Published: · Modified: by Carolyn
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Love at first bite with this keto caramel cake. Your tastebuds will dance for joy and you won’t believe it’s low carb and sugar free! Tender almond flour vanilla cake with a rich caramel glaze.
There are some recipes that just make me absolutely jump for joy. And this caramel cake is one of those recipes. It will make you jump for joy too, when you taste it. Two layers of the most tender low carb vanilla cake with a rich glaze of sugar free caramel. Really, this is keto dessert heaven.
And I don’t say that lightly because I make a lot of heavenly keto desserts. I have a sweet tooth and I am not afraid to use it. Nor am I afraid to get in there and attempt to make a keto version of traditional dessert like Southern Caramel Cake. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
The inspiration for this Caramel Cake Recipe
Why is it that this Canadian seems to love southern recipes so much? Especially southern dessert recipes. This keto cake recipe was inspired by the one from my friend’s blog, Grandbaby Cakes. Jocelyn is a genius with cakes and other desserts and she’s also a total sweetheart in real life. But I may really just follow her so I can salivate over her recipes and then attempt to keto-fy them. Because inspiration abounds from that quarter!
I actually made this gorgeous caramel cake recipe over the summer and served it at a small 4th of July gathering. So why am I just sharing it with you now?
Well the summer was long and hot and who wants to be heating up their kitchen during a heat wave? Am I right? But also I needed to get my updated Sugar Free Caramel Sauce recipe in place before I could share this beauty with you. Which took me a while because I wanted to create a how-to video for the caramel sauce.
And finally, it occurred to me that this is such a great keto holiday dessert, especially if you aren’t a pumpkin or pecan fan.
Tips for making Keto Caramel Cake
- The cake itself is simply an almond flour based vanilla cake, although it does have a little bit of coconut flour in it for better texture. I find that these two really work to create the best cake-like consistency.
- Yes, the cake also contains protein powder. As I have said about a million times, protein powder helps keto baked goods rise and hold their shape in the absence of gluten. You can use egg white protein instead. Check out my primer on the science of baking with almond flour for more info.
- Having all of your ingredients at room temperature is a must. It does you no good to soften your butter properly and then to dump in cold eggs, causing the butter to clump up again!
- The glaze for this sugar-free caramel cake is simply a double batch of my Sugar Free Caramel Sauce, but you leave out the extra water at the end. This helps it thicken up more and become a spreadable frosting. It will be quite liquid when it’s warm so be sure to let it cool properly before trying to frost your cake.
- The caramel sauce isn’t hard to make but if you find it too thick or too thin, you can still rescue it. For thin caramel sauce, add a tablespoon or two of powdered erythritol such as Swerve Confectioners. For overly thick sauce, stir in some water while stirring over low heat. Just a tablespoon or two should do it.
- The updated sugar free caramel sauce uses BochaSweet, which is part of why it stays so soft and doesn’t re-crystallize. Unfortunately, because of the popularity of some of my recipes made with this sweetener, they have sold out on Amazon and their website is taking backorders. Hopefully they will clear this up soon! You sub in xylitol or allulose in its place. See the notes in the recipe for more details.
- This is a RICH cake, coming in at a whopping 388 calories and 35g of fat per serving. I set the servings at 12 but it can easily extend to 16, especially if you serve it with a little keto vanilla ice cream!
Honestly, this sugar free caramel cake is so good, it might just leave you speechless. Sometimes I amaze even myself. And that’s a very good thing.
More Delicious Keto Caramel Recipes
Pumpkin Caramel Bundt Cake
Carmelitas
Salted Caramel Brownie Bites
Keto Caramel Cake
Love at first bite with this keto caramel cake. Your tastebuds will dance for joy and you won't believe it's low carb and sugar free! Tender almond flour vanilla cake with a rich caramel glaze.
4.78 from 40 votes
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: caramel cake, caramel cake recipe
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 388kcal
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup unflavored whey protein powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ⅔ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup almond milk
- 2 batches sugar free caramel sauce
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
Cake:
Preheat the oven to 325F and grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. Cut parchment to line the bottoms of the pans and grease the parchment as well.
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 sweetener together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time and scrape down the beaters and bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract
Add the dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with the almond milk. Beat until well combined.
Divide the batter between the two cake pans and spread to the edges. Smooth the tops and bake 25 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are firm to the touch.
Remove and let cool in the pans, then flip out onto a wire rack. Be sure to peel off the parchment paper if it sticks to the cake layers.
Caramel Glaze:
Prepare a double batch of the Sugar Free Caramel Sauce but DO NOT add the additional water at the end of the recipe. Be sure to use a large saucepan (at least 3 quarts) as it will bubble up quite a bit.
Let the sauce cool down to room temperature. It should be quite thick at this point, but still pourable, and it will continue to thicken as it cools.
