This is the best keto coconut flour cake I've ever tasted! Moist, light and incredibly fluffy, this easy sugar free dessert comes in at just 0.8g net carbs per slice. Plenty of ideas for toppings and frostings in the post!
It is no secret that I am crazy about baking. In the Keto Desserts cookbook I just published are tons of cake recipes, from carrot cake to Black Forest cake.
This keto cake with coconut flour definitely would have deserved to be in the book. It is perfect for celebrations and would make a wonderful birthday cake.
It is actually quite healthy, too.
Healthy enough that we have been eating it for breakfast!
I have been getting plenty of reader requests for more pure coconut flour recipes. That's why I recently made these coconut flour brownies and this coconut flour bread.
Coconut flour can be tricky to bake with, because it behaves so differently from almond flour and other low carb flours.
It absorbs around 3 times as much liquid as other flours. It also likes more eggs and more fat, otherwise the end result can be brittle or dense.
With this recipe you'll be able to enjoy a perfectly moist and fluffy cake. I have done all the recipe testing so you don't have to!
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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Light, moist and fluffy texture
- Delicious vanilla flavor
- Tastes great with and without frosting
- Only 124 calories and 0.8g net carbs per slice
- Sugar free and keto friendly
- Naturally gluten-free
Ingredients
- Eggs. These should be large and separated. It is really important that your eggs are room temperature. This helps you achieve a light, fluffy batter.
- Butter - I use unsalted butter, which I melt in the microwave for 1 minute and then cool. The goal is that all ingredients have a similar temperature. This prevents the eggs cooking or the butter going lumpy.
- Coconut flour - sifted. If possible, weigh the coconut flour instead of using cups. It is more exact and will give the best result.
- Powdered sweetener - I used an erythritol monk fruit sweetener that is a 1:1 sugar substitute.
- Baking powder
- Vanilla extract - choose one that is suspended in alcohol or water and not in glucose syrup. The vanilla also lessens the coconut taste.
- Almond milk - make sure it is unsweetened.
Instructions
(This section contains step by step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. Find the recipe card with ingredient amounts and nutritional information at the bottom of the post.)
Time to make a light & fluffy coconut flour cake! Line a 18 cm / 7 inch round cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F.
Step 1: Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites in a large mixing bowl until stiff.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, cream the egg yolks, vanilla extract and sweetener until pale and frothy. Add the melted, cooled butter and beat.
Step 3: Mix together the dry ingredients and add to the egg yolk mix. Option to also add a pinch of salt. Blend until combined.
Step 4: Fold in the egg whites in batches using a spatula. Carefully stir and fold until well-combined, ensuring you’re keeping the air bubbles intact...
...until it looks like the image above.
Step 5: Pour the batter into the springform and bake until golden.
It is done when a skewer or toothpick inserted comes out clean and the top is raised and feels springy to the touch.
Top tips
Stiff egg whites. Take your time with beating the egg whites. It creates sturdier air bubbles which ensures your batter stays fluffy and the cake does not collapse.
Check during baking. Check the cake after 20 minutes to make sure it does not over-brown. If necessary, place aluminium foil over the top to avoid burning.
Let it cool fully. Coconut flour cakes are very fragile when hot and firm up as they cool. Let it cool fully before you remove it from the cake pan.
FAQ
Yes, coconut flour is perfect for a keto diet! It is rich in healthy fats, high in fibre and low in carbs. Read more about its benefits here.
It is made from dried and ground coconut flesh. Coconut flour is not only gluten-free, but also safe for most people with a tree nut allergy who cannot tolerate almond flour.
Yes. You could use a loaf pan to make a coconut flour pound cake.
Add 4 tablespoons cocoa powder and 2 additional tablespoons of almond milk. For a single serve version, try my keto chocolate mug cake.
Topping ideas
You can serve this cake without any toppings. But if you like, choose one of the following:
Sugar free vanilla icing (as seen in the images): Mix ⅓ cup powdered sweetener with about 2 tablespoon almond milk or 3-4 tablespoon heavy cream (plus ½ teaspoon vanilla extract until you have a spreadable consistency.
Keto cream cheese frosting: Chop 2.2 oz / 65 g room temperature butter into chunks. Whip the butter and 4.4 oz / 125g cream cheese together using an electric whisk until thick. Whisk in â…“ cup / 53g powdered sweetener and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Place in fridge for 10 - 15 minutes for the frosting to stiffen up.
Lemon glaze: Mix 4 tablespoons each melted butter, cream and powdered sweetener plus the juice of 1 lemon. Let the glaze cool and thicken, then spoon over the coconut flour cake.
