Going keto doesn’t mean giving up cake. It means learning which cakes are worth baking, because a sugar free cake made with the wrong flour or the wrong sweetener is a sad, dry thing. QueenKeto’s archive holds around fifty cake recipes, from French madeleines to a zero-carb Swiss roll, and some of them have become firm reader favourites.
So we did what we did with our keto bread top 10: we let you decide. We ranked our keto cake recipes by how often you open them, and below are the ten you bake most. Sponges, Swiss rolls, muffins, brownies and little French madeleines: every one is sugar free, and every one comes in under 3g carbs a serving.
Ten reader-ranked keto cakes, all under 3g carbs per serving. Whether you need a birthday sponge, a showstopping Swiss roll or a muffin for the lunchbox, there’s a low carb cake recipe here for it. Several are nut-free, one needs no eggs or butter, and one is completely zero carb.
How we ranked these
No taste-test jury, no editorial favouritism. We took every cake recipe that has our new printable recipe card and ranked them by page views over the past twelve months, so this top 10 reflects what readers actually bake. We counted cakes, sponges, Swiss rolls, muffins and brownies. Cheesecakes, tarts and pies didn’t count here, and tiramisù, delicious as it is, ended up in the honourable mentions.
The top 10 keto cake recipes
1. Keto & Sugar Free Classic French Madeleines
The shell-shaped French mini cakes, complete with the little bump on top that every madeleine baker chases. Almond and lupin flour with a spoonful of crème fraîche keep them tender, and at under half a gram of carbs and 63 calories each, two with your coffee is entirely reasonable. Eight minutes in the oven is all they need, so a batch of twelve is done in well under half an hour.
Carbs 0.5g per madeleineTime 23 minBest for coffee breaks and afternoon teaFull recipe2. Sugar Free Low Carb Simple Sponge Cake
The everyday workhorse of keto baking: moist, fuss-free and versatile. Ricotta and melted butter keep the crumb soft, lupin flour gives it structure, and a dusting of icing sweetener finishes it off. Swap the ricotta for cream cheese or mascarpone if that’s what’s in the fridge; the recipe card gives the macros for each. It’s also the sponge behind our keto tiramisù, so one recipe opens the door to plenty of layered desserts.
Carbs 1.8g per sliceTime 40 minBest for layered desserts and birthdaysFull recipe3. Keto Sugar-Free Lemon Muffins
Citrusy, moist and light, with a sharp lemon icing on top. Olive oil and water stand in for butter and milk, and whey protein isolate brings each muffin to 11.5g of protein. One tip from the recipe card is worth repeating: use extra fine defatted almond flour. Ground almonds work, but the muffins come out dense and crumbly instead of fluffy and spongy.
Carbs 0.7g per muffinTime 45 minBest for breakfast on the goFull recipe4. Zero-Carb Carnivore Coffee Swiss Roll
A zero-carb dessert that isn’t a meringue, which is rarer than you’d think. A soft sponge of eggs, egg white powder and whey protein isolate is rolled around a whipped coffee butter made with freshly brewed ristretto and allulose. Allulose matters here: erythritol works, but it crystallises and turns the filling grainy. You may recognise it from our carnivore diet top 10, where it was an honourable mention.
Carbs 0g per sliceTime 45 minBest for carnivore and ketovore celebrationsFull recipe5. Magic Keto Brownies
Moist, rich brownies with no gluten and no nuts. Cocoa and coconut flour do the main work, with a little coffee to deepen the chocolate flavour. Watch the clock with these: the recipe card says to test with a skewer after 15 minutes and never to bake them for more than 20 in total. That short bake is what keeps them moist.
Carbs 1.2g per brownieTime 28 minBest for chocolate cravingsFull recipe6. Easy Keto Chocolate Chip Muffins
As close to the shop-bought muffin as keto gets, studded with stevia-sweetened chocolate chips (or any low carb chocolate you like). Almond milk, a neutral oil and whey protein isolate make a soft crumb with 12.5g of protein per muffin. The recipe card adds that lactose-free whole milk works too, and shortens the bake to 25 minutes.
