Keto Birthday Cake proves that deliciousness and dessert-ing can be low carb. Have no fear, you can have your low carb cake and eat it too.
Want the best tasting Keto Birthday Cake? We have you covered.
This version comes with all the delicious taste of a traditional vanilla cake, but without the added carbs and sugar. Our birthday is actually coming up soon so we’ve been testing out some of our favorite ways to celebrate.
Everyone loves cake. Whether it is a piece of cake or on-the-go with cupcakes -Â for a special occasion or just for a sweet dessert. Cake is a classic.
When eating keto, it can be very hard to turn down birthday cake. Now, with this keto birthday cake recipe, you don’t have to say no!
Our photos we ‘naked’ frosted the cake on the outside with a thick layer in the center.. Our family is currently on the fence on this. I’m totally team frosting and really am here for cake FOR THE FROSTING. The nutrition info is based on frosting the entire cake with 2 cups whereas the pictures used about 1 1/2 cups so that can vary up your nutrition carb count!
What flour is used in low carb and keto Birthday Cakes?
When making keto recipes that need flour, there are usually two types of flour to choose from that work the best for keto desserts – Almond flour or coconut flour.
In this recipe, I am using a combination of almond flour AND coconut flour. As I mentioned in our Keto Vanilla Cupcakes we’ve realized that some people just have an extremely strong aversion to coconut flour OR almond flour. But have noticed that in general when using the flour combination it appeases the taste buds for all.
I love coconut flour and almond flour used in baked goods. You get the mild flavor of the almond flour but it doesn’t absorb liquid very well so then coconut flour comes in and soaks up that extra moisture and graininess normally left behind by the almond flour. They work as a team in creating a pretty similar texture and taste to a traditional flour dessert. It’s cake perfection in this case.
Properly storing and freezing keto cake
When storing cake, you want to keep it as fresh as possible. To store and eat right away, you want your cake at room temperature in an airtight container. Be mindful of the icing, if it required refrigeration that’s where you’ll want to keep your container. Using our cream cheese frosting for example, I’d recommend keeping in the refrigerator if it’s not consumed within the day.
When you have extra vanilla keto birthday cake that you cannot finish before it will go bad, you absolutely can freeze it.
To properly freeze the cake, you will want to store it in an airtight container or freezer bag.
If the cake already is frosted, be sure to put the cake in the freezer on a baking sheet. Once the cake is frozen, you can put the cake into a container or bag. This allows the frosting to freeze and avoids smashing the frosting.
When thawing the cake, remove the cake fro your container or bag, then allow it to thaw.
Alternatives for this Easy Keto Birthday Cake
While this is a classic cake flavor, you can change is up a little with some simple additions:
- Add Lemon: Whether you use lemon juice or lemon extract, you can get zesty and make this into a lemon cake.
- Root Beer: If you love root beer flavor extract, try this as a root beer cake.
- Sugar Free Extras: Think of different Sugar Free add-ons, such as sugar free chocolate chips or sprinkles.
Sugar-Free Sprinkles to fit our festive cake. Now there are actually surprisingly quite a few sugar-free sprinkles coming out which makes me excited. For an event like this birthday cake.. it’s a birthday, so add a few sprinkles to the mix for US is perfectly acceptable. We are all about balance here in our household.
BUT if you have to stick strict for dietary reasons like Type 1 and need to not spike your blood sugars anymore then here is a fantastic sugar-free sprinkle recipe you can make and use for this recipe OR purchase yourself (link below in the recipe card)
Looking for some other low carb dessert options? We have a few you might like. 😉 Check our 3-ingredient Keto Cheesecake Fluff, our deliciously simple Keto Pound Cake or our nibble worthy Keto Cheesecake.
Every wonder just how the tradition of birthday cake got started? We have to admit, we were curious as well.
Turns out, the first true birthday cake is believed to have come to pass in the Middle Ages in Germany.
Back in the day, cake was much more bread-like. Over time, it grew sweeter and more like the cakes we know today.
Kinderfest, the celebrations of young children’s birthdays, was a cake-worthy gathering. (As well as weddings, naturally.)
Slowly but surely, cakes became more elaborate with layers, frosting, fillings… not entirely keto and low carb friendly for our blood sugar levels.
The modern twist of going Keto is just the next step in a history of deliciousness. We personally prefer the Keto versions for flavor AND keeping our blood sugars in check.
HOW MANY NET CARBS IN OUR KETO BIRTHDAY CAKE?