Place one layer of cake on a serving plate and pour about ⅓ of the caramel sauce on top. Carefully spread to the edges with an offset spatula and let sit another 10 to 15 minutes to thicken further.
Place the second layer of cake on top. Pour some of the caramel over the top, letting it drip down the sides, spreading it over the top and sides as you go. Continue until the top and sides are well covered. Alternatively, you can simply let it drip down the sides and not spread it over.
***If your caramel is too thin and is dripping too much off the sides of the cake, you can whisk in a tablespoon or two of powdered Swerve to help thicken it up. If it gets too thick, you can gently re-warm it over low heat to thin it up again.
Notes
This sugar free caramel sauce uses Bocha Sweet, a low carb pentose sweetener, for consistency. Currently Bocha Sweet is out of stock on Amazon, and their website indicates that they are having difficulty filling their orders at the moment.
If you can't get Bocha Sweet, you can sub in xylitol or allulose. You can also use all Swerve Sweetener and add 2 teaspoons of Yacon syrup or molasses. Do be forewarned that using all Swerve will result in a frosting that re-crystallizes quite a bit upon cooling. It will still taste great.
Also, if you can't get the new Brown Swerve, the addition of the Yacon or molasses will give you a caramel color and flavor.
Nutrition Facts
Keto Caramel Cake
Amount Per Serving (1 serving = 1/12th of cake)
Calories 388Calories from Fat 314
% Daily Value*
Fat 34.9g54%
Carbohydrates 7.6g3%
Fiber 3.4g14%
Protein 9.5g19%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Secrets to Keto Baking
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.
Reader Interactions
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Anna Wisner says
You speak the truth: so good, I was speechless, all the better to keep on eating this wonderful cake. I made it for my birthday, added an extra 1/4 teaspoon xanthan to the caramel glaze. It was perfectly spreadable, and fabulously rich.
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Dawnella says
Is it possible to use Monk fruit blend in the cake and glucosamine in the Carmel?
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Carolyn says
“Monk fruit blend” is typically made with erythritol, which makes it very much like Swerve, so yes. I am not sure glucomannan has the same syrupy effect for caramel sauce but for this frosting I *think* it should work.
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Jen says
How should this cake be stored? In the fridge?
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Carolyn says
Yes, tightly wrapped up.
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Becky Fish says
Hello can you use monkfruit in place of the bocca sweetner
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Carolyn says
No, because “monk fruit” usually refers to a sweetener that is mostly erythritol with a tiny bit of monk fruit to make it sweeter. The only good sub is allulose.
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Anu says
Delicious! I used salted caramel in the middle because I love the marriage of sweet and salt, and because I’m a chocolate lover, I made a dark chocolate ganache for the top. My cake didn’t look half as pretty as yours but it’s still going down a treat. Thank you so much, your recipes are always marvellous 🙂Reply
Jennifer says
OMG???????? Speechless. I cannot believe how lush this cake is! The cake batter is superb. I’ve found my favourite go to almond flour cake batter. It so moist. I’ve made three cakes this week using the same cake batter but different flavours. Thank you so much for sharing.. My only bad point is that I wished the measurements were in grams.. I live in the UK and I don’t really use cups.Reply
Carolyn says
Your wish is my command! I just added the metric conversions. Actually, I have been meaning to do it for a lot of older posts but I find the automatic conversions for almond flour and coconut flour to be off, so I have to do them by hand.
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Lynn says
Happy Birthday Carolyn. I too am a Canadian March baby! I am a caramel lover – much more than chocolate. I am excited about this recipe and am going to bake this cake for my birthday. I am sure my diabetic husband and keto me will love it!!Reply
Robyn Harris says
Hey, Carolyn! My whey protein powder has collagen in it, is that okay? Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ????Reply
Rod C says
I have had this recipe for about a year and finally decided to make this cake two days ago. It is delicious. Thank you so much for this recipe. Caramel cake is my favorite cake and since I have been doing Keto going and buying a slice from time to time has been a weakness. I made this cake with some Vanilla Keto Ice Cream and it is everything that I have been missing from my pre-keto days.
I have one question. If I reduce the amount of Bocha Sweet in the Caramel sauce, will it harden a little? I don’t want it to become brick-like, but I would like for it to harden a bit after it sits.
Again, Great recipe!Reply
Nadia says
Carolyn,this was amazing! I used the Swerve and Allulose combination for the frosting and I halved the cake recipe so that I just had one layer. The cake is so buttery and soft and the caramel was great! Thank you for all of the hard work you pour into your recipes!
Reply
Simon Hearn says
Made this recipe, it was delicious but… It had a strong baking powder sting..
Does this cake really need a tablespoon of baking powder? Or is it a mistake??Reply
Carolyn says
Are you using baking powder with aluminum? That’s probably the issue…. It’s not a misprint, keto cakes like this need more encouragement to rise properly.
Reply
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