... or simply dust with powdered sweetener. Wait until it is fully cooled to prevent the sweetener from melting.
Variations
Dairy-free: Replace the butter with coconut oil and the cream in the frosting with full fat coconut milk (use only the firm coconut cream part).
Layer cake: Slicing the cake in half and fill with whipped cream and sugar free strawberry jam. Or use two cake pans to make 2 sponge layers. Reduce the baking time to about 30 minutes.
Make it fruity: Add a handful of blueberries or raspberries into the batter. Or, add lemon zest.
Change the flavor: Try other extracts such as almond, orange or coconut extract.
Storage
Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezer: Freeze individual slices in freezer bags for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight.
Reheating: If the cake is not frosted, reheat single slices in the microwave for 15 seconds.
More coconut flour desserts
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Keto Coconut Flour Cake (Vanilla)
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary. ***As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
- 6 eggs large, separated, room temperature
- ½ cup / 114g butter melted and cooled
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp almond milk unsweetened
- ½ cup / 60g coconut flour
- â…” cup / 107g powdered sweetener
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
Sugar Free Vanilla Icing (optional)
- â…“ cup / 50g powdered sweetener
- 4 tablespoon double cream (heavy cream) or 2 tablespoon almond milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Line a 18 cm / 7 inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F.
- Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff, about 3 minutes. Take your time with this - it creates sturdier air bubbles which ensures your batter stays fluffy and the cake does not collapse.
- In a separate bowl, cream the egg yolks, vanilla extract and sweetener until pale and frothy. Add the melted, cooled butter and almond milk and beat.
- Mix together the sifted coconut flour and baking powder and add to the egg yolk mix. Blend until combined.
- Last, fold in the egg whites in batches using a spatula. Carefully stir and fold until well-combined, ensuring you’re keeping the air bubbles intact.
- Pour the batter into the springform and bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Check the cake after 20 minutes to make sure it does not over-brown. If necessary, place aluminium foil over the top to avoid burning.
Icing
- For the optional icing, mix together the ingredients, adding more cream/milk or more sweetener as necessary until it is spreadable. Pour over the top of the fully cooled cake and spread around the sides. Let the icing set before cutting.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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John Dawson
This was my first attempt at baking a cake using coconut flour and I'm delighted at how well it turned out. It was light and pleasant to eat with no strange, unwanted flavours. My only question is why the recipe calls for the butter to be melted and cooled rather than being softened and mixed with the sweetener as in many other recipes, and whether it makes any difference to the end result.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi John, glad you like the recipe. I don't think it makes any difference whether the butter is melted and cooled or softened.
Teresa
Can you substitute coconut milk for the almond milk?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, that should work too.
Barb
Made 12 cupcakes and cooked for 20 mins. Turned out perfect
Helle
I made this recipe into a lemon drizzle cake using lemon essence and it tasted amazing
Bee
This cake tastes lovely but it sunk in on itself whilst cooling so I had a thin layer of delicious crumb on top and a thick layer of flan/eggy set custard at the bottom. Tasty but not what I was looking for. Any idea what could have gone wrong?
Katrin Nürnberger
It sounds to me that the egg whites were not stiff enough and therefore did not hold up, making the centre sink like a soufflé gone wrong. The whites must be beaten until firm. And if you take time with this, you'll have small, stable air bubbles instead of large ones that then pop. I hope this helps. I have a recipe for keto egg loaf where I experienced exactly the same issue. It was beating the egg whites until stiff that helped the loaf keep its shape even after cooling. Without properly beaten whites, it looked lush straight from the oven and then collapsed.
Ioana
Do you think this would work as the base for a tres leches cake? I'm looking at the texture and I kinda think it might...
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes!
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, it does. I made a tres leches cake with this base! The recipe is in my keto desserts cookbook.
sa
can I substitute butter for full fat Greek yogurt . ?
Katrin Nürnberger
I have not tried that, but it could work.
Laura
Could this recipe be made into muffins?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, that should work! Try around 20-25 minutes.
CozOzOz
wow super fluffy cake! not dry too!
Rebecca
If I wanted to bake this in a 9"x13" cake pan, would you recommend doubling or tripling the recipe? Thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger
That's a pretty large cake pan. You would probably have to triple the recipe. And adjust the baking time as well, it may take longer. Be sure to cover the top of the pan once the cake is golden to prevent over-browning.
Martha McIlvanie
I just took the your cake recipe out of the oven, it is cooled and came out of pan beautifully, the aroma is very nice. I think I will put a lemon glaze on it as it may be dry, I tasted the crumbs. The cake is for a 80 year old diabetic. I think she will like it.
