The Best Keto Almond Flour Sponge Cake - Gluten-free (2024)

This is the BEST Keto Almond Flour Sponge Cake and trust me, I have made quite a few! Light and spongy, this easy and fool-proof keto almond flour cake is the only cake recipe you will ever need. Gluten-free and Sugar-free, you can make this keto sponge cake in under 40 minutes.

Keto Almond Flour Sponge Cake

This is the BEST keto cake recipe!

This easy keto cake recipe can be used as the foundation to making hundreds of different flavoured cakes like my Keto Carrot Crumb Cake or in my Easy Keto Strawberry Shortcake recipes.

This is a classic European sponge cake (aka Genoise) with a sugar-free, gluten-free and keto twist. Once you have this recipe down (I already have it memorized since I have made it so many times), you’ll be baking things that look and taste like they are from a fancy bakery.

This cake base takes on moisture really well from sweet fruit filling, creamy frostings, liqueurs and syrups. As you can tell from my Chocolate Peanut Butter Nutella Layered Cake, I’m a sucker for moist cakes.

Over the years, I’ve testedcountlessdifferent ways to make sugar-free cake and this is thebest, most fail-proof method for keto almond flour sponge cake that I’ve tested.

What Makes Sponge Cake Fluffy and Moist

Eggs are the key to making your sponge cake fluffy and sour cream and olive oil make this keto cake super moist.

Make sure that all your ingredients are at room temperature before you start and then start by beating your whole eggs with the sweetener until the volume increases by three times.

Don’t overbeat the eggs, as this will result in a flat cake. You will know when your eggs are ready when the beaters hold a thick ribbon when removed from the bowl.

Easy Keto Cake Recipe Ingredients

Almond flour - Make sure that you use superfine almond flour and not almond meal.

Whey protein powder - Using plain whey protein powder helps to add additional protein to the cake recipe which makes this cake light and fluffy. I use Cabot Plain Whey Protein powder but feel free to use any brand. If your whey protein powder is flavoured, reduce the amount of sweetener called for in this recipe. Do not use casein, pea or any other type of protein powder.

Baking soda - You will need 2 teaspoons of baking soda to help lift this gluten-free sponge cake and create the perfect sponge cake texture.

Xantham gum (optional) - Xantham gum is used in keto baking to replace gluten. You can omit this ingredient but your keto sponge cake may be slightly less "bouncy".

Salt - Use regular table salt or if you are using kosher salt, use slightly less than ¼ teaspoon.

Eggs - Make sure that your eggs are at room temperature as this will help to create the fluffiest sponge cake.

Sweetener - I use a combination of allulose and erythritol. Allulose can cause baked goods to brown quickly so if you are only using allulose, check your cakes at the halfway point and cover them loosely with foil if they are browning too quickly.

Sour cream - Use full-fat sour cream and make sure that it is at room temperature. IF your cream cheese is not at room temperature, you can quickly heat it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds.

Olive oil - Use Extra Virgin Olive oil. You may be able to use coconut oil but I have not tried it so if you do, shoot me an email and let me know how it works out!

Vanilla - You can not possibly make a sponge cake with the lovely flavour of vanilla. Feel free to increase the vanilla extract by an additional teaspoon if you want a vanilla-forward flavoured cake.

Lemon zest or Almond Extract - Lemon zest really brings out the flavour of this gluten-free sponge cake but when I don't have any lemons lying around, I replace the lemon zest with almond extract.

Easy Keto Cake Recipe Instructions

Preheat the oven and get three bowls - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. making sure that the rack is in the middle of the oven. In one bowl, place the eggs and the sweetener. In the over bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and in the third bowl, combine the sour cream and olive oil (this bowl can be a fairly small bowl).

Whip the eggs with the sweetener - Like I stated earlier, you will want to beat the eggs with the sweetener for about 5 minutes or until the eggs have tripled in volume.

Alternate the dry and wet - Beat in half of the dry ingredients, followed by the sour cream/olive oil mixture and then add in the remaining half of the dry ingredients. Beat until everything is incorporated.

Divde the batter - Grease 2-8-inch round cake pans and divide the batter evenly between the two. You can also only use 1 cake pan instead and add an additional 5-8 minutes of baking time if you prefer.

Bake! - Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you are using only allulose as your sweetener, you may need to loosely cover the cakes with aluminum foil as allulose has a tendency to brown faster than other sweeteners.

Allow to Cool - Remove the cake pans from the oven and place them on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes. Run a knife along the edges of the cake pan and invert the cakes to remove them from the pan. Allow the cakes to fully cool before storing.

Tips for The Best Keto Cake Recipe

• Make sure that the eggs and sour cream are at room temperature before you make the cake. Room temperature eggs beat better!
• Beat the eggs with sweetener for at least 5 minutes. The texture should be airy, yet stiff.
• Mix the xanthan gum with the almond flour to ensure that the xanthan gum does not clump together and form a gel.
• When adding flour, carefully add only half into the egg mixture. Lightly adding the flour will ensure you don’t overmix and compromise the fluffiness of your beaten eggs.
• Yourbaking pansize should be 8 inches or larger. I use 2-8-inch pans which only take about 20 minutes to bake. You can use only 1 8-inch cake pan but you will need to bake the sugar-free cake for about 30-35 minutes
• Test to see if the cake is fully baked by pricking it with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, you’re good to go!
• Cut the sponge cake only when it's fully cooled to room temperature.

Making Gluten-free Sponge cake in Advance

This is the perfect cake to make a few days in advance. Store it for a few days on the counter in an airtight container. Or, it can be refrigerated for up to a week.

You can also freeze this cake for up to 3 months. Just make sure you store it in a flat box so it doesn’t lose its shape!

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