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.
Deborah
Lovely cake! I was a little worried as I realized after I put it in the oven that I had not given a second thought to using Greek yoghurt and not the thinner traditional plain yoghurt when I made it. I am assuming you intended the recipe to use the thinner standard yoghurt, correct?
It came out well in spite of my error….a little bit more pound cake-ish, but still rose high and was very moist.
For anybody needing to make it as a half recipe (we are a family of only 2) cutting it in half worked well for me, and I baked it in a 6 ½ inch springform pan. I thought a 25 minute bake might be enough, but ended up needing the full 30 minutes probably due to the density.
Next time I make it I will thin my Greek yoghurt with a bit of water (probably 4 parts Greek yoghurt to 1 part water should do it) until it is the consistency of the standard yoghurt.
Rebecca
Hi - could you replace the sugar substitute with coconut sugar?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Rebecca, you can definitely do that.
Keki
What Can i use instead of eggs?? I’m vegan
Katrin Nürnberger
In vegan baking you'd use flax or chia eggs, or aquafaba - whipped chickpea water. However, I have not yet tried it in this recipe. I once made my sugar free banana bread as a vegan version by using aquafaba, however, the banana in it also helps to stick things together. My feeling is you'd need some xanthan gum as well for a stronger texture, and probably more fat (coconut oil). Maybe halve the recipe and do a test run before you commit to a whole cake. You don't want it to fall apart.
Margaret
Hi Katrin! I’m looking for a keto recipe to use for the almond cake layers in Italian rainbow cookies, AKA Neapolitan cookies, tricolor cookies, 7-layer cookies). In case you’re unfamiliar with them, these are made with three thin layers of almond cake (marzipan is an ingredient in the cake batter, and each layer is a different color - green, red, or untinted). The cake layers are stacked/sandwiched with jam. Then the stack is “frosted” with a coating of melted chocolate and cut into small squares or rectangles (like petits fours).
The very thin cake layers are extremely moist, and this recipe looks as though it might be an excellent keto replacement for that component of the Italian rainbow cookies, especially if I added almond extract to boost the almond flavor. Unfortunately, all the brands of almond flour I have found here in the US are of a “superfine.”
In addition to reducing the volume of superfine almond flour to 3 cups, is there anything else I can do to modify this recipe to compensate for the decreased moisture in the cake layers (because of the superfine almond flour)?
Many thanks for your help and advice!
Best wishes,
Margaret
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Margaret, your cookies sound fabulous! If you can only find superfine flour, I'd reduce the amount and maybe also double the amount of butter. Make a small test batch to see how it turns out!
Lynn Sharpe
Instead of using butter how much coconut oil can u use??and what kind of natural yogurt??can u make this in a regular 9" baking dish??cause I don't have a spring form pan..thank u for sharing this recipe with us
Katrin
Hi Lynn, I would use the same amount of coconut oil as stated for butter. I used firm full fat natural yoghurt (3.6%fat). And yes, you can make it in a regular 9 inch (round) baking dish.Just make sure you line it well with parchment paper/baking paper so you can lift it out easily. And don't touch it until it's completely cooled as almond flour baked goods tend to be quite fragile when hot.
Carol
If I wanted wanted to make 1/2 of this cake, what size pan should I use?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Carol, the smallest springform I have has an 8 inch diameter so I would use that. Or you could use larger ramekins if you have them!
Natalie
Hiya — I baked for 30 minutes at 140 fan-assisted, and the outer perimeter of the cake was perfect, but the centre was raw. If I leave it in long enough to cook the centre, will the outside dry out? Forgive me if this is a silly question but I don’t have much baking experience. 🙂 I did the knife test about an inch and a half in from the outside, which is probably why I got a raw-centred cake!
BTW - I tried your chocolate Christmas cake last weekend and it came out perfectly on my first try, and was a big hit with everyone! Thank you.
Katrin
Good to hear that the Christmas cake went down well! It sounds like your chocolate cake just needs a little longer in the oven. Having temperatures can vary, And it also depends on if you had it on the lowest shelf or in the highest. I would just leave it in another 10 minutes.
Anna Cardamone
My friend cant have the Tapioca starch thats in the coconut yogurt, and she cant have dairy yogurt, just wondering if theres anything else that could replace them and it cant have sugar either
Katrin
Hi Anne, I guess you could try using a can of coconut milk, with the liquid and the cream parts blended so the consistency would be similar to yoghurt.
Anna Cardamone
I'm making a cake for someone who cant tolerate normal wheat flour, dairy or sugar because she gets really sick. So if I use almond flour, coconut yogurt , coconut oil, and coconut cream, would these ingredients be safe or are there hidden added sugars that I need to be careful of?
Katrin
Almond flour and coconut cream and yoghurt contain a little amount of sugars from the carbs. Dairy contains lactose. But it’s only a very small amount of sugar, not comparable to the amounts wheat has. The berries on the cake will have the largest amount of sugar. Maybe you can ask your friend if she can tolerate berries, just to be sure.
Cathy
This is a real nice tea/coffee cake...I used almond essence and raisins...very good without any topping but with jam, its even better.
Yamilet
I made this cake for my little boy's birthday and everybody loved it. I topped mine with coconut cream and fresh blueberries because those are my son favourites. I also added some fresh lemon juice instead of the vanilla and a few teaspoons of grated lemon zest to the mixture. I replaced the yogurt with plain almond yogurt because we do not tolerate milk well. Thank you for this delicious recipe, definitely will try it again for my husband's birthday!
Wanda
Katrin, I'm in Australia and yes it's autumn, next month winter starts here.
The Almond Flour cake is so delicious, after a few days it's much nicer, so decadent and moist.
Nearly all gone will be making it again this coming Saturday.