This 5 ingredient keto chocolate cake is to die for! It is incredibly moist, rich and chocolatey and comes in at only 2.5 net carbs per slice. The recipe is low carb, sugar free and gluten free.
Do you want to see everyone at your table sink into silence, occasionally interrupted by a contented sigh? Serve this cake and watch the magic happen.
I love all the recipes I post on this site, but this sugar free chocolate cake recipe is special. That’s because it’s more than just a chocolate cake. It’s a crazy good, wonderfully rich, death by chocolate Keto chocolate cake.
This Keto cake does nothing by halves. It contains as much chocolate as it can possibly handle, a generous amount of grass-fed butter and it is just on the right side of sweet. Basically, it is a Keto dream dessert.
As grains are a no-no on a Keto diet (as well as on a sugar free / low carb diet), most Keto cake recipes use either almond flour or coconut flour or both. This cake uses only a very small amount of almond flour, which makes it super fudgy, almost like a brownie. Friends, you’ll love it!
Shall we get straight to the recipe?
How to make Keto chocolate cake – step by step:
1.) Whisk the eggs with an electric mixer until they have doubled in size and are frothy.
2.) Add the powdered erythritol and whisk again until well-combined.
Tip: If you only have granulated sweetener, blitz it in a food processor or with the attachment of a stick blender to turn it into a powder. You don’t want any crunchy bits in your gooey, moist chocolate cake! TASTE the cake batter and add more sweetener if necessary. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so you may prefer it a little sweeter than I do.
3.) Melt butter and chocolate and stir until combined. You can do this in a microwave or on the stove – but slowly and gently. TAKE YOUR TIME!!! If the chocolate gets too hot too quickly, it can seize or separate.
Then add the mix to the bowl and fold it in with a spatula or spoon.
4.) See how it’s slowly coming together?
5. And this is how it should look like – gooey, creamy goodness!
6.) Lastly, you add the almond flour / ground almonds and stir until they are evenly distributed.
7.) Get yourself a springform (I used a 20 cm / 8 inch) and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the sides with butter or oil and pour in the batter. Bake at 170 Celsius / 340 Fahrenheit on the middle shelf for 30 minutes.
Recipe tips and tricks to make the perfect Keto chocolate cake:
One thing I absolutely love about this low carb chocolate cake (apart from the taste!) is the fact that the recipe contains only 5 basic ingredients.
This also means that these ingredients MUST be the best possible quality, especially the chocolate.
Here in the UK there are a range of artisan chocolate makers which produce unsweetened chocolate. The brand I used, Montezuma’s, is available at Sainsbury’s, in organic shops or online. In the US you can go for a brand like Ghirardelli.
I don’t recommend choosing unsweetened Baker’s chocolate for this cake. It has the tendency to seize when you melt it and simply does not taste as creamy and mellow as quality chocolate.
Which brings me to my second recommendation: Take your time melting the chocolate!
When you melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave, do so in 30 second bursts. Mine was mostly melted after 90 seconds in total. I then left the bowl on the kitchen counter and stirred it from time to time. This caused the rest of the chocolate to melt slowly.
If you don’t have a microwave, you can melt chocolate in a water bath. For this, you either place the bowl with your chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl over a pot with boiling water. Once the chocolate is half-melted, remove the bowl and let it fully melt by stirring occasionally.
If you are baking at high altitude, increase the oven temperature by 10 Celsius / 25 Fahrenheit.
Recipe Variations
I think all chocolate desserts benefit from a pinch of salt, although this is entirely optional. To give your keto cake a festive vibe, you could add 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp cinnamon plus some cardamom, nutmeg and a pinch of cloves.
For an extra kick, try adding a pinch of chilli!
Add nuts for a bit or crunch – walnuts or pecans would work well.
Serving suggestion
I’m a bit of a purist, so I simply dusted my cake with 100% unsweetened chocolate powder. If you want to go the whole nine yards, you could make a frosting (see recipe suggestion in the recipe notes below) or a quick chocolate ganache by melting 1 bar (100g) of chocolate and stirring in 3 tbsp of double / heavy cream and 4 tbsp powdered sweetener.
You could serve this cake with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of sugar free vanilla ice cream.
Recipe Notes
I used a 20 cm / 8 inch springform in this recipe. If you only have a standard size 25 cm / 9 inch springform, your cake will be a little flatter, but it still works fine. You may need to reduce the baking time by 5 minutes. Simply check after 25 minutes if the middle of the cake feels firm to the touch.
You can freeze this Keto chocolate cake. Simply defrost on the counter!
