My sugar free almond flour cake is easy and delicious! It has a moist, fluffy crumb and requires only 5 minutes of prep. This gluten free, low carb cake is so healthy that you could eat it for breakfast. But, topped with berries and a mascarpone frosting it is perfect for celebrations!
"Made this cake for an 80th birthday party. It was a hit." (Linda)
This almond cake with almond flour is one of the first recipes that I posted on the blog, and I love it to this day. It is superbly simple and I have served it on many occasions, from brunches to birthdays.
Today, I decided to give this post a well-deserved update with new images and more details.
Want more cake recipes using almond flour? Try my almond flour olive oil cake and this sugar free Victoria sponge cake.
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Why You'll Love This Cake
Secretly Healthy. When I first published this recipe, I called it "healthy almond berry cake". Why is this cake healthy in my book? Well, I am using almond flour instead of wheat flour and a sugar free sweetener instead of sugar. This means the cake is low carb, keto friendly and gluten-free. My diabetic mother-in-law can enjoy a slice of this cake without worrying about a blood sugar spike.
Easy and Tasty. This is a one bowl recipe and the almond sponge comes together in 5 minutes with only 7 ingredients. It is suitable even for baking beginners. And oh my, you're gonna love the flavor and texture of this cake. The sponge is fluffy and light and it tastes nutty and gently sweet with notes of vanilla.
Versatile. This basic almond flour cake recipe can be the starting point for plenty of variations. I'm listing flavor tweaks and topping ideas further down in the post.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you need for the almond flour sponge:
Wet Ingredients
- Eggs - Must be room temperature. Use 5 large or 6 medium eggs.
- Yogurt - I used full fat natural yogurt. Greek yogurt works as well. The yogurt helps with the rise and it also makes the cake lovely and moist.
- Butter - melted, then cooled
- Vanilla Extract
Dry Ingredients
- Almond Flour. Almond flour is a wonderful replacement for wheat flour. It gives the cake a moist yet light texture. I am using blanched ground almonds, which is the same as regular almond flour in the US. For super-fine almond flour, reduce the amount by ¼ cup or 25 grams.
- Powdered Sweetener - I have made this cake with powdered erythritol, monk fruit sweetener, Bocha Sweet and with allulose. All powdered sweeteners work well, so choose whichever you prefer. For a paleo version, use coconut sugar.
- Baking Powder - We need to use a little more than in regular cakes because of the almond flour.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Instructions
It is so easy to make an almond flour cake. Here are the basic steps.
Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed method with oven timings, amounts and nutrition information.
We start by preheating the oven. Then, line the bottom of a springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter or cooking spray.
STEP 1
In a food processor or in a large mixing bowl with an electric blender, beat the eggs until fluffy, pale and double in size.
STEP 2
Add the remaining wet ingredients - yogurt, melted and cooled butter and vanilla extract. Blend until well-combined.
STEP 3
Now add the dry ingredients - almond flour, baking powder and sweetener. Blend briefly until a smooth batter forms.
STEP 4
Fill the cake batter into your prepared springform. Smooth the top with a spatula.
STEP 5
Bake in the preheated oven until the top is domed and golden and you can insert and remove a knife into the center of the cake without any crumbs sticking. Let the cake cool completely before adding any toppings.
STEP 6 - Frosting
In a small bowl, stir together the mascarpone, vanilla extract and sweetener with a fork. Whisk in natural yogurt as needed to loosen the mixture a little. Spread the frosting over the cake and decorate with berries.
Katrin's Top Tips
#1 Taste the batter! This cake is not very sweet, which is how I like it. If you prefer a sweeter cake, add up to ¼ cup more sweetener.
#2 Check the size of your baking pan. The larger the pan, the flatter the cake will be - and the quicker it bakes. It is counter-intuitive, but this cake takes 10 minutes longer if you use a smaller 8 inch sprinform pan.
