instructions say that the Slow Cook function operates as a traditional “High” Slow Cook function, and your instructions say to use Low setting. Would adjusting the time work with this recipe and if so, by how much? I have no experience with Slow Cookers so any advice would be appreciated from anyone who has the experience. Thanks.
Paula says
I made this last week and we LOVED it!! Took it to church picnic to share with our LC friends. Served with toasted pecans and HWC. As my friend says, it’s a “do again!” My favorite cake of all time is a mayonnaise cake so next time I make this, I’m going to try subbing mayo for the butter and eggs.
Kim S. says
Loved this cake! So easy and very moist as you said. Was wondering how long to cook it if I wanted to use same recipe for cupcakes or regular cake pans and would it stay as moist? Only problem with crockpot cake is that it is not too pretty to look at just out of the crockpot so not very suitable for serving to guests.
Carolyn says
I think you could try it in the oven but you’d want to add a pan of water to help keep it moister.
Anne O says
Made this for the second time today– even better. I lined my entire slow cooker with parchment paper then put cake batter in *awesome* entire cake slides right out afterwards. Mine is done at the 2-2.5 hour mark. I have topped it with your cream cheese butter cream frosting and freeze it in slices. Have the most scrumptious chocolate cake on hand now. It is just excellent- I may say the best choc cake ever or best I’ve had in a LONG time. Thanks Carolyn!
Carolyn says
It’s fast becoming a favourite in my house!
Charlotte says
Thank you for this!!! My 4 year old helped me make this as a birthday cake for her very health conscious father (well, we all are, but he was excited to hear about the ingredients.) My daughter loved to help. I made it with chocolate protein powder because I didn’t have plain and also used 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup coconut oil because I just didn’t have a 1/2 cup butter. Turned out great. Oh, I used coconut sugar instead of Stevia. The whole thing was delicious. Thanks so much!
Carolyn says
So glad everyone liked it!
Shannon says
Just put this in my crock!
elviira says
This just sounds (and looks!) amazing! Might be a reason to _finally_ get myself a slow cooker… I didn’t even know that you can make cake in it! Thanks for a great recipe!
Carolyn says
Definitely do it, Elviira. They can be so useful and until a few months ago, I didn’t know you could make cake in it either!
Rae says
I have been making a lovely slow-cooker praline cheesecake for a couple of years. It tastes as good as cheesecake from “that famous restaurant,” and has a perfect texture…except it’s sugar-free, and only a few carbs per slice. I use a 7 inch souffle pan set on top of an aluminum foil ring inside my slow cooker insert, and do the water bath in the insert, with a dish towel under the lid to catch any drips. I usually use pecan meal for the crust, although most recently I used your Cinnamon Crunch cereal, which was spectacular.
Carolyn says
Well that’s interesting because I was planning on trying cheesecake in my slow cooker!
Deb says
Rae, can you please post your full cheesecake recipe?
Hope says
Are you kidding me? This cake is ridiculous! Soooooo YUM!
Beth M. says
Ok, this was so good it might be a really bad idea to have so much of it in the house! I don’t have a smaller crock pot, but I’m wondering if I could make a half batch, spoon the batter into silicone muffin cups, and put them in my slow cooker to bake. Any guess on how to adjust the cooking time? I may have to just experiment.
Carolyn says
I think the cooking time would be at least an hour less. I’d watch it carefully the first time.
Beth M. says
Just made this tonight, and it’s amazing. I had chocolate whey protein on hand, so I used that instead of unflavored, worked great. Thank you!!
heather says
I am really allergic to all protein powders so I tried out substituting 2 tbsp Great Lakes kosher gelatin for the protein powder. I didn’t change any other ingredients. It worked great! Delicious and moist and it did rise so I would call it a success.
Carolyn says
Good to know about the Great Lakes gelatin. Love that stuff!
Raquel says
Which can of Great Lakes gelatin did you use?
Pam says
Don’t know what happened! But it didn’t turn out. Not enough liquid, went in dry and crumbly, came out dry and crumbly!
Alison says
I just made this cake and I have to say it is my favorite recipe thus far. Everyone in the family thought it was delicious. Thank you so much for helping us low carbers not feel like we are missing out in life. Excellent job, Carolyn!
Kathleen says
Please forget stupid question I posted about using almond flour instead of coconut. Didn’t read recipe right. Must have been thinking of another one. But maybe you can still answer. Can almond flour be used instead of coconut for most recipes?
Carolyn says
It really depends on the recipe. Coconut flour and almond flour behave so differently. Coconut is extremely dense and requires far more eggs and liquid than almond so the recipe won’t just work with a direct substitution.
Pam says
Oh, I just posted and I used coconut flour! My mistake!
Carolyn says
Oh yes, I can imagine that that amount of coconut flour would be a mess! Yikes!
Kathleen says
This sounds delicious! Would almond flour work ok? I really do not like the flavor of coconut at all.
Angie Clowes says
Whoa- I just made this cake and I was so floored by how amazing my house smelled while it was cooking that there was no possible way I could save it til’ after dinner! I sampled it (hopefully nobody will notice, lol) and my mind is blown! I have been low-carbing for 14 years off and on and I have never come across a cake recipe that tastes this decadent…..thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!
Carolyn says
You are welcome! So glad it made the grade.