6 Net Carbs per slice! Now this is WITH our FANTASTIC Keto Cream Cheese Frosting which puts it it to be about 1/4 cup in each slice and a layer of frosting in the center.
Our family is currently on the fence on this. FULLY FROSTED OR NOT? I’m totally team frosting and really am here for cake FOR THE FROSTING. The nutrition info is based on frosting the entire cake with 2 cups whereas the pictures used about 1- 1 1/2 cups so that can vary up your nutrition carb count if you’d like to use less frosting! Bring the carb count down to the 4 range.
6 Net Carbs for a slice of delicious and frosting?! Now THAT’s happiness by the slice. You can get a that a little lower if you’d like to make our Keto Chocolate Frosting instead.
We provide the sugar alcohols information IN the nutrition card now. We do subtract sugar alcohols to get our net carbs so you have all the information provided below in case you need to do it differently. Remember we are a judgement free zone here and please be kind to others if they follow things a bit differently.Â
If you’d like to use another form of sugar alcohol be sure to check out our low carb sweetener conversion chart. This recipe can easily be made sweeter by using more of whatever sweetener you decide to use. We tend to go on the mild sweetener side of things so do what works for you in that regard as well.
If you are new to this Low Carb/Keto lifestyle and are unsure what we are talking about please feel free to read up more on Net Carbs. Or start at our Low Carb & Keto 101 Starter Page.
So, here’s the secret to Keto Birthday Cake. You can have it ANY DAY! 😉 No need to wait to cheers for another year. Every day is worth celebrating. Don’t forget to save us a slice!
Other Low Carb & Keto RECIPES you’ll like:
Keto Birthday Cake
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup powdered sweetener
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup brown sugar alternative
- 2 eggs , at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons butter , unsalted and melted
- 1/4 cup sugar free sprinkles
- 2 cups low carb vanilla frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Pre-grease 2 6inch round cake pans. (If you want to make a larger cake, double the recipe)
- In a small bowl mix together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar.
- In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients: sweetener, almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and brown sugar alternative. When whisking create a well in the middle for the wet ingredients.
- Add in eggs, vanilla extract and butter and mix to combine. Pour in the milk mixture and mix well. Fold in sugar free sprinkles. **SEE NOTES**
- Evenly distribute the cake batter into your round cake pans. Tap the pans on a flat surface to spread the mixture evenly throughout the pan and remove any excess air.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and when a toothpick is interested, comes out clean.
- Allow cakes to fully cool before frosting and decorating.
How is this Keto if the carb count is 57g per slice?
Check the sugar alcohol grams in the nutrition card. If you need help with how to read labels this will be help.
Can I use coconut sugar in place of the brown sugar and powdered coconut sugar in place of the powdered sweetener?
Coconut sugar is not low carb or keto but I don’t see why not!
Hi! Can I make this cake using one 9 inch cake pan? Thank you!
I don’t see why not! Just adjust the baking time a bit and keep an eye on it until a knife comes out clean.
This … Turned … Out … GREAT!!!! I used your cream cheese frosting recipe as well. AMAZING! Thank yoU for simply Existing
How long would you suggest baking them for cupcakes?
Perhaps 18-20minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Does the powdered sugar make a difference in the texture of the cake? I used granulated sugar for both sugars and was disappointed. it has the grainy, mealy texture that things made with almond flour has.
Yes the powdered sweetener acts like a finely milled ‘flour’ in essence and does combat that grainy texture that almond flour can create. It’s similar to our keto bread… you can tell there is almond flour in it but it’s not a crumbly graininess that happens when using JUST almond flour. Hope this helps!
Delicious and easy. I can tell this cake is going to be good no matter the extra 1/2 cups of almond milk you put in. Its a very flexible recipe. I think I put in the amount called for plus and extra cup and a half. I could have put another cup in, my coconut flour was Anthony’s, and my almond flour was homemade. My batter was thick. The cake came out elegant. I added a fruit filling in the middle and toped it with a coconut cream/buttercream frosting. It gets better by the day, and kept refrigerated its amazing tasting cold. Thank you for this!
Hi! Thanks for the recipe, can I use coconut milk instead of the almond milk? Thank you!
Yes!
Does the cake freeze well? I’m wanting to make in advance for a later date.
I’m a little partial to freezing ANY cake. TO ME it’s never the same as fresh cake. But perhaps someone in our community can chime in here and let you know if they’ve had success with it.
