Ever since I created my keto coconut bread, I’ve had this idea in my head that the dough would make a fantastic base for a cake. So I thought I’d attempt to bake a keto lemon coconut cake from scratch, and it turned out perfect!
The base of the keto lemon coconut cake is deliciously moist, and combined with the cream cheese icing is now one of my favourite recipes of all time… since I at the entire cake throughout the past week….
Coconut is a superior flour replacement to work with on the ketogenic diet because you don’t need to use as much of it as you would use almond flour (another tremendous low carb flour replacement). I always opt for ¼ of the amount of coconut flour than almond flour, using a ratio of 1:4.
Now don’t worry, I hate it when there is too much lemon in a recipe, and it spoils the entire mix because all you can taste is the lemon. This keto lemon coconut cake recipe has the perfect amount of lemon taste, without the acidity and vulgar flavour that too much lemon can bring.
I use erythritol in this cake to ensure the consistency is similar to sugar. You could use stevia as a replacement, however, you will have to significantly reduce the amount you use (if using liquid stevia). Erythritol tastes better I’ve found when it comes to making keto cakes, so its best used.
The combination of lemon, with lemon zest, gives the cake a clean, fresh tasting texture. Adding acid to a cake is essential to balance out the sweetness from the saltiness, and provides that little zing that keeps you wanting more.
Expert Tip:
To make the icing on top look pretty, try running a skewer along the top as if you were drawing a chess board.
It’s an old fashioned technique I learned from my grandma when she would bake cakes.
Keto Lemon Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
Coconut Cake
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Flour 40g / 1.2 oz
- 5 large Eggs
- 1/4 Cup Erythritol (SoNourished) 30g / 1 oz
- 1/2 Cup Butter Melted 125g / 4 oz
- 1/2 Lemon Juiced
- 1/2 tsp Lemon Zest
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Icing
- 1 Cup Cream Cheese 225g / 8 oz
- 3 Tbsp Powdered Erythritol (SoNourished)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp Lemon Zest
Instructions
- Separate the egg whites and yolks. Beat the egg whites until they form white peaks.
- Into the same bowl, place the rest of the cake ingredients (including the egg yolks) into the bowl. Mix until well combined.
- Pour into a greased loaf tin (9” X 5”)
- Bake at 180 C (355 F) for 45 mins (fan forced)
- Whilst the cake is in the oven, beat the cream cheese, erythritol, vanilla extract and lemon zest together with an electric beater.
- Set aside and ice the cake once it has finished cooling.
- Slice and enjoy
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Carol Cole says
I made this cake today it was delicious. Does this cake freeze please?
FatForWeightLoss says
I would freeze the base separately and ice fresh
Carol says
I made this today turned out great. I would like to ask how many carbs per slice please? I slice weighed 35g. Nor to clear on nutrition table.
FatForWeightLoss says
Carbs are 1g per slice, unsure of the weight of this sorry.
Wendy says
I love this recipe, the first time I made it I was hooked, since then I have tweaked it a little (hope you don’t mind), for the frosting I add about 2 tbsps of unsweetened desiccated coconut and mascarpone and it is delicious.
Nicole says
This is a great recipe – it’s a keeper! I used 1/3 cup coconut flour and 1/3 cup almond flour because I really like the texture of baked goods using a combination. I also used more lemon because I really love lemon flavour – and it was in no way bitter. I also only baked it for 25 minutes instead of 45 because I used a larger pan. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Siema says
Hi, thank you for sharing this recipe. I noticed when i was mixing that there were tiny lumps so i mixed for a whil to try nd smooth it out. I just took the cake out of the oven and a lot of butter had separated from the cake so i had to pour it out. Do you know why that might be? I’ve just gone through the ingredients and the only thing i changed was to sub the xanthan gum with psyllium husk. I hope its still ok! Thanks
FatForWeightLoss says
Hi Siema,
Unsure why so much butter has drained from the cake. Did it turn out okay?
Anu says
I’m making this cake for a friend’s birthday tomorrow and was wondering about the bit where you add the rest of the ingredients to the whipped egg whites. Should I do this with an electric whisk, a manual one, or carefully with a spatula so as to not deflate the egg whites? Some recipes ask for the egg whites to be folded into the other ingredients that have been mixed separately, so I just want to be sure I don’t do this wrong! I don’t usually care how my cakes look as long as they taste good 🙂 but since this is for a friend, I don’t want to present a collapsed cake! Thanks in advance 🙂
Anna says
I tried your recipe Keto Lemon Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Icing and it was a complete failure. At the end of the 45 minutesin the oven the cake looked very high and nice but when I opened the oven’s door it collapsed completely. I used all the ingredients you suggested, followed all the instructions with every step and this was the result. What could have gone wrong?
FatForWeightLoss says
Hi Anna. I’m sorry to hear it was such a disaster. First off, are you 100% sure you followed all the ingredients? Can you go back and double-check the ingredients and the method. I’ve never had this feedback before, so i’m interested to know what has changed.
Anna says
Went back and double-checked the ingredienta and the method. I made everything as it was described. The only difference is that the brands where not the same you used and I put a little less butter (100 grams instead of 125. I had the impression that the liquids were too many for the solids present.I left the cake in the oven at 140 degrees Celcius to dry a little but the result did not change much. Inside it was still very humid but at least it was edible (at least my husband volunteeed to eat it when I said I would throw it away).
FatForWeightLoss says
So, if you used coconut flour, this should have absorbed a lot of the liquid. Did you definitely use coconut flour?
Anna says
Yes, it was coconut flour! Tha same I used for many other recipes. The mystery continues…
Anna says
Probably the problem is precisely the coconut flour that is not the right one. While waiting for another one of a different brand, I decided to make the cake again using almond flour. Could you please tell me how much of it I should use? In the comments you suggested to use the ratio of 4:1; I’d be grateful if you would explain exactly what does it mean. Thank you very much for your help
Denise Quinlan says
I loved this cake! Easy to make too. Delicious! I’d really like to have your other books but I’m a paper person. I’d rather have the books so I can turn the pages.
FatForWeightLoss says
I’ve actually got 2 physical cookbooks. The Keto Sweet Tooth Cookbook and the Keto Meal Prep Cookbook (please see https://www.fatforweightloss.com.au/shop/ for more details)
Jen says
Thank you for this recipe! I have made this recipe many times and love it. Recently I have been leaving out the butter (for calories sake) and omitting the frosting. Instead I put a little bit of ChocZero caramel syrup on a slice. Of course everything is better with butter, but I find that I don’t miss it when this allows me to have an extra slice. 🙂
Zoe says
Can you substitute for almond flour? 🙂
FatForWeightLoss says
Of course, remember to use the ratio of 4:1
Robbi says
You mentioned baking powder in the video, but it is not listed on the recipe. How much did you use?