This 5 ingredient keto chocolate cake is the pinnacle of sugar free desserts! 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. And it also makes a great gluten-free birthday cake!
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Low carb chocolate cake essentials
There are 2 ingredients that increase carbs and sugar in a traditional cake: the wheat flour and, of course, the sugar.
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.
And of course, I'm 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's essentially zero carb and does not raise blood sugars.
You can replace the erythritol in this recipe with xylitol, monk fruit sweetener, allulose or with Splenda. If you're using Splenda, be sure to measure using cups as it's lighter in weight than erythritol. And 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.
Important: 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 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.
How to make Keto chocolate cake
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.

1.) Whisk the eggs with a hand mixer in a large mixing bowl until they have doubled in size and are frothy.
2.) Add the powdered erythritol and whisk again until well-combined.
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.) Continue stirring until the mixture is fully combined - gooey, creamy goodness!
6.) Lastly, add the almond flour and stir until it is evenly distributed.

7.) Get yourself a springform pan (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.
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.
Tip #3: Take your time melting the chocolate.
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.
Tip #4: Baking at high altitude. If you are baking at high altitude, increase the oven temperature by 10 Celsius / 25 Fahrenheit.
Recipe Variations
SPICE IT UP: To give your keto cake a festive vibe, you could add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon cinnamon plus some 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, you could 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 and served on a pretty cake stand.
You could also dust the low carb cake with powdered sweeter.
If you want to go the whole nine yards, make the cream cheese frosting from my keto cupcakes or make a buttercream frosting.
Or how about a quick chocolate ganache? Melt 1 bar (100g) of chocolate and stirring in 3 tablespoon of double / heavy cream and 4 tablespoon powdered sweetener.
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 should be about 25 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 tablespoon 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 in this recipe. If you only have a standard size 25 cm / 9 inch springform, your chocolate keto 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.
Add 2 teaspoons of orange extract to the cake batter. I also recommend trying this chocolate orange cake recipe!
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 Donuts23 Minutes
- Keto Chocolate Cheesecake4 Hours 20 Minutes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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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
- 300 g / 10.5 oz unsweetened chocolate ***see notes
- 300 g / 10.5 oz butter unsalted (1 â…“ cup melted)
- 6 eggs
- ½ cup / 50g almond flour or ground almonds
- 1 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 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.
caro
One of my favouries from Katrin!
Kelly
Made this cake today! Beautiful! I'm new to a keto lifestyle. Is this cake a total of 398 calories?
I baked my cake in a 20 cm cake tin..... after 30 mins it was still very "wobbly" in the centre so baked for a further 10 minutes. Still very soft in the centre. Slightly firm on the top. Tasted at room temperature and was very gooey inside. Still tasted great! It's now firmed up in the fridge. Is this what it should be like? Do I need to lower the temp and cook for a little longer as I do with other cakes?
Katrin Nürnberger
It is a very fudgy cake. I would not over-bake it.
Margret
Hi Katrin from Texas...where I love all your recipes! This one looks great, too. My question is about the 1 c powdered erythritol. If I only have granular sweetener, do I blitz it and then measure it? Or do I measure a cup and then blitz that cup and use all of it? (or to taste of course)
This has always been confusing to me.
Thank you so much for all your work on these recipes. You truly have a gift!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Margret, measure after you powder it. (Granulated sweetener is denser and therefore heavier than powdered sweetener.) And keep in mind that this amount of sweetener is for use with unsweetened chocolate. If you're using a sugar free chocolate it will be sweet already which means you'll need less additional sweetener.
Patti Weyers
Hi,
Could you use Lily's 90% chocolate?
Thanks!!
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, of course! You may want to reduce the amount of additional sweetener then as it's sweeter than the dark chocolate I used.
Patti Weyers
thank you!!!
ETrow
Hello your recipes are brilliant, do you have a full recipe book for baking only, would love to purchase one
Thankyou
Katrin Nürnberger
Both my Keto Cookies Cookbook and my Keto Bread Cookbook are all baked recipes. The Keto Desserts Cookbook contains mostly baked recipes.
Ruth
Thank you for the chocolate cake recipe. I was wondering if i could sub cocoa and butter for the chocolate? I have a hard time finding unsweetened chocolate in the grocery. I did find some once but it was not a good quality. The taste was very bitter and grainy.
Thank you for your answer.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Ruth, that would not work because the cacao butter in chocolate is much firmer than butter. See if you can find 90% dark chocolate instead. It's very low in sugar and quite easy to find. I often buy the 90% Lindt. It's delicious.
Karen
Hi should I be adding baking powder to make the cake rise?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Karen, I'm not sure whether that would make a big difference. There is very little flour in the cake. But it certainly would not harm it.
Anila
Great!!!
Andrea
I made this with extra fine almond flour and it came out like concrete. Is it better to use ground almonds or alternatively, how much almond flour should I use?
I keep coming back to your recipes - your olive oil cake is just superb - in some of them you detail the flour element so I know which one to use but others you just say almond flour or ground almonds with no difference in amounts.
Thank you for your recipes.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Andreah, I did use ground almonds in this recipe, but since it is not a large amount I did not think it would make much difference whether you are using superfine almond flour or ground almonds. I think the key is to serve this cake at room temperature, which means it’s definitely not rock hard. Do you think this may have been part of the issue?
Katrin Nürnberger
Don't worry, it will soften at room temperature. Dusting with powdered sweetener and raspberries will be nice, I'd do this just before serving.
Tracy Dodds
Totally delicious and light! I did mine in 2 8inch tins cooked for 25mins. Sandwiched with cream and raspberries.
Delicious
Baris
Hi, with regards to the Montezumas chocolate, did you use the Absolute black 100% one?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, that is the one I use.