Would I be able to replace the powdered sweetener with something else? Maybe liquid stevia extract? Or could I double the amount of granulated sweetener I use?
If granulated is what you have that should suffice and work. 🙂
How is this low carb/ Keto with 50+ carbs per your nutritional information??????
Please take a look at the sugar alcohol information. You need to subtract sugar alcohols to get your net carbs.
This cake was my first Keto cake, and was amazing! Hubby and kids didn’t even know it was keto! So wonderfully moist and yummy. This is now my go to cake recipe. If I wanted to make it a carrot cake, are there any changes I need to make other than the additional spices and carrots?
We’ll be unveiling our carrot cake recipe one of these days because yes there really isn’t too much you need to do different other than some spices! 🙂
I just went to the store and got all the ingredients for this to make for my birthday Sunday and I just realized we forgot the apple cider vinegar! 🙁 will it still come out okay without it?
Yeah definitely. I find ACV just helps with mimicking buttermilk really well when using dairy-free milks but it will definitely turn out without it if you don’t have it on hand.
And also if you’ve every got time sensitive questions like this feel free to contact us via email in our contact form above. We go through comments about once a week but respond to emails quicker when it’s in regards to stuff like this. Happy belated birthday Amber!
If you double the recipe, what size of cake pans should you use?
It REALLY depends on your preference honestly. What you see in the picture is a 6inch cake pan. And it’s decently thick BUT you could still use a 6inch and make the cake thicker. Or do three 6 inch pans and spread it out evenly between the three and make a three layer cake. ORRRRR use a 8inch pan and split it evenly between the two of those… It really goes to preference. 🙂
I personally would probably do two 8inch pans because I like a proper frosting to cake ratio. I’m really only for cake because of the frosting lol I just put up with the cake. 😉 So just depends on what you like! Hope this helps!
This is absolutely the best cake I have ever had! I made this for a birthday party and a few people are diabetic so they appreciated having cake they could eat. But after they raved about it everyone wanted to try it. It was devoured in no time! Now this is the cake I am asked to make for every family gathering, whether we are celebrating a birthday or not! It comes out beautifully every time. I am usually all about the frosting (well, I still am) but I cannot stress how GOOD this cake is … thank you = )
Awwww we are so honoured to be able to be a part of such events. ? ? So happy to hear it’s enjoyed!
I don’t see anything in the notes about the sugar free sprinkles where can I get those from?
We go into a full paragraph about sugar-free sprinkles in the post itself. There are quite a few options. See above 🙂
I’m confused, is it 6g Carbs per slice or 57g? My son is turning 2 and is a type one diabetic so carbs are important! Thanks!
Hi Sabrina. Yes they really are important! So your son is the exact reason why we add sugar alcohols into our nutrition info and don’t just subtract the information and treat Sugar Alcohols as 0NetCarbs. We add the sugar alcohol grams at the bottom of the nutrition facts in our newer posts (older posts its information is in the recipe notes).
People (especially people like your son with type1) react to sugar alcohols differently so we provide the sugar alcohols data for that reason. If you looked at a sugar alcohol like erythritol you’ll see that 1 teaspoon has 4g Carbs and 4g Sugar Alcohols. So most to get their net carbs subtract Carbs-Fiber-Sugar Alcohols = Net Carbs. Which is why Sugar Alcohols are seen at 0NetCarbs for most people.
But again not everyone reacts to the sugar alcohols the same. I know someone who take half of the sugar alcohols to get their total Net Carbs as they spike a bit with xylitol. So if you were to treat sugar alcohols as OCarbs like some do it would be 6NetCarbs per slice but again it’s something that where everyone is a bit different so it’s not a complete cut and dry answer. Hope this helps!
The recipe says 1 1/2 cup of almond milk… is this correct? The video definitely does not look like 1 1/2 cups, it looks more like just 1/2 cup. I tried this recipe and it turned out so wet, I’m just wondering if I had WAY too much almond milk?
Ahhhhhhhh shoot. Ye pretty sure that is a typo. Thank you for bringing this to our attention! It should still bake up alright either way (it’s just a bit moist) as we tested this out with more milk at one point. 1/2 cup was indeed the sweet spot we found for the results you see in the video.. Depending on your almond flour using you may have to dash a little extra milk to get the consistency needed for the batter.
Can this cake be made as cupcakes? How many does it make?
I don’t see why not. My guess it should make around 10-12 cupcakes.