This easy keto apple cake is going to wow your guests and it's so healthy you could eat it for breakfast. It has a moist, fluffy crumb studded with apple pieces and it is topped with a low carb cinnamon streusel layer. A sugar free cake perfect for the colder season.
"A keto cake with real apples!" I hear you scream… yes, indeed!
I've tried all the faux keto apple cake recipes with zucchini, chayote squash and apple cider vinegar over the years. They are okay, but let's be honest, they are no real apple cake.
This gluten free low carb apple cake is filled with big bursts of flavourful apple pieces in every bite.
Together with my keto apple cider donuts and these keto apple muffins this cake is my favourite autumn treat.
"Love this apple cake! Easy to make and the taste is great!" (Mireille)
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What's Awesome About This Cake
It is sugar free! I'm using low carb flours and a zero carb sweetener, which make this cake suitable for diabetics. Of course, there is some natural sugar in apples. When I say sugar free apple cake, I'm referring to the fact that there are no added sugars in this cake.
It is keto! How can it be a keto apple cake? Here's why: each slice is only 6.5g net carbs. We are using just enough apple to get ALL THE FLAVOR whilst keeping the carbs low. And you won't get a blood sugar spike (tried and tested by my keto-loving husband!)
It tastes delicious! The cake is fluffy yet moist, with soft apple pieces and a crunchy cinnamon streusel topping. Yum.
Ingredients
Apples
All you need to know about the apples:
- I used regular dessert apples. It doesn't matter which type you choose - Granny Smith, Braeburn, Golden Delicious - they all work.
- Cooking apples such as Bramley require more sweetener as they are more tart. Adjust the recipe accordingly.
- I recommend peeling the apples. The hard bits from the skin interfere with the cake texture. Only leave the skins on if you like the idea of a VERY rustic cake.
- Slice one apple to top the cake with and chop the rest - those pieces get mixed into the batter.
- The apples are mixed with lemon juice (prevents browning) and sweetener.
Cake Batter And Streusel
This is a super easy, tasty batter! Here's what you need:
- Eggs - Should be large and room temperature for a better rise.
- Butter - Use unsalted. I melt it in the microwave, then cool it a few minutes.
- Cream cheese
- Unsweetened almond milk
- Almond flour - I use ground almonds, which is equivalent to regular almond flour. If you use super-fine almond flour, I would reduce the amount by 2 tablespoons.
- Coconut flour - Works so well in combination with almond flour. Ideally, always measure your low carb flours with digital scales. It's much more precise than cups.
- Sweetener - My go-to is a granulated erythritol monk fruit sweetener blend. Both white and golden sweeteners (which are brown sugar replacements) are good in this cake. You can also use allulose or xylitol. When using xylitol, be aware that it is toxic to dogs.
- Baking powder, vanilla and cinnamon
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Instructions
It's easy to make a keto apple cake. Here are the basic steps.
Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed method with baking times and nutrition info.
STEP 1 - Prepare Apples
Slice one apple and dice the rest. Place them in a mixing bow. Squeeze over lemon juice. Stir in the sweetener and let the mix sit to macerate.
STEP 2 - Blend Eggs
In a large bowl using an electric mixer or in a food processor, beat the eggs until pale, fluffy and double in size.
STEP 3 - Add Wet Ingredients
Add the sweetener, butter, cream cheese, almond milk and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth.
STEP 4 - Mix Dry Ingredients & Add
Mix the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Then add to the wet ingredients and blend until you have a smooth batter.
STEP 5 - Prep Crumble
Mix crumble ingredients in a separate bowl using a fork and set aside.
STEP 6 - Assembly
Separate the apple slices from the diced apple. Mix the chopped apples through the cake batter and fill the prepared springform cake pan (don't forget to line the bottom with parchment paper and grease the sides first!)
Arrange the apple slices on top in a single layer. Top off with the streusel mix.
STEP 7 - Bake
Bake in the preheated oven on the middle shelf or until a skewer inserted comes out free of dough.
Katrin's Top Tips
Macerate apples. Letting the apples sit in lemon juice and sweetener is an important step. It draws out excess liquid and prevents the cake from becoming soggy. Don't miss this step.
Cover. Almond flour cakes brown quicker than wheat cakes. Check the cake during baking. Once it has browned sufficiently, loosely cover it with aluminium foil to prevent it from burning.
Patience! Let your apple cinnamon cake cool completely before releasing and removing the springform. Grain free baked goods are very fragile when hot and firm up as they cool.
Substitutions
- No coconut flour - To make a keto apple cake without coconut flour, replace it with 3 times the amount of almond flour.
- Dairy free - For a dairy free keto apple cake, replace the butter with coconut oil and the cream cheese with coconut cream.
- Nut free - Try a blend of sesame flour and sunflower seed flour in place of the almond flour.
- Using different fruits - This cake would work well with berries, although I would leave the cinnamon out of the cake batter.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, it depends on the amount. Apples contain a fair amount of carbs, that's why you might have heard that "apples are not keto". But
keto is a metabolic state, not a food. And as long as you eat higher carb food in moderation, it can be part of a low carb diet and even a keto diet. This includes apples! I still make my sugar free applesauce every autumn, and we all love these sugar free flapjacks.
This keto apple cake contains 400 grams of dessert apples - about 4 apples. Spread across 12 slices of cake, we're talking ¼ apple per portion. This way, you're getting all the apple flavour but at the same time, each slice only has 6.5g net carbs.
You could use a rectangular pan if you prefer and even make a no sugar added cinnamon apple dump cake - where the apple mix is at the bottom, topped by the batter. The baking duration will be similar.
