Keto Lemon Pound Cake

Name: Keto Lemon Pound Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup / 120g butter melted; 5 eggs (large, separated, room temperature); 1/2 cup / 120g yoghurt (room temperature); 5 tbsp lemon juice (roughly 2 lemons); 2 tbsp lemon zest (zest of 2 lemons); 2 cups / 200 g almond flour (or ground almonds); 1/3 cup / 45g coconut flour; 3 tsp baking powder; 2/3 cup / 120g granulated sweetener; pinch of salt ( optional); 3 tbsp / 35g coconut butter; 1/2 tbsp coconut oil; 1/4 tsp vanilla extract; optional - decorate with 1 tsp lemon zest and lemon slices

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This keto lemon pound cake is incredibly moist and fluffy! It tastes zingy, fresh and fragrant and I've topped it with a rich coconut butter drizzle. Your family won't believe this cake is low carb, sugar free and only 3.6g net carbs per slice.

a keto lemon pound cake made in a bundt cake tin topped with coconut butter drizzle and lemon slices

There's nothing like a zingy, moist low carb lemon cake! I'd say that it is the ultimate cake for lemon lovers. I've added both lemon juice and lemon zest to the batter, which gives it oodles of flavour.

I'm telling you, EVERYONE is going ask for seconds, whether they are on a low carb diet, the keto diet or neither!

The recipe is a nod to the humble pound cake.

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What Is A Pound Cake?
Ingredients
Instructions
Coconut Butter Drizzle
Using Different Cake Pans
Alternative Toppings
Recipe Variations
Recipe FAQs
Storage
More Keto Lemon Cake Recipes
Recipe

What Is A Pound Cake?

Traditionally, a basic pound cake has only 4 ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs and flour. And guess what? You're using a pound of each. It's a super simple cake with a buttery crumb.

Of course, we're tweaking things here and there to make this cake taste like heaven AND keep it low carb at the same time.

A Keto Pound Cake Recipe

When it comes to baking, low carb recipes call for different ingredient amounts than regular cake recipes. So, keeping EXACTLY to the idea of using the same amount of each does not work.

For example, you need to use more eggs with grain free flours to achieve a fluffy texture and good crumb structure as they lack gluten.

Yet, it lives up to is name because you're getting the same look, feel and taste of a real pound cake!

I decided to use both almond flour and coconut flour for this keto lemon cake - the two complement each other so well.

To increase the moisture and complement the zing of the lemon, I added plain full-fat yoghurt. It adds a wonderful fresh dimension.

Ingredients

I am using:

Butter - melted
Eggs - large, separated, room temperature
Yoghurt - plain natural, room temperature
Lemon juice and zest
Almond flour - Note that I'm using ground almonds. This is equivalent to regular / coarser almond flour in the US. If you use superfine almond flour, you may want to reduce the amount of almond flour by 2-3 tablespoons. Check the images for batter consistency! You want it to be smooth and not firm.
Coconut flour
Baking powder
Lakanto Classic Monkfruit Sweetener - or any other 1:1 low-carb sugar substitute, such as allulose or Bocha Sweet.
Salt

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Instructions

This section contains step by step instructions and photos that show how to make the recipe.

For detailed instructions, scroll down to the recipe card.

Combining melted butter, yoghurt, lemon juice and egg yolks in a bowl

1.) Melt the butter in a saucepan or microwave until just warm. Don’t boil it. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes and add the egg yolks.

Whisk with a balloon whisk or with an electric mixer to combine. Then whisk through the yoghurt and the juice of 2 lemons - approximately 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.

Stirring together the dry ingredients - almond and coconut flour, sweetener, baking powder

2.) Place all the dry ingredients - blanched almond flour, coconut flour, gluten-free baking powder, sweetener, lemon zest - in a clean mixing bowl and stir to combine. Keep 1 teaspoon of lemon zest back to sprinkle on top after the coconut butter drizzle.

mixing dry ingredients into the wet ingredients to make a cake batter

3.) Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold together with a spatula or blend with an electric mixer.

beating egg whites stiff with an electric mixer

4.) Whisk the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

folding the egg whites into the cake batter with a spatula

5.) Fold the egg whites through the batter until smooth using a spatula (no electric blenders here!). Don’t over-mix or you will deflate the eggs.

