This 5 ingredient keto chocolate cake is the easiest fudgy sugar free cake ever! It is incredibly moist, rich and packed with chocolate flavor. Even better, it has only 2.5 net carbs per slice.
Do you want to see everyone at your table sink into silence, occasionally interrupted by a contented sigh? Serve this low carb chocolate cake and watch the magic happen.
I love all the recipes I post on this site, but this recipe is special. That's because it's more than just a chocolate cake. It's a crazy good, wonderfully rich 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.
It will satisfy the cravings of any chocolate lover, low carb or not. And it also makes a great gluten-free birthday cake!
Jump to:
Low Carb Cake Essentials
There are 2 ingredients that increase carbs and sugar in a traditional cake: the wheat flour and, of course, the sugar.
What To Use Instead Of Flour
As grains are a no-no on a Keto diet (as well as on a sugar free or 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.
What To Use Instead Of Sugar
I am also using a sugar substitute in place of sugar.
For this cake, I've chosen an erythritol stevia blend. Erythritol is a polyol and cannot be absorbed by our body. Therefore, it is essentially zero carb and does not raise blood sugars.
You can replace the erythritol in this cake and in all keto cake recipes with xylitol, monk fruit sweetener, allulose or with blends such as Swerve. If you're using xylitol, keep it away from dogs. It's highly toxic to them!
Ingredients
It's hard to believe, but you only need 5 ingredients to make this cake:
- Unsweetened chocolate
- Eggs
- Powdered Sweetener
- Almond Flour
- Butter
...and a pinch of salt.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Why Quality Ingredients Matter
With such few ingredients, they MUST be the best possible quality, especially the chocolate.
There is 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 quality 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.
Instructions
This section contains step-by-step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Let me show you how to make a keto chocolate cake in a few simple steps.
STEP 1
Whisk the eggs with a hand mixer in a large mixing bowl until they have doubled in size and are frothy and pale.
STEP 2
Add the sweetener and whisk again until well-combined.
STEP 3
Melt butter and chocolate and stir until combined. You can do this in a microwave or on the stove - slowly and gently. Slowly add the melted chocolate mixture to the bowl...
STEP 4
... and fold it in with a spatula or spoon.
STEP 5
Continue stirring until the mixture is fully combined - gooey, creamy goodness!
STEP 6
Lastly, add the almond flour and stir until it is evenly distributed.
STEP 7
Line the bottom of a springform (I used a 20cm / 8-inch pan) and with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter or oil. Pour in the batter. Bake the cake in the preheated oven until the top of the cake is firm to the touch.
Let the cake cool completely before cutting.
Expert Tips
This is what you need to know to make the recipe perfectly.
Tip #1: Room temperature eggs. Take them out 30 minutes before starting on the cake. Or, warm them up in a bowl with hot water.
Keeping the eggs at room temperature prevents the mix from splitting and becoming lumpy once you add the warm chocolate and butter.
Tip #2: Sweetener must be powdered. You don't want any crunchy bits in your gooey, moist chocolate cake!
Blend granulated sweetener it in a food processor or with the attachment of a stick blender to turn it into a powder.
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.
Tip #3: Melt chocolate slowly. This prevents it from splitting and seizing.
Microwave option: 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.
Water bath option: 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.
Recipe Variations
SPICE IT UP: To give your keto cake a festive vibe, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon cinnamon plus cardamom, nutmeg and a pinch of cloves.
For an extra kick, try adding a pinch of chilli! Or grate the zest of 1 orange into the batter.
MAKE IT NUTTY: Add nuts for a bit or crunch - walnuts or pecans would work well.
FLUFFY TEXTURE: This cake is supposed to be fudgy. For a slightly fluffier texture, add 1 teaspoon of baking powder or ½ teaspoon of baking soda.
DAIRY-FREE: Replace the butter with coconut oil.
NUT-FREE: Use ¼ cup coconut flour in place of the almond flour.
Toppings
I'm a bit of a purist, so I simply dusted my cake with 100% unsweetened cocoa powder.