Serving Suggestions
We love serving sugar free apple cake with keto custard (just keep it on the stove until the mix thickens and coats the back of a spoon - skip the oven part).
Alternatively, serve with a dollop of keto whipped cream or a scoop of low carb vanilla ice cream.
Storage
Store the cake in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. I like to slice it first and layer parchment paper between each slice so they don't stick together.
More Sugar Free Cake Recipes
- Keto Rhubarb Cake1 Hours 40 Minutes
- Keto Blackberry Cheesecake4 Hours 20 Minutes
- Keto Almond Flour Olive Oil Cake1 Hours
- Sugar Free Carrot Cake1 Hours 5 Minutes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Sugar Free Keto Apple Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 400 g / 14 oz apples 4 - 5 peeled and cored apples, 1 sliced, the rest diced
- squeeze of lemon
- ¼ cup granulated sweetener 50g, for macerating (soaking)
Cake
- 4 eggs large, room temperature
- ½ cup butter 114g, melted, then cooled
- ¼ cup cream cheese 60g
- ¼ cup almond milk 60 ml
- ½ cup granulated sweetener 100g, use up to ⅔ cup if you like a sweeter cake
- 2 cup almond flour 200g
- ¼ cup coconut flour 30g
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon or more, to taste
Topping
- ¼ cup almond flour 25g
- ½ tablespoon coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 1 tablespoon granulated sweetener
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Prepare apples
- Place the apples in a mixing bowl. Squeeze over a little lemon juice to stop browning. Drain any excess to prevent sogginess. Mix the apples with the sweetener. Let it sit for 30 minutes to macerate. Discard any liquid.
Cake Batter
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350F and line the bottom of a 20 cm / 8 inch round springform with parchment paper. Grease the sides with butter.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer or in a food processor, beat the room temperature eggs until pale, fluffy and double in size. About 2 minutes.
- Add the sweetener, melted and cooled butter, cream cheese, almond milk and vanilla extract. Continue beating for another 1 minute.
- Mix the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Then add to the wet ingredients and blend until you have a smooth batter.
Crumble
- Mix all ingredients in a separate bowl using a fork.
Assembly
- Separate the apple slices from the diced apple. Mix the chopped apples through the cake batter and fill the springform. Arrange the apple slices on top in a single layer. Top off with the streusel mix.
- Bake in the preheated oven on the middle shelf for 60-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out free of dough. Check after 35-40 minutes. If the top of the cake has browned sufficiently, loosely cover it with a piece of aluminium foil to prevent burning.
- Let the cake cool completely before releasing and removing the springform.
Effie Confer
It's in the oven... but 15 minute prep time is way off.. closer to an hour prep time, took me almost 15 minutes to prep the apples. Can't wait to eat it later !
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, of course, that would also work.
Carolyne
Hi! I made this recipe but switched the apples and used frozen raspberries and blueberries- it was amazing! Thank you! ❤️
Jean Mixon
A neighbor had given me some Granny Smith apples which I don't really like so I found this recipe and it was perfect for us low sugar eaters. I am not a baker, but this came out great! I used 5 apples and I did muffins instead of a cake. It yielded 15 muffins. I buttered the muffin tins, baked them for 23 minutes and they were perfect. I upped the sugar in the cake batter to 2/3 cup. I found there wasn't enough topping for all the muffins so I just made more. I also sprinkled the top with chopped walnuts. Pretty easy to make and really delicious!
Melanie
Thus cake is absolutely delicious! Tastes just like a regular cake. I made it as muffins, cooking for 25 minutes as you suggested and it was perfect. Recipe makes 12 large muffins.
C
Dairy free alternatives: Is it possible to replace the cream cheese with coconut cream or coconut yoghurt? And the butter with coconut oil? 🙂
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, I would go for the coconut yoghurt.
C
Thank you for this advice and for a lovely recipe 🙂
I made this over the weekend with quite a few amendments due to poor planning on my behalf.
Here’s what happened:
I used plain coconut yoghurt instead of cream cheese.
I also replaced the butter in the cake with coconut yoghurt (as I only had enough coconut oil for the streusel - whoops).
I used the left over juice from macerating the apples instead of almond milk.
Allulose was used as the sweetener (2/3 cup)
It turned out really well despite all the changes.
It did need a little extra time in the oven. Overall it was a huge hit, and my mother has requested a pear variation for her upcoming birthday.
Donna
Fab recipe…. Just wondering if I could half the apples and add nuts and seeds or would this recipe work without apple and just as a nut and seed cake cake please? Xx
Katrin Nürnberger
Sure! The batter works with or without the apples. You could add anything you like.
Vera
Hello Katrin, I am from Portugal and I'll try one of your recipes for the first time. I wonder if I could use some sugar free apple pure as well. I thought maybe using a little bit of more coconut flour.
Thank you so much!
Katrin Nürnberger
I'm sure you can change the recipe to include apple puree. You just have to keep to a similar ratio or wet and dry ingredients.
Tina
Hello,
Would you recommend doubling the recipe if I'm going to be using a 9×13 baking dish instead of a springform? Do you figure I can count on baking for the same amount of time?
Also, do you use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe?
Thank you!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Tina, doubling the recipe sounds about right. I think it may be a similar amount of time - it will depend on how thick or flat the cake is.
I always use unsalted butter in all recipes.
Beth Bates
Can we make muffins using this recipe
Katrin Nürnberger
Of course. I would bake them around 25 minutes, then test if they're done.