My fluffy, airy keto Victoria sponge cake is so easy to make! It's a buttery yet light almond flour sponge filled with sugar free raspberry chia jam, whipped cream and fresh raspberries.
Victoria sponge cake is one of the great British dessert classics. It is a buttery two layer sponge cake that is filled with whipped cream and berries or jam. It makes a wonderful celebration cake or afternoon treat.
The recipe was made famous by Queen Victoria herself, who regularly used to enjoy a slice with her traditional afternoon tea!
My keto victoria sponge tastes just as delicious as the original, only without all the carbs. In fact, I think it tastes even better.
The other great thing about this sugar free sponge cake is that it looks super impressive, yet it's surprisingly simple to make.
"Made this for myself for Mother's Day….AMAZING! It was so good, my 9 year old granddaughter asked me to make it for her 10th birthday. No one knows it sugar free. This cake is life changing." (Fay)
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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Fluffy, moist sponge texture
- Fruity raspberry filling
- Naturally gluten-free
- Sugar free and keto friendly - only 4.5g net carbs per slice
- 15 minutes prep, ready in just over 1 hour
Ingredients
Below are the ingredients I used for this keto sponge cake:
Sponge
- Eggs - large and room temperature for a fluffier cake
- Lakanto Classic - this is a granulated sweetener. The recipe also works with allulose.
- Sour cream - you could use yoghurt instead. Room temperature is best here too!
- Butter
- Almond milk - or any nut/seed milk you prefer
- Vanilla and lemon zest for extra flavour
- Almond flour - I actually used ground almonds. This is the same as regular almond flour. If your almond flour is extra fine, reduce by 1-2 tablespoons.
- Coconut flour - if possible, measure in weight rather than cups.
- Baking powder
Jam
- Raspberries - I used frozen because they are cheaper, but fresh also work
- Sweetener - it's optional here, but I like to add 1 tablespoon.
- Chia seeds - make sure they are ground
- A tiny splash of water
Filling and Topping
- Raspberries
- Heavy whipping cream (double cream) - I didn't sweeten the whipped cream in this recipe, but if you would like it a little sweeter, use my recipe for sugar free whipped cream.
- Powdered Lakanto to dust. I simply powdered some of the Lakanto Classic in my food processor. You could also use a coffee grinder or a pestle and mortar for this.
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
Preparations
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F electric. Line a small springform pan (7 inches) with parchment paper on the base and generously butter the sides.
Keto Sponge & Jam Filling
STEP 1
Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff.
STEP 2
In a clean bowl, add the egg yolks and sweetener. Blend using an electric whisk for 2 minutes until pale and fluffy.
Add the sour cream, melted butter, almond milk, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk to combine.
STEP 3
In another clean bowl, mix the almond flour, coconut flour and baking powder together.
STEP 4
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix to combine with an electric whisk.
Last, fold in the egg whites until combined.
STEP 5
Pour into your springform pan and level the top with a spatula.
Bake until golden until you can insert and remove a skewer without it sticking.
STEP 6
While the cake is baking, add the frozen raspberries, sweetener and water to a pan. Simmer until the raspberries are soft. Mash with the back of a spatula. Turn off the heat and add the chia. Allow to fully cool to firm up.
Assembly
STEP 7
Whip the cream until just under stiff peaks.
Cut the fully cooled cake in half lengthways using a sharp knife. Add a layer of raspberry jam and cream to the bottom layer...
STEP 8
...then top with fresh raspberries.
Add the upper sponge cake layer and dust the cake with powdered sweetener. Slice and serve.
Katrin's Top Tips
Don't over-mix batter! Gently fold in the egg whites with a spatula to keep the air bubbles intact. This is important for an airy cake texture.
Loosely cover the cake with a sheet of aluminium foil once it is golden on top, from about 45 minutes.
Recipe Variations
- Make it nut free: For a sponge without almond flour, try this coconut flour cake. Slice in half and fill as per recipe.
- For a strawberry keto Victoria sponge, use my sugar free strawberry jam. I can also see this cake work with my sugar free blueberry jam. Less traditional perhaps, but certainly delicious.
- Dairy free? Use coconut oil instead of the butter and fill the cake with whipped coconut cream.
- Bake in 2 cake tins: Separate the batter into two 7 inch springform tins and reduce the baking time to about 30-35 minutes.
- It should be possible to use an 8 inch springform tin. This will make the layers thinner and the baking time will also reduce. I would test the cake at 40 minutes and see if it's done.
Storage
Refrigerator: Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezer: It's possible to freeze the cake for up to 3 months, although I find that whipped cream is not quite the same after defrosting.
I recommend that you freeze the sponge on its own. Defrost, and then add the filling just before serving.
More Sponge Cake Recipes
All of these recipes are sugar free sponge cake variations. I simply cannot decide which one I like best!
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Sugar Free Raspberry Victoria Sponge Cake (Keto)
Equipment
- 7 inch springform
Video
Ingredients
- 5 eggs large
- ⅔ cup granulated sweetener use ¾ cup for a sweeter cake
- ½ cup sour cream 115g
- ½ cup butter melted, then cooled 114g
- 4 tablespoon almond milk 60ml
- 1.5 teaspoon vanilla
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 cups almond flour 200g
- ⅓ cup coconut flour 40g
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
JAM
- 1.5 cup frozen raspberries 200g
- 1 tablespoon powdered sweetener optional
- ½ teaspoon water
- 1.5 teaspoon ground chia
FILLING
- 1 cup heavy cream 240ml
- 1 cup fresh raspberries 123g
- powdered sweetener for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F electric or 160C / 320F fan. Line a small springform pan (7 inches) with greaseproof paper on the base and generously butter the sides.
- Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff.
- In a clean bowl add the egg yolks and sweetener. Blend using an electric whisk for 2 minutes until pale + fluffy. Add the sour cream, melted and cooled butter, almond milk, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk to combine.
- In another clean bowl, mix the almond flour, coconut flour and baking powder together.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix to combine with an electric whisk. Last, fold in the egg whites with a spatula until combined. Don't over-mix to keep the air bubbles intact.
- Pour into your springform pan and level the top with a spatula.
- Bake for 50 - 55 minutes or until you can insert and remove a skewer without it sticking. Loosely cover with a sheet of tin foil if it starts to brown a bit too much on top, from about 45 minutes. Let cool before releasing from the springform.
- While the cake is baking, add the frozen raspberries, sweetener and water to a pan. Simmer for about 3 - 5 minutes until the raspberries are soft. Mash with the back of a spatula. Turn off the heat and add the chia. Allow to fully cool to firm up.
- Whip the cream until just under stiff peaks.
- Cut the fully cooled cake in half lengthways using a sharp knife. Add a layer of raspberry jam and cream and top with raspberries. Add the top of the cake and dust with powdered sweetener. Slice and serve.
Laura Simmons
this cake is divine, I'm so happy I made this. the flavors come together beautifully, I will make this again and again.
Annie
Can I use Erythritol instead of lakanto classic?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, of course!
Annie Cree
Thanks! I've tried both sugars and the sponge comes out very dense and takes extra long to cook (fan oven). What do I need to adjust?
Katrin Nürnberger
The main thing to achieve a fluffy sponge is to separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff. Then, fold in the egg whites carefully, keeping the air bubbles intact as much as possible. Hope that helps!
Katrin Nürnberger
How interesting. Yes, I am based in the UK. Readers from the US and Canada have been making my recipes for many years though and I have not yet heard of issues regarding egg sizes. I wonder if it could have been something to do with how you measure the dry ingredients?
Janet
This was better than the non keto cake.
Diane Halliwell
Thanks so much Katrin, this is the best Victoria sandwich cake that I have tried, really moist and fluffy. It's slightly more effort to make than the 'put everything in the bowl together and mix' type recipe but the result is well worth the effort. I accidentally left the cake in the oven slightly too long and the top and sides had gone a bit firm and dry, so while it was still warm I sprayed it liberally with water and by the time it had cooled down, it was soft and moist but not soggy. I have used this trick before and it salvages a potential baking fail! 😉
Maria Pappano
Thanks so much, Diane, for this brilliant tip! I'm sure it will come in handy for me at some point. God bless you!
Sandra
Another delicious recipe, this cake was a big success. I shall definitely make it again and again!
Jaime
Can I use egg yolks instead of whole eggs for this recipe?
Katrin Nürnberger
No, the egg white is needed for stability and for fluffiness. You cannot achieve that with only egg yolks.
Charmian
I made this at the weekend but added almond essence and lemon zest and it’s so morish and tasty. Really easy as long as you have all the ingredients- and I used some home made straw berry preserve so it was delicious. So helpful to have low carb sweet treats on hand. I had to cut the cake in two as I won’t eat all it in a few days so I’ve frozen it. But I’m sure that will be fine.
Is there one general sugar free sweetener you could suggest for cake making? There are so many, and some just are plain unhealthy it’s so a bit of a nightmare. Thank you for sharing these easy low carb recipes.
Katrin Nürnberger
The sweeteners I use regularly are allulose, Lakanto monk fruit sweetener and Bocha Sweet. See what's available where you are (I often order from iherb). With allulose, you'll have to increase the amount used by a little as it has 70% of the sweetness of sugar. The others are 1:1 sugar replacements.
Lisa
I’m in the UK where to you get your sweeteners from please? I can only find erythritol
Katrin Nürnberger
I order online from iherb.
Maria lazarou
Hi did you freeze with the cream and jam ? How did it come out. I wish to make it for an elderly man and he'll definitely not be eating it all at once. Thanks
Katrin Nürnberger
Cream does not thaw that well, but it will be still edible.
Jack Reynolds
Hi Katrin, I'm planning on making this cake next month. Would it be possible to make it without the chia seeds and almond (or nut alternative) milk?
Katrin Nürnberger
Of course. You can use any milk instead of the almond milk. And you can either omit the chia seeds and continue cooking down the liquid, or use a little gelatine to thicken.
Hilda
I did it today, it is super delicious.
Thanks for the recipe.
Everything worked perfectly.
Deni
What if you don't have a spring form pan?
Katrin Nürnberger
You can make this in a regular round pan if you line the bottom with parchment, grease the sides very well, and run a knife around the edges before releasing the cake.
Monica
Can you use frozen blueberries instead of raspberries?
Katrin Nürnberger
Of course!
Patricia
For the filling, can I use frozen raspberries? Will they be runny?
Katrin Nürnberger
I made the jam with frozen raspberries. I would not use defrosted raspberries to add to the cake. Like you say, they would be mushy.
Alisha
Can you use rice flour in place of the other flours?
Katrin Nürnberger
I don't know whether rice flour would be a 1:1 substitution. My guess is that it is not as the consistency is very different to low carb flours.
Francesca
Can I replace chia seeds? How?
Katrin Nürnberger
You could cook down the raspberries as much as possible and then add a pinch of xanthan gum or agar agar or gelatine. These are all thickeners.