Enjoy this chocolate Keto cake for a birthday or other special occasion! It’s full of chocolate flavor, without being full of sugar or carbs!

Craving chocolate on the Keto diet? Our Keto chocolate cake will satisfy your sweet tooth without making you undo all your hard work.

It’s perfect for the birthday guy or gal on the Keto diet, or any celebratory occasion that calls for chocolate cake!

Everything in this recipe is Keto-friendly (just like our keto vanilla cake), while still being full of chocolate flavor. This recipe makes one 6″ three-layer cake or one 8″ two-layer cake.

How Do you Sweeten A Keto Cake?

My favorite low-carb sweetener is Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener, Classic. It’s a cup-for-cup alternative to regular granulated sugar. There are other low-carb sweeteners available including Swerve and Pyure, which are also 1:1 sugar replacements and excellent choices for this cake.

Make sure that whichever low-carb sweetener you choose it is an exact 1:1 sugar replacement, or else the sweet taste will be off on this cake.

What Flour is Best for Keto Baking?

To be Keto-compliant, there are only two flour options available: almond flour and coconut flour. Unfortunately, they cannot be interchanged as coconut flour behaves very differently than almond or any other nut flour.

Coconut flour is extremely absorbent and needs a lot of liquid ingredients. A little bit of coconut flour also goes a long way.

Almond flour provides a wonderful texture and flavor but can be dry and crumbly. I found that using both types of flours gives the best texture and moistness to this cake.

The amount of coconut flour used is small enough so that you don’t taste the coconut flavor, but it still adds the necessary moisture to the cake, as it soaks up all the liquid ingredients.

wet ingredients for keto cake in a mixing bowl

How to Make Keto Chocolate Cake

Follow this recipe to make this delicious Keto chocolate cake. See our tips at the end to see how to customize this recipe even more!

Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and generously grease three 6″ round cake pans and line them with parchment paper.
In a bowl combine almond flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, Xanthan gum, and salt. Mix well and keep aside.
In a large bowl combine the butter and sweetener. Cream it together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

dry ingredients on wet ingredients in mixing bowl

keto chocolate cake batter in mixing bowl

Add the eggs, one at a time and beat for one minute, after each addition.
Add the almond milk and the vanilla extract. The mixture will look like a curdled mess but don’t worry, it will all come together!
Gradually add the flour mixture and fold it in. Once all the flour is incorporated, beat on high for one minute.
Divide the cake batter between the three prepared pans.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350° F or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Place the cake pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Gluten-free cakes are very fragile when warm. So let it cool in the pan.
Once cooled, take it out of the pan and let it cool completely for a couple of hours before frosting.

Frosting the Keto Chocolate Cake

You can’t have a chocolate cake without chocolate frosting! Our Keto chocolate buttercream tops this cake beautifully!

Slather ¾ cup of our Keto chocolate buttercream frosting on one layer of the cake. Place the other layer and again slather ¾ cup of the frosting. Add the final cake layer on top and and use the remaining frosting to cover the top and around the cake.
Decorate with assorted berries on top (optional).
Slice and enjoy! Keep the leftovers tightly covered in the fridge.

chocolate cake decorated with fresh berries

Is this Cake Gluten Free?

Yes! Keto avoids regular flour, avoiding gluten as well. And this cake is Keto-compliant, making it gluten free as well. To give this cake its structure we use Xanthan gum.

Note that a little Xanthan gum goes a long way! Make sure and stick to the amount used in this recipe to avoid changes in the flavor and taste.

Are Any Substitutions Allowed in this Cake?

You can make a few modifications to this cake to change the flavor slightly, while still keeping it Keto friendly.

Dutch-process cocoa powder: Dutch-process cocoa powder alkalizes the cocoa powder, giving it a richer, chocolatey taste. It is optional in this recipe. You could also use regular unsweetened cocoa powder. Note that if you use regular unsweetened cocoa powder, the cake will be a slightly lighter color.
Espresso powder: The espresso powder helps enhance the chocolate flavor, but it’s also optional. The cake will still be good without it.
Berry topping: I decorated my Keto chocolate cake with assorted berries, which are low carb and the only fruits allowed in the Keto diet. I liked the pop of colors it added as well as the fresh fruit flavor. You can omit the berries or decorate this cake with assorted nuts and/or low-carb chocolate chips instead, but sprinkles are off limits in Keto.

Enjoy this delicious cake with all of the flavor and none of the guilt!