6.) Spoon the batter into your non-stick bundt tin and level. I used this 20 cm / 8 inch diameter tin.

7.) Bake the low carb pound cake in the oven for about 45 - 50 minutes until golden and you can insert and remove a skewer without crumbs sticking. Mine took 48 minutes.

Expert Tips

#1 GREASE your tin GENEROUSLY with butter! This will help you remove the cake from the pan with ease.

#2 After baking, run a sharp knife around the edge of the tin. Then allow to fully cool. I left mine overnight. You can also place it in the fridge. It needs to be fully cooled before you remove it from the tin to prevent it from sticking.

coconut butter glaze in a water bath with a balloon whisk

Coconut Butter Drizzle

To make the coconut butter drizzle, melt the coconut butter and oil using the bain marie method - in a glass proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and stir through the vanilla.

Remove the keto lemon pound cake from the mould and drizzle with coconut butter. Option to top with lemon zest and slices for decoration.

Using Different Cake Pans

You don't have to use a bundt cake tin. This lemon cake recipe works just as as well in a full size rectangular cake pan (9x5 inch) like you would choose for a regular lemon loaf cake. Or you can use a springform tin.

Don't forget to line the bottom and sides of your pan with parchment paper so the cake does not stick.

One more thing about bundt pan: There are beautiful round gugelhupf tins out there with intricate swirled surfaces. Don't choose one of those! I recommend to use one with a very simple shape like mine.

Why? Almond flour cakes are more fragile than wheat cakes because they lack the gluten in wheat. And with a round cake we can't use parchment paper. You don't want your cake to break when you remove it from the pan!

Adjust Baking Times

The oven time the pound cake needed in my bundt cake tin was exactly 48 minutes. When I used my silicone loaf tin, I had to increase the baking time to 60 minutes.

Be sure to check the cake after 45 minutes. If the top has browned enough, cover it for the remainder of the baking time with an aluminium foil dome. This way it the pound cake can continue to bake but does not burn.

keto lemon cake with a bag of Lakanto Classic sweetener in the background

Alternative Toppings

The coconut butter drizzle is delicious and works so well on this lemon cake. (Note: I tried to add lemon juice to the drizzle, but it made the coconut butter curdle. That's why I added vanilla).

If you prefer a simple lemon glaze or a creamy frosting, here are a couple of options:

Easy sugar free lemon drizzle: Mix 2 tablespoons lemon juice with 4 tablespoons powdered sweetener.

Lemon glaze: Mix 4 tablespoons each melted butter, heavy cream, powdered sweetener and the juice of 1 lemon. Let the glaze cool and thicken, then spoon over the cake.

Cream cheese frosting: Mix 1 cup / 240g cream cheese, 4 tablespoons powdered sweetener, juice of 1 lemon and grated lemon zest. Spread over the cooled cake.

Lemon curd frosting: Make a batch of sugar free lemon curd and cool in the fridge. Whip 1 cup / 240ml of heavy cream until stiff and fold in the cold lemon curd.

Recipe Variations

Increase lemon flavour: For a stronger lemon flavour, add ⅓ cup of lemon juice in total or add 1 teaspoon lemon extract.

Lemon poppy seed cake: Add 2 tablespoons poppy seeds to the batter!

Almond flour lemon cake: Leave out the coconut flour and use 3 cups / 300g of almond flour.

It's not possible to replace all of the almond flour with coconut flour.

Recipe FAQs

Can you make this cake dairy free?

Of course! Simply replace the butter with coconut oil and use coconut yoghurt instead of yoghurt.

Is it necessary to beat the egg whites?

The stiff egg whites are the secret to a supremely fluffy-airy cake. However, it will still work if you start the cake by beating the full eggs with an electric mixer until frothy.

a round sugar free lemon cake with a slice cut out lying sideways

Storage

This keto lemon cake is fine on the kitchen counter for 1-2 days, provided your kitchen is not hot. I prefer to store it in the fridge in an airtight container for 5-6 days. Alternatively, slice and freeze for up to 3 months.