Low Carb Almond Flour Cake (Sugar Free)

An incredibly moist almond flour cake with a velvety mascarpone frosting and topped with fresh berries. Gluten free, sugar free, low carb and so nutritious you could eat it for breakfast.

When it comes to grain free baking, I have two firm favourites: almond flour and coconut flour. But if I had to choose.... almond flour would always win.

So - what's so great about almond flour and how do I use it in baking?

First of all, you can use it as a 1 : 1 replacement to wheat flour. Which can be very useful when you are converting old recipes to make them low carb and gluten free. 

Secondly, it tastes GREAT. Traditionally, almond flour is often used in cookie recipes. But its mildly nutty flavour and fluffy texture is gorgeous in cakes and works well even for bread. Check out my popular almond flour bread - it is getting rave reviews!

With coconut flour, on the other hand, there will always be a slight coconut taste (which I don't mind - but boy, some people can't stand it).

This almond flour cake recipe is super simple. It is extra moist because of the yoghurt - which also makes it taste kinda fresh.

What are the different types of almond flour?

I used ground almonds in this sponge cake. Basically, ground almonds here in the UK are equivalent to regular almond flour in the US. It's made from blanched almonds without skins.

Almond meal is a usually coarser and contains the skins - which are actually very nutritious and a great source of fibre. You could also use it in this recipe.

I have tried the cake with super fine almond flour, which is powdery and almost white in colour. I have tried it in this recipe but cannot recommend it. It absorbs more liquid than regular almond flour / ground almonds and I  found the cake ended up being too dense.

How to make a super moist and fluffy almond flour cake - step by step:

1. ) Beat your eggs until they're fluffy and have increased in size.
2. ) Add your wet ingredients and blend until well-combined.
3. ) Add the dry ingredients and mix.
4. ) Fill the dough into a well-greased springform and bake at 180 Celsius / 356 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. Once cooled, spoon over your mascarpone mix and decorate with berries. That's it!

Recipe tips and variations

Prefer dairy free? Use coconut oil instead of the butter, coconut yogurt instead of the yoghurt and whipped coconut cream in place of the mascarpone.

Want to add a bit of zing? Grate the zest of a lemon into the batter.

Need to speed things up? Add a handful of berries directly into the batter (stir them in last). Then you can leave out the mascarpone frosting.

Like it Paleo? Replace the powdered sweetener with coconut sugar.

Insist on super fine almond flour? I recommend to reduce the amount to 3 cups for a moist result.

And last but not least... Prefer coconut flour?? Halve the amount stated for almond flour. For a stronger crumb structure, you could also add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum.

More delicious almond flour recipes: 

• Almond Low Carb Crackers
• Orange Almond Breakfast Cake
• Almond Cream Cheese Pancakes

Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!

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Recipe

Low Carb Almond Flour Cake

Katrin Nürnberger

from Sugar Free Londoner

You won't believe how moist and fluffy this almond flour cake is! It's a firm favourite in our house, and so versatile. Here, we decorated it with mascarpone frosting and berries. But you can also top it with a chocolate ganache or even put the berries directly into the cake. 

4.98 from 36 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Servings 12

Calories 361 kcal

Note: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the sponge

• ▢ 1 ¼ cups / 300 g natural yoghurt full fat
• ▢ 3 ½ cups / 350 g almond flour NOT super-fine. Ground almonds work well, too
• ▢ 6 medium eggs or 5 large eggs
• ▢ 4 tablespoon butter melted
• ▢ 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ⅓ cup / 40 g powdered erythritol

For the topping

• ▢ 1 cup / 250 g mascarpone
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 tablespoon powdered sweetener or more, to taste
• ▢ handful of raspberries
• ▢ 150 g blackberries

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius / 356 Fahrenheit.
• Grease the sides of a 23 cm/9 inch diameter springform baking tin with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper.
• Blend your eggs until fluffy. Then add the yoghurt, 2 teaspoon vanilla and butter. Mix until well-combined.
• Then add the dry ingredients - baking powder, almond flour / ground almonds and sweetener. Blend until smooth and fill the batter into the springform pan. 
• Bake for ca 30 minutes or until the top is browned and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
• Blend the mascarpone cheese with 1 tablespoon of sweetener and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
• Once the cake has cooled, spread the mixture on top and garnish with berries.

Notes

You can make this cake dairy free by using coconut oil instead of the butter, coconut yogurt instead of the yoghurt and whipped coconut cream in place of the mascarpone.

To add a bit of zing, the zest of a lemon into the batter. 

As a variation, you could add a handful of berries directly into the batter (stir them in last).  

To make this cake Paleo, replace the powdered sweetener with coconut sugar. 

Without the mascarpone or berries, 1 slice of cake comes in at 267 calories, 22.5g fat, 3.0 g sugar and 1.5g net carbs. 

Nutrition

Calories: 361kcalTotal Carbohydrates: 6.4gProtein: 11.6gFat: 31.5gSaturated Fat: 4.7gFiber: 3.2gSugar: 4.5g

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The post "Best Ever Almond Flour Cake" was first published in July 2016. It was re-published in May 2019 with a recipe change and more details such as recipe variations to reflect how we make this cake today.

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