More decadent chocolate dessert recipes:
- Fudgy Chocolate Avocado Cake (Sugar Free)
- Keto Chocolate Donuts
- Really Simple Low Carb Chocolate Tart
- Sugar Free Chocolate Cupcakes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Best Ever Keto Chocolate Cake (Sugar Free)
Ingredients
- 300 g / 10.5 oz unsweetened chocolate ***see notes
- 300 g / 10.5 oz butter unsalted (1 1/3 cup melted)
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup / 50g almond flour or ground almonds
- 1 1/2 cup / 150g powdered erythritol
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 170 Celsius / 340 Fahrenheit. (If you are baking at high altitude, increase the oven temperature by 10 Celsius / 25 Fahrenheit.)
- Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave (ca 90 seconds - see notes), then stir and wait until dissolved. Alternatively, gently heat in a water bath (a heat proof bowl placed over a pan of boiling water). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs until foamy, then add the sweetener and mix well.
- Add the melted chocolate and butter along with the almond flour and stir with a spoon or spatula until just combined.
- Line the bottom of a 20 cm / 8 inch springform with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter. Pour in the cake batter and bake for ca 30 minutes on the middle shelf until the top of the cake is firm to the touch, especially in the middle.
- Leave to cool before releasing from the cake tin. Once the the cake is completely cooled, dust with cocoa powder.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Nilay says
Hi, I loved it! Loved loved loved. Do you think I could use a silicone cake form, would that leave it wet?
Katrin Nürnberger says
I love silicone forms and think it would work just as well 🙂
Susan says
I just discovered your website, and I’m very impressed with your thoroughness and taking your time with leading the reader through the steps. Kudos to you. My father is diabetic, and I’m now living with him in his 80’s for health reasons. I love to bake and cook, and I’m very excited to try your other recipes. He usually has dessert daily, and I’ve dropped his blood sugars down 100 points in over a year,! I love this dense rich chocolate cake, which I added a raspberry extract to the the cake, and a chocolate cream frosting topped with fresh raspberries. Outstanding work here!
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Susan, I adore raspberries and chocolate together. I bet your cake tasted incredible!
G says
Is it possible to use just cocoa powder? It’s impossible to find baking chocolate where I am.
Katrin Nürnberger says
You’d need an entirely different recipe for this as you’d change the wet/dry ratio of the ingredients. You could try my chocolate cupcakes, which use cocoa powder. 🙂
Amanda says
Can this be frozen in portions? It would be a great treat to have in the freezer
Katrin says
Hi Amanda, that’s exactly what I did. I cut a few into proper slices for when other people are over, and the rest into small squares so we have a treat when we want one.
Marina says
Hi there, is it possible to use Pure cacao butter as the fat replacement in the cake and maybe also for the frosting instead of heavy cream? I can’t have dairy but could use ghee if cacao butter doesn’t suit this. Also, am i right to assume i can replace almond flour with another nut flour like hazelnut, that’s all i got at home right now? I had ordered the Montezuma 100% chocolate from the UK A while ago, (we are brits that currently live in the US) until i found it for sale here in the US too (available at trader joe’s). I‘ve got all the ingredients ready and would just like the answer about the fat replacement, thanks a lot in advance – your recipe looks yummy.
Katrin says
Hi Marina, you can definitely use other nut flours, as long as they are not too coarse. As for the cacao butter, I’m not sure as it’s a different consistency to butter. The cacao butter I know is hard like chocolate at room temperature. I buy it in pellets and use it for making chocolate. I think coconut oil would be more similar in texture, although I think a mix of coconut oil and coconut butter would probably be nicer.
Liz Hanafin says
This cake was so easy to make and tasted amazing. I served the cake with coconut cream with a smidgen of vanilla powder and crushed roasted almonds and a tiny sprinkling of sea salt . I had non Keto dinner guests and they absolutely loved this cake. I must admit though that I only used half the Erythritol in the recipe and I also used 100% dark chocolate but the cake was rich and the bitter chocolate was perfectly matched with the coconut cream and sea salt. So good and so keto!!
Katrin says
I’m so glad you all liked the recipe and that you adapted it to match your taste!
Larkin says
Can I use Ghee for the butter? I have a no dairy eater
Katrin says
Yes, I think that should be fine.
bec says
may I ask, ghee is OK for someone who doesn’t eat dairy?? It is made from butter
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi there, while ghee is derived from butter, it doesn’t actually contain lactose or antigenic proteins like most dairy products. So, it should be ok for someone who is sensitive to dairy, but not for people who prefer to eat plant-based only.
Carol Larson says
Can you use either a 7″.spring form pan or a rectangular baking pan.
Katrin says
Sure, you could use either. It should fit, but if you end up having too much dough, just use an additional couple of ramekins. If you use a rectangular baking tin, be sure to line the sides with baking/parchment paper to avoid sticking.
Martin says
Hi Katrin
Excellently presented website – the best I have encountered reference low carb/ keto .The variety of dishes and clarity of your recipes are in my opinion first class.
I have just made your super indulgent chocolate cake which was simple to make and more importantly resulted in an absolutely , decadently ,serving of yummy deliciousness !
Please keep up the good work
Katrin says
Thank you so much for your thumbs up! I’m so glad you like the cake:)