I bet you never thought carrots could be part of a ketogenic diet, right? Well, this keto carrot cake will fit nicely into your macros as an occasional treat, since it only has 5.5 net carbs per serving.
This recipe is an adapted version of my Keto Birthday Cake, which everyone has absolutely loved.
The key to the amazing consistency of this cake is to use gelatine as the binding agent rather than gluten or xanthan gum. The gelatine gives the cake a moist, cake-like consistency which can be difficult to achieve with other ingredients.
The type of icing here is inspired by an icing recipe from Bon Appetit which used Greek yogurt. The yogurt gives the icing for this cake a slightly sour taste that goes so well with the low carb carrot cake base.
I found that brushing the crumbs from the cake before icing helped me get an even spread all over the cake without getting a lot of crumbs in the icing coating. Baking the two cake layers separately would help as well. Baking this cake is much easier if you have two cake tins of the same size, but I only have one, so I baked the batter in one cake pan and sliced in half. If you have two similar-sized cake pans, divide your batter between them and adjust the baking time as needed.
Honestly, homemade cakes are not meant to look perfect, so don’t stress out if you cannot bake the two layers at the same time or don’t have a pastry brush to brush away the crumbs. It all tastes the same, and that’s the most important part.
Typically, a medium carrot has 4.5 g of net carbs, but since the cake is cut into twelve slices, you’re really only getting a 12th of that in one slice. As a result, this gluten-free carrot cake can be considered keto.
If you’re looking for other cakes to make, I highly suggest you try the following:
- Keto Birthday Cake
- Keto Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
- Keto New York Baked Cheesecake
- Keto Mint Chocolate Cheesecake
- Keto Lava Cake
- Keto Sponge Cake
Keto Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 100 g Almond Flour 1 Cup / 3.5 oz
- 30 g Coconut Flour 1/4 Cup / 1 oz
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tbsp gelatine powder
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- 5 large Eggs 50 g Each / 1.5 oz each
- 100 g Erythritol (SoNourished) 1/2 Cup / 3.5 oz
- 100 g melted unsalted butter 1/2 Cup / 3.5 oz
- 60 g heavy whipping cream 1/4 Cup / 2 oz, Thickened Cream AUS
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 200 g grated carrot 7 oz
Icing
- 250 g Cream Cheese 1 cup / 8.5 oz, room temperature
- 125 g unsalted butter 4.5 oz (1 stick), room temperature
- 90 g Powdered Erythritol (SoNourished) 3 oz
- 95 g Greek Yogurt unsweetened, 3 oz
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 180C (350 F).
- In a mixing bowl, stir the almond meal with the coconut flour, baking powder, gelatine powder, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom until combined.
- Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites into two separate mixing bowls. Mix the egg yolks with the erythritol, melted butter, heavy whipping cream, and vanilla until smooth.
- Beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks are formed, about 1-2 minutes.
- Slowly fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture until no longer streaky.
- Fold the almond mixture into the egg mixture until well-combined. Stir in the grated carrot.
- Pour the batter into a well buttered 20 cm (7.5-inch) cake tin.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Icing
- Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese with the butter and powdered erythritol until smooth.
- Beat in the Greek yogurt and vanilla extract.
- When the cake has cooled, slice in half horizontally using a large blade. Spread a third of the icing on top of the bottom layer. Place the other layer on top.
- Ice the top and sides of the cake with the remaining icing. This cake is best served fresh but can be stored overnight in the fridge.
Need A Keto Shopping List?
Check out my keto foods list with free printable pdf and flavour pairings guide.
Tips & Notes:
Do You Know Your Macros?
Check out my free personalised macro calculator
Hello! Thanks for your delicious keto recipes..
Question: what type of gelatine do you suggest?
And I’m from the states, what is Thickened Cream AUS?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Hi Julia,
I suggest gelatin powder. You can buy this in your local grocery store. Thickened cream is the same as heavy whipping cream in the US.
This looks wonderful! Do you think it could be made into muffins/cupcakes? What baking temperature and time would I need to use? I’d love to try these soon!
Aaron how long does this cake keep in the fridge?
I wouldn’t keep it any longer than 3 days
Love your recipes, thank you…….am vegetarian so is there any substitute for the gelatine?
Thanks
Hey viv, of course! Agar Agar is a suitable substitute.
This looks fantastic, any chance you have could do this recipe for a single serving mug cake? Everyone is afraid of carrots so it’s rare to see it in a mug cake. Found one, horrible. I tried to to see what your ingredients might be for one slice, perhaps using a ramekin and baking it might work?. I’m not a fan of the microwave. Thanks, from Seattle.
Hey Janine, Good question! That could be a delicious treat!
I tried you recipe for creamy coleslaw I was shocked the entire family, 6 of us, one 7 y/o and a 14 y/o both very picky eaters…it was devoured. Thank you! I ordered one of your books and downloaded the bread recipes. Good Keto recipes is hard to find.
Thanks so much Linda! 🙂