I changed 2 things, I did sift, but not knowing grams, the closest I got was 1/2 cup. Guess it worked. The second item was the sweetener, I don't know if you have SF instant vanilla pudding mix in the UK/London, but I use them a lot when I don't want the sugar. I put 1 small 1.43oz pack of the instant pudding instead of the sweetener. I did not add extra liquid, as I used 2 large eggs and 7 small eggs. It worked and I am going to freeze it when it cools more as the luncheon is Sunday 10/3. THANK YOU for your work getting a great cake for diabetics.
Katrin Nürnberger
How interesting that you use instant vanilla pudding mix. Thanks for letting us know your tweaks!
Vanessa
Amazing and easy too. So fab to have found another keto friendly food I can include to help get a variety and stop me craving a non keto cake. Thanks so much for sharing.
Angela
Hi. I have made this cake many times now and even my non keto family love this cake! Do you happen to know if I add cocoa powder will I need to increase or reduce any of the other ingredients? Thinking of trying a chocolate orange cake, substitute the vanilla for orange extract.
Thanks.
Katrin Nürnberger
If you use about 1/4 cup or 4 tbsp cocoa powder I'd increase the amount of almond milk as well by probably 2 tbsp. This would be my starting point. Do try the batter and see if the taste is good and the batter texture is right!
Angela
Thanks for your reply. 4tbsp of cocoa and an extra 2tbsp was the perfect amount. Perfect with a BIG dollop of whipped cream. Thank you ever so much, this has certainly helped my my need for the odd chocolate fix!
Katrin Nürnberger
That's so good to hear!
Sofie
It's delicious, so smooth and light. Tasted amazing with some custard.
Liz
Really wanting to make this cake but only have powdered swerve on hand. Is it the same amount as the sweetener you listed? Thanks in advance.
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, that should be the same. It's a 1:1 sugar alternative, correct?
Liz
Yes, 1:1 replacement for sugar. Thank you!
Bethan McGuigan
Just made this- it’s delicious! Sliced in half once cooled- put some jam in the middle and the icing on top. Feels like I’m having proper cake ! Thanks Karin.
Naomi winkel
My 13 year old daughter made this cake to take to our church lunch today. It was a huge success. Everyone liked the taste. We will make this again.
Katrin Nürnberger
So glad you all like the cake!
Carolyn Stoker
Any idea how long to bake this if I turn this into a pound cake? Any other changes you would suggest for this?
Thanks
Katrin Nürnberger
I think it may take a little longer. I would try with 50 minutes and see where you're at.
Janet M Watson
This cake is delicious. I added a little bit extra vanilla (I always do). For the topping I used some heavy crème and toasted some coconut and then topped it off with a dusting of Swerve powdered sugar.
Andrea Davis
So the almond milk in the ingredients isn't mentioned in the instructions but it turns out it doesn't matter - this cake is amazing. First cake I've eaten that doesn't feel like I'm having 'alternative' cake. Not too keen on the frosting but that's the cooling taste of the erythritol. I've had it for dessert and breakfast so far. Would like to try some other flavours e.g. lemon. Love the fact I'm using coconut flour which I have a ton of, rather than extra fine almond flour which is very expensive.
Katrin Nürnberger
Glad you liked the cake! And thanks for the heads up - I've added it in.
Bill Heller
I'm looking forward to trying this. I've had a lot of DRY coconut flour issues. Can substitutions be made? adding cocoa, using vegan butter and coconut milk instead of almond?
Thanks
Bill Heller
Katrin Nürnberger
If you add cocoa, you'll probably need a little more wet ingredients such as butter or almond milk to stick to the same batter consistency. You can definitely use any kind of milk. I haven't tried baking with vegan butter, so I don't know how it behaves. However, using coconut oil instead of butter always works.
Anna
Hi Katrin! I can’t wait to make this I just know it will be delicious......I always have half and half in the fridge and usually oat milk....could I use one of those instead of the almond milk?
Thanks for all the great recipes
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, that should work just fine! I've now even had readers make it without the almond milk and apparently it still works just as well.
Fehmida Kola
Hi katrin
Once again, thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes. Can I use regular milk instead of almond milk?
Thanks in advance
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, any milk works!
Karen
Looking forward to trying this one, love the other recipes I have tried so far! Thanks.
Anita
Do you think this recipe would still work if I skip the powdered sweetener? I can't get it where I live, and after 2 years on keto I find anything sweetened is way to sweet for me. Thanks.
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, but if you leave it out altogether I would definitely not use the almond milk. Maybe also add an additional tsp of vanilla to give it more taste?