#3 Patience. Let the cake cool before you release it from the springform. To avoid the cake splitting, run a sharp knife along the pan edges to ensure it does not stick.
Variations
Over the years, I have made many variations of this cake. Here are a few ideas:
Flavor variation: Add the zest of 1 lemon to the batter for extra zing. Or, increase the almond flavor by adding 1 teaspoon of almond extract.
Loaf cake: I have given the timings for a round cake. But, you can also bake this cake in a full-sized 9x6 inch loaf pan. Increase the oven time to around 55 minutes and put aluminium paper over the top after 30 minutes to avoid over-browning.
Fill it! Instead of frosting the cake, slice it in half. Spread the mascarpone mixture and the berries onto the lower half, then add the top part back. Dust the cake with powdered sweetener. You could also spread the middle with sugar free strawberry jam.
More Toppings
- Sliced almonds (sprinkle these over the cake batter before baking, then dust with powdered sweetener after the cake has cooled)
- Chocolate ganache (Use the recipe from my diabetic chocolate cake)
- Sugar Free Lemon Curd
- Sugar free icing - find the recipe in my post on keto blueberry bread
Below you can see an original image of the cake. It is flatter because I used a 9 inch springform. The cake in the new images above was made in an 8 inch springform.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can replace the almond flour 1:1 and make an almond meal cake with this recipe. Since almond meal is ground almonds with skins, the cake will be higher in fibre. It will also look and taste more rustic.
No, I do not recommend it. Super-fine defatted almond flour (very fine and powdery, white like wheat) absorbs more liquid than regular almond flour. It makes the cake too dense.
For a dairy-free almond cake, use coconut oil instead of the butter, coconut yogurt instead of the yogurt and whipped coconut cream in place of the mascarpone.
Yes! The batter is perfect for almond flour muffins. Add berries directly into the batter for a flavor pop. Use paper cups to avoid sticking and bake for 25 minutes.
Storage
Store this keto almond flour cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Any cake with almond flour freezes well, and this one is no exception. I like to pre-slice it, so I can defrost a slice at a time. Freeze for up to 3 months.
More Almond Flour Recipes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Low Carb Almond Flour Cake
Equipment
- 8-inch or 9-inch springform pan
Ingredients
Cake
- 5 eggs large, room temperature, or 6 medium eggs
- 1 ¼ cups natural yogurt full fat, 300g
- ¼ cup butter melted and cooled, 57g
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups almond flour 350g. Regular almond flour or ground almonds. Reduce by ¼ cup (25g) for super-fine almond flour
- ⅓ cup powdered erythritol 50g, or sweetener of choice. Use more for a sweetener cake.
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
Topping
- 1 cup mascarpone 240g, or cream cheese
- 2 tablespoon natural yogurt as needed, to loosen
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon powdered sweetener or more, to taste
- 1 cup blackberries or raspberries 130g, to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit (electric). Line the bottom of an 8 inch or 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the sides with butter.
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer or in a food processor, blend the eggs until fluffy, pale and double in size. This takes about 2 minutes.
- Add the yogurt, vanilla extract and melted, cooled butter. Blend until well-combined.
- Now add the dry ingredients - baking powder, almond flour and sweetener. Blend until a smooth batter forms. Fill the batter into the springform pan.
- Bake the cake in a 9-inch springform for 30 minutes (8 inch springform for 40 minutes) or until the top is golden and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. ***see recipe notes
Topping
- In a small bowl with a fork, stir together the mascarpone cheese with powdered sweetener and vanilla extract. Add yogurt as needed to loosen the mixture.
- Once the cake has cooled, spread the frosting on top and garnish with berries.
Wanda
Well Katrin, it's wow! such a delicious cake, the only thing that was different I used powdered Xylitol [because I want to use it up, I prefer erythritol] and I added frozen cranberries in the batter. It took well over an hour to bake, now I'm thinking it may have been the frozen cranberries that slowed the baking time. The top was well browned, so in the end I covered it with baking paper. I made the mascarpone topping and added thawed cranberries, so tasty very yummy, rave reviews from everyone.
