A heavenly keto Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake. This is the low carb grain-free dessert that will blow the skeptics’ minds! Layers of white chocolate mousse, dark chocolate mousse and grain-free chocolate cake.
The other day at Crossfit, I happened to mention to a woman that I write a low carb food blog. Her reaction is one you’ve surely seen and heard before when you tell folks you follow a low carb diet. “Oh, I don’t think I could ever do low carb, I like food too much”. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, because I’ve heard that one countless times. People think this way of life is all about deprivation and resisting temptation and basically denying myself anything tasty. I could have ignored the whole thing but something in me cracked. I looked at her and smiled sweetly and said “Oh yes you could, because I can make all your favourite foods low carb. I am THAT good”. Cocky of me, to be sure, but it’s a growing conviction I have that almost any food or recipe can be turned into a low carb meal. You just have to be on the look out for the ways to make it work.
Those ways and means don’t always present themselves immediately. You may find yourself staring longingly at high carb recipes, thinking you don’t stand a chance in ever making them into keto friendly. So you move on to other things, but that one certain recipe idea stays with you. You may even take a little stab at it with one method that results in failure. So you move on again, thinking it’s out of reach. And then you’re just perusing Pinterest one day and BAM! There is it, the solution staring you in the face.
I had seen these gorgeous triple chocolate mousse cakes many a time and had eyed them longingly. Like this gorgeous mousse cake from Crunchy Creamy Sweet, and this divine Layered Mousse Cake from That Skinny Chick Can Bake. I knew I could do the cake part easily, and I have chocolate mousse down pat. I have both a traditional low carb chocolate mousse recipe that involves whipped egg whites as well as a super easy keto blender mousse recipe, both which would work in a cake like this. What I didn’t have was the white chocolate mousse part, because really good low carb white chocolate is a tricky one. There is this xylitol-sweetened white chocolate from KZ Clean Eating but I’ve tried to bake with it before and it doesn’t melt very willingly. It ends up quite thick and it really did NOT work well in my first mousse attempt. It’s also very expensive!
So it wasn’t until I tackled low carb white chocolate mousse in a completely different way, using a cheesecake-based recipe, that I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I didn’t need pre-made white chocolate, I could just use straight cacao butter. When the mousse worked out so well, I knew it was time to make the cake. And oh, what a heavenly cake it was. So creamy and good, absolutely one of those cakes where no one will know it’s low carb and gluten-free.
If you’re interested in making the pretty chocolate crackle on top, follow this easy recipe for Chocolate Shards from That Skinny Chick Can Bake. I did it with 2 ounces of Lily’s dark chocolate and used about half of them on the cake. I tried it with the white chocolate from KZ Clean Eating but again, it didn’t melt very well so there’s only a few of them my cake.
Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake
Ingredients
Cake Layer:
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- 3 tbsp unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp instant coffee granules, optional, enhances chocolate flavour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup water
Mousse Layers:
Instructions
Cake Layer:
- Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a 9-inch springform pan well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cocoa powder, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder, instant coffee and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with sweetener until well combined. Beat in eggs, vanilla extract. Beat in half of the almond flour mixture and then beat in the water. Add remaining almond flour mixture and beat until fully combined.
- Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan and bake 30 minutes or until just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool completely.
Chocolate Mousse Layers:
- Follow the directions for the Blender Mousse recipe, adding the xanthan gum in to the blender with the chocolate, cocoa powder, and sweetener. This will help set your mousse a little more firmly.
- Pour the chocolate mousse mixture over top of the cooled cake in the pan and chill at least 2 hours, until set.
- Follow the directions for the white chocolate mousse (times 2!) and spread over the chilled chocolate mousse layer. Chill again for an hour or two, until firm.
To serve:
- Run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan before loosening the springform sides. Decorate with shaved chocolate or chocolate shards, if desired.
- Cut into slices with a heated knife (heat under hot water).
Notes
Total fat: 25.94g
Calories from fat: 233
Cholesterol: 108mg
Carbohydrate: 6.03g
Total dietary fiber: 2.55g
Protein: 6.32g
Nutrition
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
First things first: I have made literally hundreds of desserts, nearly all of them NOT keto, and yet, this one easily ranks in the top 5. My husband agrees. Seriously, there is no “amazing for a keto dessert” about this one. It’s just an amazing dessert, full stop, no qualifiers. I would make this for sugar fiends, gluten-eaters, special guests, formal dinner parties, baking contests…it really is that good. The white chocolate-cream cheese mousse is DIVINE. And since I can’t eat gluten even when I’m not eating keto, this dessert is here to stay. Fab.U.Lous.
A couple of tips for novice bakers who may struggle with this recipe: The almond cake layer overbakes easily, so start with the low end of the recommended baking time. Use superfine blanched almond flour, too, or it’ll be too crumbly. As with every recipe, keto or not, the key to a successful outcome is always fresh, high-quality ingredients. That includes the almond flour. I have found Lily’s chocolate to be the best for sugar-free baking, and Swerve so far is my favorite brand of alt-sugar. I also opted to make the mousse layers the day before, refrigerate them overnight, then use a hand mixer to soften them up the next day before layering them on the cake. I would do it like that again. I also did the chocolate shards, which added a lovely bit of decoration, texture, AND more yummy chocolate.
Wow this was sooooooo good. I made this for my birthday/Christmas cake this year and it is divine! Although it takes a little time to put it together it’s mostly just waiting for it to cool or chill. It comes together easily and loos so pretty. I decorated it with fresh raspberries and made a raspberry puree to serve with it. My honey even asked me if it was really keto because it tastes so amazing! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe = )
How far in advance can I prepare this cake? The night before a party??
Yes, the night before would be fine.
I made this for Christmas yesterday and it was amazing! I do have a question about the cake layer. I was a bit disappointed as the cake layer really crumbled when I cut the cake. I know recipes with almond flour tend to be crumbly, but not usually with added coconut flour. Any thoughts?
Sounds like it got a bit overcooked, perhaps.
This cake looks DIVINE! Love all the healthy swaps you made!
This is my favorite kind of cake. I am trying this recipe immediately!
Perfect dessert for a dinner party. It’s always good to have some low carb options.
Fabulous dessert!! thanks for the recipe
This was perfect for Valentine’s Day. My hubby loved it.
This is the BEST Keto dessert I’ve ever had! At first, I was afraid it was going to be too complicated, but it wasn’t difficult at all. It was a huge hit amongst all the non-Keto Thankstiving desserts with the non-Keto guests. I’m planning on making it for Christmas too. Thank you!
Where is the blender chocolate mousse recipe?
Right here, sorry. I had to switch recipe plug ins and some of my links got broken https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-blender-chocolate-mousse/
I see you add unflavored whey protein in many of your recipes. Is that to add protein, texture, volume, or what?
Thanks for so many great keto recipes.
Please read this. https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-basics-baking-with-almond-flour/
As a chocoholic, this is my favourite dessert so far! I made this for my son’s birthday and it was a huge success! Even the non-keto people loved it! Sooooo delicious! LOVE your blog, follow you on all platforms so I don’t miss a thing! ?