Richly aromatic with butter, vanilla, and almond, this Low-Carb Keto Vanilla-Almond Yellow Butter Cake has great flavor and texture, and just 4 g net carbs per serving!
I honestly didn’t think it would be possible to come up with a low-carb sugar-free cake with both great texture and flavor that rivals regular cake. Such a thing sounds like a white unicorn, mythological, the stuff legends are made of, but don’t really exist in real life.
I’ve tried soooo many recipes, all of which were just ok, none of which I found good enough to make a second time, let alone become my go-to keto cake. And when I say go-to cake, I mean a cake (keto or not) that will be made over and over again to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and other family and friend gatherings. Meaning, the cake should be pretty special and dang delicious.
As I played around with other recipes, I figured out what works and what doesn’t. I discovered what I needed to use to get the flavor spot-on (butter, vanilla, and almond extract) and what gave the cake great texture (almond flour with just a little tapioca flour). It was a delicate balance, almost a graceful song and dance, between creating the perfect cake while keeping it low-carb.
This recipe might just be my masterpiece. I am so happy with the results, I can easily see it adorning parties and gatherings at my home for years to come.
I do want to mention one thing about the sweeteners used in this recipe. I use a blend of granulated erythritol and stevia glycerite because I find that it helps with the cooling effect that erythritol can cause. Another thing that I feel greatly improves the flavor is almond extract, which not only helps to cover some of the cooling effect, but also gives this cake a flavor that’s reminiscent of wedding cake (yum!).
What dessert would you like to give a keto makeover to?
- Yields: 1 (9 by 5-inch) cake/8 servings
- Serving size: 1/8 of cake
- Calories: 187
- Fat: 18
- Saturated fat: 7
- Carbohydrates: 6
- Sugar: 1
- Sodium: 306
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 8
- Cholesterol: 69
- Coconut oil spray
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons granulated erythritol
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon stevia glycerite
- 1 cup (115 g) almond flour
- 2 tablespoons golden flaxseed meal
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Preheat the oven to 350F; line a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with 2 pieces of parchment paper so it hangs over all 4 sides (so you can lift the cake out later). Lightly spray the inside with coconut oil.
- Cream together the butter and erythritol, and then whisk in the eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and stevia glycerite.
- Whisk together the almond flour, flaxseed meal, tapioca flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet all at once.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out. Bake until the cake is puffed and golden brown along the outside, about 25 to 32 minutes.
- Cool and then cut into 8 pieces.
- Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 1 week.
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Hello and welcome! I'm Faith and I believe you can have your cake and eat it too. For breakfast.
Hey, i want to bake this but only because it’s GF. How can I replace granulated erythritol, stevia glycerite ? Can I use sugar instead of stevia?
Dolphia, I haven’t tested this recipe using regular sugar, but I think it would work fine. If you want to omit the granulated erythritol and stevia glycerite, I would add about 1/2 cup regular sugar instead. If you decide to play with the recipe, let me know how it goes!
I’m curious about what the stevia glycerine provides? I have erythritol, but not the stevia. I could get it if the addition changes things significantly though. I’m looking forward to trying the recipe.
Karen, Stevia glycerite is a sweetener. I find that the combination of granulated erythritol and stevia glycerite give this recipe the best flavor. Using a combo of erythritol and stevia products helps lessen the cooling effect that erythritol can sometimes have, and lessen the bitterness that stevia can sometimes have. I hope this helps!
HI! This looks so yummy! I am so glad I found your blog. Do you have any recommendations if I can’t do flax meal ?
Lyndsey, Thank you so much for your kind words! In this recipe, the flaxseed meal acts as a binder, helping us achieve the right texture and structure for the cake. I haven’t experimented with this recipe omitting the flaxseed meal, but you could play around with adding another egg (although that would add more liquid so you may want to add a bit more almond flour), or adding beef gelatin (which you can’t taste, but helps yield the correct texture; just remember that a little bit of gelatin goes a long way). If you decide to play with the recipe, please let me know how it goes!
I do not have Tapioca flour what can I substitute it with?
Carla, I haven’t tried this recipe using something other than tapioca flour, but I think it could work using arrowroot starch or cornstarch instead (use just 1 tablespoon of either of those instead of the 2 tablespoons tapioca flour). Or to keep the carbs lower, this recipe may also work to use a bit more golden flaxseed meal, or add a touch of coconut flour or whey protein, possibly along with some gelatin to achieve the right texture. Xanthan gum might also be a good option if you use it (it gives me tummy troubles, so personally I don’t use xanthan). Making this substitution, the recipe may need quite a bit of tweaking to get the right texture and flavor, but I’ll try to experiment with it and update you with more info. In the meantime, if you decide to play with the recipe, please let me know how it goes for you!
Just so I am understanding this correctly…If I want to make this into a 13×9″ cake I would need to quadruple this recipe? That would be 16 eggs?? Thx so much! Would like to make for my son for his birthday. 🙂
Hello! I haven’t tried quadrupling this recipe, so I can’t say for sure. Sometimes when you adjust certain recipes up or down, all ingredients don’t get multiplied or divided by the same factor (that’s where art comes into play in the science of baking, lol). With that being said, if you want to exactly quadruple this recipe it would be 8 eggs because the original recipe calls for 2 eggs. Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!
I would like to give this cake a go, but I’m sensitve to erythritol. Can I use stevia glycerite only or will it change the texture of the cake, I’m a newbie to keto baking.
Rupa, The erythritol is there for bulk as well as sweetness, so unfortunately I think the texture may be altered with this substitution. You might be able to add something else for bulk (in addition to the stevia glycerite for sweetness), perhaps a little more flaxseed meal or tapioca flour, or unflavored whey protein powder may also work. I think the recipe may need a bit of testing to see what works best. Please let me know how it goes if you decide to play with the recipe!
Thank you for the recipe. I love cakes a lot, especially moist buttery vanilla cakes. I only have xanthan gum, do you have any tips on how I can use that instead of the tapioca?
Sue, I think you’ll really love this cake – it is moist and full of buttery vanilla flavor! I don’t use xanthan gum (it causes me tummy troubles), so I haven’t tried it here. I think you could probably use about 1/2 teaspoon and skip the tapioca. If you decide to experiment with the recipe, please let me know how it goes!
Made this today and subbed arrowroot powder as didn’t have tapioca flour. The cake was delicious, thank you for the recipe! x