Keto Victoria Sponge Cake tastes as good as it looks. With two layers of tender almond flour cake, a thick creamy filling, and a sugar-free raspberry jam, it’s elegant, delicious, and worthy of any special occasion. And fit for a king or a queen!
Have you ever had the Queen to high tea? No, me neither. But if I did, I would almost certainly serve her this Keto Victoria Sponge Cake. It looks and tastes like the classic British dessert (or pudding, as the Brits might say), but it’s gluten-free and keto-friendly. No one will believe it has only 3.8g net carbs per slice!
And despite the elegant presentation worthy of a royal visit, this keto dessert recipe is quite easy to make. No frosting or complicated assembly, just tender keto almond flour cake, whipped cream, and keto-friendly jam.
I first published this recipe in 2015, when in the throes of a Downton Abbey obsession. Turns out it’s just as delicious over a decade later!
★★★★★
Dana says: “Somehow missed this recipe when searching cakes. But, boy, am I glad I stumbled upon it. I’ve made it with blueberry chia jam and strawberry chia jam. Both are delicious! Love the sponge cake texture! Another homerun outta the ballpark, Carolyn!“
Ingredient Notes
- Almond flour: The cake layers in this recipe are the same as my keto birthday cake recipe. See the Tips for Success section for how to use coconut flour.
- Protein powder: This helps the cake layers rise better and hold their shape. You can use whey, egg white protein, or plant-based protein. I do not recommend collagen for this recipe.
- Sweetener: A granular sweetener helps whip air bubbles into the butter. Both erythritol and allulose work. See the Sweetener Options for more details.
- Whipping cream: Classic Victoria Sponge takes clotted cream, but it’s harder to find. Whipping heavy cream just past the “stiff peak” stage is a good substitute.
- Raspberries: You can use fresh or frozen.
- Grassfed gelatin: This helps create a jam-like consistency for the raspberries.
- Baking staples: Butter, eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract, salt.
How to Make Keto Victoria Sponge
- Make the raspberry jam: Combine the berries, sweetener, and water in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the berries can be easily mashed. Whisk in the gelatin and let cool completely.
- Prepare the cake batter: Whisk together the almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat the butter and sweetener until smooth. Beat in the eggs, then mix in the egg yolk and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and the almond milk and mix until well combined.
- Bake the cake: Divide the batter evenly between two greased 8-inch round cake pans and bake until the tops are golden brown and just firm to the touch. Let cool completely.
- Prepare the cream filling: Beat the whipping cream and sweetener just past the “whipped cream” stage, until thickened and not quite smooth.
- Assemble: Spread one layer of cake with the raspberry jam. Spread the cream over top of the jam and place the second cake layer on top. Dust with powdered sweetener.
- Chill: Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to help set the filling before slicing.
Carolyn’s Tips for Success
For a coconut flour-based cake, try using the batter from the Keto Coconut Cake. Leave out the shredded coconut and coconut extract. Bake at the same temperature but keep your eye on them in the oven as I am not certain how long they will take.
Whip the cream just past the stiff peak stage, so that it is thicker and looks a little lumpy. This makes it more similar to clotted cream in texture. Don’t keep whipping past this point, or it will start to release liquid and become butter!
Make the raspberry jam first, so that it has time to cool and thicken properly. You don’t want it melting the nicely whipped cream! Add just enough gelatin that it thickens, but isn’t like gelled.
You can use Knox gelatin, but you will need to bloom it first. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon over 1 tablespoon of water. Once it thickens, you can whisk it into the warm raspberry mixture.
Sweetener Options
This recipe requires a few different sweeteners for best results. For the cake, you want a granular sweetener. You can use erythritol or allulose, or a mix. Do keep in mind that a cake made entirely with allulose may darken quite a bit more on the top and sides. I used a 50/50 split of the two for mine.
The cream filling and the jam are best made with powdered sweeteners. I highly recommend using allulose (or xylitol) for the raspberry jam, so it doesn’t recrystallize. The whipped cream can be made with erythritol or allulose. Powdered sweetener is also dusted all over the cake after assembly.
More Delicious Keto Layer Cakes
Keto Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Raspberry Jam
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) raspberries, fresh or frozen
- 3 tbsp (30.43 g) granular sweetener, allulose recommended
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp (3 g) grass-fed gelatin, See Tips section for using Knox gelatin
Cake
- 2 1/2 cup (280 g) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (54 g) whey protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup (75.67 g) butter, softened
- 2/3 cup (126.67 g) sweetener, erythritol, allulose, or a mx
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (118.29 ml) almond milk or water
Cream Filling
- 1 1/4 cup (295.74 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp (20.29 g) powdered sweetener
Instructions
Raspberry Jam
- In a medium saucepan, combine the raspberries, sweetener, and water. Bring to a simmer and cook 7 minutes. Mash the berries with a fork or potato masher and remove from heat.
- Sprinkle the surface with the gelatin and whisk quickly to combine. Let cool completely.
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and grease the parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sweetener and beat until lightened and well-combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs, one at time, scraping down the beaters and sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the vanilla.
- Beat in half of the almond flour mixture, then beat in the almond milk. Beat in the remaining almond flour mixture until well combined. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and spread to the edges.
- Bake 18 to 23 minute, until the tops are golden brown and just firm to the touch. Let cool 30 minutes in the pan before flipping out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Cream Filling
- Beat the heavy cream with the sweetener until it holds stiff peaks. Then continue to beat a little longer until it becomes thicker and begins to look less smooth and even a little clumpy.