I took your advise to make it because i was going to make the cornbread but I didn't have the double cream and asked you if I can use plain natural yoghurt you said you've made the Almond Flour Cake with yoghurt....so that's what I did and I'm so happy I did.
Next I'll the your cornbread recipe.
Swati
Hey I tried it was beautifully moist, however I guess I have a sweeter tooth than you and just the cake without the mascarpone and berries tasted non sweet. Perhaps can increase the sweetener? What do you think ?
Katrin
Of course you can increase the sweetener, just use as much as you think you need! 🙂
Lindsay GRIPTON
Best. Cake. Ever.
Jo storry
I made a half recipe of this a week ago and put it into a muffin tin which made 10. I added a grated lemon rind to the recipe and added some mushed raspberries into the mix instead of doing the cheese/berry topping. Very nice they are. Unexpected use of them was when I had a hot cereal craving the other morning - I crumbled up one of the cupcakes, poured a mix of boiling water and cream over it and mushed it up. I also added a bit of toasted coconut into it. And it became a lovely, creamy hot cereal breakfast. Am going to always keep some in the freezer now for this purpose.... and will try the same with the orange and almond cake.
Esther
Can I make the cake overnight and then decorate it the next morning? Does it need to be kept in the fridge the whole time?
Katrin
You could definitely do that, and the cake would look fresher and better that way, too. If you just leave it out for one night because your fridge is packed, in my book that's fine, as long as you keep it in a cake tin or cover it up somehow. I hope you'll enjoy it!
Debbie
Hi Katrin,
Just wondering if I could use finely ground almond flour in place of ground almonds ? If not, how did you grind yours ? I have a food processor would that work out ? This cake looks so moist, can’t wait to try it !
Katrin
Hi Debbie, if it is super fine AND fat reduced almond flour such as the Sukrin brand, I would not use it. I have tried Sukrin almond flour in this recipe and it did not work. I used the regular ground almonds you can buy in UK supermarket baking sections. My US blogger friends tell me that's what THEY would call almond flour over there, it's such a confusing term. I tried another brand called Carbzone here in the UK, which calls itself almond flour, but is not fat reduced and essentially ground almonds (albeit maybe a little finer than the supermarket ground almonds). So, to cut a long story short, if your almond flour is NOT fat reduced, you can probably use it with great success 🙂
Rina
Have you ever tried makimg this as cupcakes? If yes, how long did you cook them for?
Katrin
I have, actually! Check out these Grab and Go Muffins 🙂
Lois Hedstrom
Do you grind your own almonds ,or can you buy ground almonds?What is mascarpone cheese never heard of it, is it like cream cheese?
Katrin
In the UK you can buy ground almonds in the baking section of supermarkets. Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese. It thick, creamy and has a relatively high fat content. It is used in Tiramisu, for example.
selina prager
Mine is in the oven... not sure if I will make it look pretty enough for a picture but am planning on making it a breakfast regular. I'll let you know how it turns out... TBC
Alex
Hi!! Really, really want to make this now! Any ideas on butter substitution, as I'm not a very keen butter fan?:)
Katrin
Hello Alex, you can substitute with coconut oil!
Elli
This looks amazing, just a few questions
1) could I use dairy free yoghurt in this?
2) is almond flour the same as ground almonds?
3) could I use honey or maple syrup to sweeten it instead of sweetener
thank you for the inspiration with this cake
Katrin
Hello! I am sure it would work with a dairy free yoghurt such as coconut yoghurt. Just check it has no added sugar! I actually used ground almonds myself, so sorry about the confusion. And it would of course taste nice with honey or maple syrup. You might have to reduce the amount of yoghurt a tiny bit because the sweetener is granulated and honey/maple is a liquid. Let me know how it goes!