You could also dust the low carb cake with powdered sweeter. For both options it is important to wait until the cake is fully cooled. Otherwise, anything you dust on top will melt into an unsightly sludge.
If you want to go the whole nine yards, make the cream cheese frosting from my keto cupcakes or make a buttercream frosting.
You could serve this cake with a dollop of sugar free whipped cream or a scoop of sugar free ice cream.
Recipe FAQs
No. I don't recommend to replace the chocolate with cocoa powder.
To make a layer cake, either slice the cake in half or split the batter between 2 cake pans. The baking time in 2 pans reduces to about 20 minutes.
Let the layers cool completely, then add the keto chocolate frosting as described below.
Yes! Here are the steps:
Melt 100g / 3.5 oz unsweetened chocolate and 60g / ¼ cup butter.
Stir in 6 tablespoons heavy cream and â…“ cup / 50g powdered sweetener.
Wait until the mixture has cooled and thickened, then spread over the cake or slice it horizontally and fill in between the layers.
I used a 20 cm / 8-inch springform. With a standard size 25cm / 9-inch springform, your chocolate keto cake will be a little flatter, but it still works fine. Reduce the baking time by 5 minutes. In a rectangular loaf pan, the oven time increases by around 15 minutes. As a rule of thumb, the top of the cake must be firm, but the inside still a little jiggly.
Add 2 teaspoons of orange extract to the cake batter. I also recommend trying this chocolate orange cake recipe!
Of course. You can use either 90% dark chocolate or sugar free chocolate chips instead of the unsweetened chocolate. In this case, reduce the amount of powdered sweetener accordingly.
Storage
Refrigerator: Store this keto cake in the fridge for 5-6 days. Be sure to keep it in an airtight container. Let the cake come to room temperature before serving.
Freezer: This cake freezes well. Freeze it pre-sliced for up to 3 months. Simply defrost it in the fridge for 48 hours or on the counter for 24 hours.
More Keto Chocolate Desserts
Here is a selection of sugar free chocolate desserts that we love to make:
- Fudgy Chocolate Avocado Cake
- Sugar Free Chocolate Birthday Cake1 Hours
- Keto Chocolate Donuts23 Minutes
- Keto Chocolate Cheesecake4 Hours 20 Minutes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
★ STAY IN TOUCH on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST and INSTAGRAM for more great food and join my NEWSLETTER for the latest updates and a FREE EBOOK.★
Recipe
Best Ever Keto Chocolate Cake (Sugar Free)
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.
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz unsweetened chocolate 300g ***see notes
- 10.5 oz butter 300g, unsalted (1 â…“ cup melted)
- 6 eggs room temperature
- ½ cup almond flour 50g, or ground almonds
- 1 cup powdered sweetener 150g
- 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 (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 approximately 30 minutes on the middle shelf until the top of the cake is firm to the touch, especially in the middle. Â
- Leave to cool before releasing from the cake tin. Once the the cake is completely cooled, dust with cocoa powder.
Becky
What an INCREDIBLE cake!!! I made it for a dinner party yesterday and everyone loved it. I served it with salted caramel ice cream. Such a treat!
Katrin
This cake and salted caramel ice cream - that does sound like a perfect match! Glad you all enjoyed it 🙂
LL
Do you think this would work with coconut oil or palm shortening instead of butter?
Katrin
Coconut oil has a similar consistency, so it should work. It will change the taste though. I have heard that if you get hold of refined coconut oil there's no coconut taste, so this might be something worth trying out. I have never tried palm shortening so can't help with that one.
Rita
I made this cake according to your directions but the ingredients seemed to separate during baking and I ended up with a thin white bottom with chocolate on top. Also, it took an additional 15 minutes for the centre of the cake to cook, resulting in a hard, burnt edge. I really wanted this recipe to work out. Help!
Katrin
Hi Rita, how disappointing! I'm sorry your cake did not turn out. I have never heard of ingredients separating in this recipe. To me it sounds like it may have something to do with the kind of chocolate you used, as this is the main ingredient. Maybe it was not suitable for baking? I'd be really interested to hear what the brand was and what ingredients it has. Cheaper brands use vegetable or palm oils instead of cocoa butter, and they may have caused the separation?