- Place one cake layer on a serving platter and spread with the raspberry jam. Spread the clotted cream over top of the jam and place the second cake layer on top.
- Dust powdered sweetener over the top of the cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to help set the filling before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Awesome recipe!!! Can I use liquid stevia extract instead of Swerve or do you need it for bulk?
You do need a bulk sweetener in this recipe.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe, Carolyn! I made the Victoria Sponge today for Easter, splurging on real clotted cream (!) and using your lemon curd recipe in place of the jam. Topped with a handful of fresh strawberries, it was delicious and a huge hit!
Sounds amazing!
Oh my, I just made this for Easter brunch. it is glorious!! I added orange extract to the cake and then filled it with sugar free cannoli cream. I am probably going to make two as the scavengers are eyeing it intently as I speak.
Love the addition of the orange extract!
This cake was simply amazing. I was an idiot and burned my raspberry jam (I get distracted easily) and had to make a blueberry/cranberry chia seed jam instead which was still very good. Once I put everything together, it was absolutely delicious. I took the cake to a women’s church party and didn’t tell anyone it was low carb (usually that turns people off for some reason). I managed to get one small slice before I turned around and saw a cluster of ladies all surrounding the cake and cutting into it as fast as possible. It was gone in seconds. Excellent recipe, Carolyn. Thank you so much! In fact, I think I’ll make it again tonight. One slice simply wasn’t enough.
What is the purpose of the protein powder? I have a lot of food allergies and cannot use it, but was thinking I could sub something for it instead if I knew the purpose it had in the recipe.
In the absence of gluten (which is a protein), a dry protein helps the baked goods rise and hold their shape. You can use powdered egg whites too.
Can you make this ahead? And I assume it must be kept refrigerated?
Yes, you could make this a day ahead. Or you can make the cake layers and wrap them in plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge for a few days before filling. The finished cake can be left on the counter for a few days just fine. If it lasts that long… 🙂
What a perfect afternoon tea cake.. you clearly have baked this victoria sponge to perfection. Looks divine.
Hey Carolyn! I was wondering, if I’m going to use powdered swerve in the cake, would the amount be different than what you have in the recipe? Like, is 3/4 cup of confectioners swerve more than 3/4 cup granulated? If so, what’s the conversion? I’m so excited to make this cake for my family next weekend! Thanks!
If I use confectioner’s in a cake or muffin, I usually use it in the same amount. It may not give you quite the same texture, since non-granulated won’t whip air bubbles into your butter. but it should turn out alright.
Thanks once again! Not only was your Victorian Sponge Cake a smashing success it was also suggested I make it again for Easter Dessert.
I made this cake last night and we are completely in love, my husband called me from work today and said babe this cake is absolutely delicious this is what I want you to make for me for now and on, Lol… I also made the raspberry filling and we all loved it, my son’s girlfriend came over and I offered some and she was skeptical and said no but I told her just try a bite and then she was like sorry but can I please have a piece? its delicious. Lol…. Thank you so much for sharing all your wonderful recipes.
That is just the best kind of testimonial ever. Thank you!
I just made this sponge cake last night. It was absolutely fabulous! It had the best texture of any low carb, grain free, sugar free cake that I’ve ever made. I served it to a bunch of ladies who are very skeptical about the way I eat and they even thought it was delicious. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Thanks, Elissa!
I realize you are going for low carb and totally appreciate that using sugar goes against that concept. That said, I’ve tried ALL the ‘tols and let us just say that they don’t agree with my body. I try to cut carbs in other ways (coconut and almond flours, almond milk, etc). If I were to make the recipe but use evaporated cane juice in place of Swerve, would it turn out? I am not familiar with the relationship between swerve and sugar and don’t want to assume it is 1 to 1. I realize using sugar will up the carbs so it will be a very occasional treat.
Swerve is meant to measure cup for cup like sugar so you can use a regular sugar in its place. In reality, you could probably use a little less cane juice to stay a little lower carb and it would still be sweet enough. My only concern here is that cane juice is liquid and you may throw off the liquid content of the cake. I’d cut down on the additional liquid by a bit.
Try allulose! I have had wonderful results with that. It’s 70% as sweet as sugar though, so I like to add 1/8 of a teaspoon of Stevia powder for every cup that I use. I just make it up ahead of time.
My Brit husband is gonna Fuh-reak! Thank you for this recipe!!!! Cheers!
Carolyn this looks wonderful I will be trying it soon. In 2000 I took a trip to London with my Mom and Sis, we had the best tasting cake I think it was called sticky toffee pudding cake. I wonder if you could work your magic on that recipe? Thanks for all your hard work.
This looks wonderful, Carolyn! I live in the UK and Victoria Sponge is the most popular cake for tea. My daughter and I love Downton too! She is away at university now so every Christmas we buy the DVD of the last season and spend a day watching the whole thing while wrapping presents! I love your recipes and even though I develop recipes too I recommend your site to my weight loss clients as a good resource for goodies. I even provide them with American cups and spoons so they follow your recipes more easily!
I was wondering if another protein powder would work…I can have butter, but most dairy is not my friend… 🙁 The whipping cream is easily subbed with coconut cream, but I just don’t know if a different type of protein powder would work instead of whey? Or if something other than protein powder would work as I really don’t understand all of the intricacies of LC baking yet.
Yes, use egg white protein powder. A brand called Deb El is what I use, found in the baking aisle of many grocery stores.
can i just use egg whites whisked? where i am from no stores are selling egg white protein powder . thanks
Nope, that throws of the wet to dry ratio.