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!
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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 ⅓ 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 Hour
- Keto Chocolate 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)
Video
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz unsweetened chocolate 300g ***see notes
- 10.5 oz butter 300g, unsalted (1 ⅓ 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.
- Leave to cool before releasing from the cake tin. Once the the cake is completely cooled, dust with cocoa powder.
Kimberley
Made this cake for my mums birthday. Wasn’t too sure what to expect with the taste, texture, aftertaste from the sugar replacement. It was divine will be adding this to my list of favorites. I ended up using monk fruit sugar and gave it a blitz in the blender to grind it down. Also only used about 1/2 cup of the sugar (could go less again). Didn’t noticed the after taste that some sugar replacements have. Made sure we had cream and strawberries for decoration. Everyone had a piece and loved it.
Thank you for this recipe
Jen
Brilliant recipe, so easy and delicious
Lucy
It’s a five star recipe!
I used 250g butter, 250g 80%Dark chocolate , 1/4 cup lakanto confectioners sugar, and added 1/2 tsp baking powder to the almond powder.
Super nice!
Corina
Hi ,could I use margarine instead of butter?I am keto but my husband can't have any type of dairies. Thanks
Katrin Nürnberger
That's a good question. Probably, but I'm not sure how margarine behaves when melted and mixed with other things. I would probably try and make a quarter of the recipe and bake in a ramekin or muffin as a test.
Kloris
Hi thanks for the recipe! Do you know if I can use agave syrup instead of erythritol, and how much should I use?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Kloris, I would not recommend it because you'd be adding more liquid to the recipe and that may make it too soft. You could use (powdered) coconut sugar if you you don't want to use a sugar alcohol.
Janet Jones
I had a little mixture left over, put it in two ramekins with some rasperries ay the bottom and cooked them for 10 mins. Delicious soft centre raspberry chocolate soufflé. Thank you. This is a great recipe.
Katrin Nürnberger
Ooooh that sounds amazing!!!
Yvona Hoffman
Hello Corina,
I can't have butter ( any dairy) as well so I replaced it with unrefined extra virgin coconut oil. I didn't put as much is in recipe and I didn't put as much chocolate. I used 100g 90% chocolate Lind and 100g this extra virgin coconut oil. As well I added only approx. 50g Natvia (Erythritol/Stevia), because I don't like to sweet and went very good. I was surprised how nice it was...didn't collapsed, shiny surface and taste great.
Nada
I can't find almond flour, Can i use a regular flour instead?
Katrin Nürnberger
It should work 🙂
Yulia
Hi Katrin! I love your recipes. Can I add no erythritol or sugar in this cake recipe and have 70% chocolate instead? Would that work? Thanks in advance!!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hm, that depends. I think you can use less, but without the cake will not be very sweet because you're adding other ingredients too - but maybe that's just what you want. Why don't you try the batter without the sugar/erythritol and your 70% chocolate then see if you find it's yummy enough? Just a thought, if you're adding another flavour such as orange zest you can probably make up for less sweetness. You just want to avoid it tasting dull.
Yulia
Hi Katrin! It worked out great, just the high-quality chocolate 70%...and a spoon of cinnamon :). Thank you!
Now another question.....can I substitute 50gr of almond flour for 25gr coconut flour? What do you reckon?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Yulia, that's good to know! Yes, I think the 25g coconut flour should work well.
Rebeca
What about coconut flour ? Thank you
Katrin Nürnberger
Normally I replace almond flour with between 1/3 and 1/2 the amount of coconut flour as it is more absorbent. However, I have not tried it in this recipe. I don't want you to risk using all these expensive ingredients and then it does not turn out the way you want. Check if someone else has tried it in the comments!
Lucy Beg
Just made this and had the first slice.....wow that is good (that was 85% choc, the best my supermarket could offer), the only issue I had was it's a tad undercooked even with 10 minutes extra but still delicious it just had a gooey bit.
One Q. Should I be using medium eggs rather than large?
Katrin Nürnberger
So glad you like the cake!!! I always buy my eggs from a local farm and they are mixed size. I pick the largest for baking, but it's possible they are a little smaller than "regulation" large eggs. If you found that your cake batter was way more liquid than mine, do try medium eggs next time (you can compare with the video). Otherwise, do stick with the large ones. Sometimes it can also be the sweetener that causes different lengths in baking time. Allulose, for example, takes longer than erythritol. Or it can even be a slight temperature difference in your oven, or the fact that baked on a lower shelf (I always bake on the middle shelf). As this is a chocolate heavy cake, even chocolate brands could affect the outcome. I like to use Lindt and Montezuma's, which are pretty pure in terms of ingredients. Just play around a little and see if you can nail it next time. Hope this helps. 🙂
Bev
Hi, can I use coconut sugar instead of the powdered Erythritol? Just discovered your website and love your recipes.
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, you can replace it no problems. It will give a nice malty note which would work well with chocolate.
Lada
I would like to make this Cake for my husband’s birthday that is in 2 days. He is not keto but I am and would like to stick to the original recipe as much as possible, but he is not lover of 100% chocolate. If i opt for homemade chocolate (I have made it several times by now) can I substitute part of cocoa with coconut powder to make it more “milky”. Also is it possible to mix all ingredients for chocolate and add butter to it in order to avoid making chocolate to be melted afterwards. We like smaller but higher cakes and I usually use 15 cm cake spring. I presumeI would need to bake it little bit longer. Do you know how long.
Thanks in advance
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Lada, I'd say that powder is powder so you should have no issues replacing cocoa with milk powder. Also, you can definitely mix your chocolate ingredients with the butter. Just make sure you let the mix cool sufficiently before mixing in with the eggs so nothing seizes. As for the baking time, aim for the same amount of time and then check with a skewer or knife how the inside is doing. If you feel it needs more time, cover the top with aluminium foil so it does not burn. Happy birthday to your husband!
Becky
Hi
I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes recently and Reduced my carb intake to around 30g a day.
I came across your website and absolutely love the recipes on here.
I have just made the choc cake and it has come out amazingly. I have used the Montezuma absolute black choc and the erithrytrol . When I put the ingredients into my fitness pal the recipe Comes up as 19 carbs per slice because of the erithytrol . Looking at the carbs for this they are quite high 150g of carbs.
Do these carbs get counted as there are no sugars ? Still leaving and a little confused. Hope you can help ?
Becky
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Becky, our bodies cannot absorb erythritol, it is a polyol and just passes through. Therefore, it can be considered zero calorie / zero carb.
Becky
Thank your Karen for responding. This is a game changer !! Thank you so much. Look forward to trying out many more of your recipes. This site is a real godsend x
Suna Hess
Hi, I just made this cake and I was really surprised about how good it was. I only used 1 cup of sweetener and its still plenty sweet enough for me. I made the choc topping as well and covered with walnuts. Yum. My question is, can you freeze this cake? I cant eat it all in a couple of days . Thanks again for a great cake,much appreciated
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Suna, glad you liked the cake! It freezes well. I cut mine into small squares and had yummy mini cake pieces with my afternoon tea for weeks afterwards 🙂