Donna Klander
Mine has done the same! I used Montezuma chocolate 100%. I hope it tastes ok no time to go back out for ingredients x
Katrin
Hi Donna, as you have used the same chocolate as me I've done some research now. The reason may be that you need to heat the chocolate slowly and gently. Heating it too quickly and too much can cause the cocoa butter and cocoa to separate. I've added this info to the recipe and really hope you'll try the recipe again. By the way, have you tried the Montezuma 100% chocolate with orange nibs? It's the best tasting unsweetened chocolate ever (it actually tastes great all on its own) and I bet it would be amazing in this cake. Wishing you a happy Christmas, despite the mishap with the cake, and thank you for supporting Sugar Free Londoner.
Donna Klander
Hi! Merry Christmas to you! I have tried the recipe again today (last minute chocolate shopping yesterday) and yes I have changed the way I did the chocolate and it is great! Can’t wait to try it! Thank you x
P.S. I did see the orange one in the shop and did think it would be amazing for the cake. Will try it next time!
Katrin
Donna, that's great news! I felt so bad for you because at Christmas you want your dessert to be a showstopper. Thank you for taking the time to reply.
monika
Hi! Will this work with 1tsp pure stevia extract?
Katrin
Hello Monika, I have never used pure stevia extract, so I cannot tell you how much to use. Just calculate the equivalent sweetness and you should be fine. Also consider adding a little more almond flour - maybe 3 tbsp - to make up for the missing bulk as you're not using the same amount of dry ingredients
monika
Hi Katrin. Thanks for replying. Sweetness level I am not worried about. I was more concerned about structure; if the powdered sweetener added structure. Does it do anything to hold it together? I realize it's bulk and sweetness, but I also wonder whether it does anything to keep it all together. If you know, let me know. Otherwise, I will experiment and let you know if it worked!
Katrin
Hi Monika, it would be a bit of an experiment. I'd say it's mainly the egg and the chocolate plus the butter that hold the cake together. To make up for the missing weight/texture of the sweetener I'd add a little more almond flour as mentioned, just in case. I'd be so interested to hear how it worked out!
Heather
Amazing cake! Such a treat- we all loved it.
Katrin
Great news! So happy you like it
Janet
Hi I usually use rapeseed oil instead of melted butter would this be ok do you think? Thanks
Katrin
Rapeseed oil will stay liquid at room temperature whilst butter firms up. I think the cocoa butter in the chocolate and the egg will probably be enough to give firmness, so my guess is that it will work. Your cake might be a bit softer, so definitely keep it in the fridge. Do you normally replace butter with rapeseed 1:1?
Wendy
Made this tonight for my diabetic mother. It was INCREDIBLE - even the non-diabetics loved it. Thought it was a little on the sweet side so next time I'll definitely cut back on the sweetner. Glad I read your recommendation about blasting the sweetner as I only found regular baking sweetner in the store (not powdered).
Katrin
I'm happy the cake was a success! Thank you for taking the time to comment
Robin
Do you know of any other gluten free flour that would work for this that is not a nut flour or coconut. I have a kiddo with a nut allergy and we are trying to make a Keto diet work for all of us.
Katrin
That's a good question. you could try replacing with 4-5 tbsp flaxseed meal or psyllium husks. Or maybe 2-3 tbsp psyllium powder. Or sub the almond flour for chickpea flour. It's not low in carbs, but it is gluten free and high in protein and as you're only using a small amount calculated across 12 slices you're probably still Keto.
Rebecca
I did not see what the serving size is. Would you tell me please?
Katrin
Hi Rebecca, I cut my cake into 12 slices. The nutrition is calculated per slice. Hope this helps!
Caroline
I have this in the oven right now...dear sweet Jesus if the cake tastes anything like the batter I will have to be dragged kicking and screaming away from the kitchen table by my ankles...IT IS HEAVEN
I shall regain my composure and complete my findings later....
Katrin
Haha! This was the intention 🙂 It is rather decadent...