Carbs 1.4g per muffinTime 45 minBest for lunchboxes and coffee-shop cravingsFull recipe7. Keto Mini Bundt Cakes (No Eggs, No Butter)
No eggs and no butter, yet light and full of flavour. Ground almonds, whey protein isolate and water make the batter, with melted chocolate swirled through it. Dust them with icing sweetener, or stir up a quick water frosting and add sugar free sprinkles for a party. They keep for up to four days, so a batch of six covers most of the week.
Carbs 1.5g per cakeTime 45 minBest for egg-free bakingFull recipe8. Sugar Free Almond & Beurre Noisette Cake Bites
Pretty little almond cakes and the smartest way to use up leftover egg whites. Browned butter (beurre noisette) gives them a warm, nutty depth, and toasted almond flakes add a little crunch on top. One batch makes twelve bites at 1g carbs each. Wrap them in cling film and they keep happily at room temperature.
Carbs 1g per biteTime 45 minBest for using up leftover egg whitesFull recipe9. Keto Chocolate Marble Cake
Rich and moist, yet light and airy: a loaf cake with a ribbon of chocolate swirled through vanilla sponge. Coconut flour and a little bamboo fibre stand in for wheat, while whipping cream and avocado oil keep the crumb tender, and there are no nuts in it at all. At 75 minutes it’s the longest bake in this top 10, but most of that is oven time, and you get ten slices at 1.8g carbs each.
Carbs 1.8g per sliceTime 1 hr 15 minBest for family tea timeFull recipe10. Keto Strawberry Mousse Swiss Roll
Light as a feather and pretty as a picture: a lemony sponge rolled around a fresh strawberry and basil mousse made with mascarpone and cream. The turmeric is optional and only there for that sunny yellow colour. No Swiss roll tin? The recipe card shows how to mark out the right size on parchment over an ordinary oven tray. Wrapped, it keeps for several days in the coldest part of the fridge.
Carbs 2.2g per sliceTime 50 minBest for summer partiesFull recipeDidn’t make the cut, still worth baking
Rankings are rankings: these four sit just outside the top 10, or bend the definition of a cake a little, but each one earns its place on your baking list.
- The one that would have made it. These Low Carb Nashi Pear, Almond & Cinnamon Muffins (2g net carbs each) are gooey, soft and spiced with cinnamon. On views they’d be number four, but this list only counts recipes that already have our new printable recipe card, and theirs is still on the way.
- An Italian classic. Our Sugar Free Low Carb Pan di Spagna (Italian Sponge) (1g carbs per slice) is a dairy-free sponge at just 65 calories a slice, and like the nashi muffins it’s still waiting for its new recipe card.
- Not a cake, but built on one. Our Sugar Free Low Carb Keto Tiramisù (3g carbs per serving) layers the sponge at number two with mascarpone cream, espresso and a dash of dark rum. It’s one of the most visited recipes on the whole blog.
- A British favourite. Our Yummy Scrummy & Moist Keto Sugar Free Carrot Cake (2.5g carbs per serving) brings back the teatime classic, with pecans, warm spices and a cream cheese frosting.
From another kitchen: Keto Coconut Cake by Sweet As Honey
We don’t have a coconut cake on QueenKeto, so for this one we’re sending you to Carine Claudepierre’s kitchen. Her cake uses coconut three ways (coconut flour, coconut cream and desiccated coconut), and it’s finished with a coconut cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut on top. By her recipe card it comes to 3g net carbs a slice, and the sponge itself is gluten-free and dairy-free. Find the full recipe on Sweet As Honey.
Still hungry for more? Browse the complete Desserts archive for every sweet recipe on the blog.
Tips for keto cake baking
- Weigh, don’t scoop. Keto cakes use small amounts of very different flours and powders. A cup of almond flour and a cup of coconut flour behave nothing alike, so the grams on the recipe card are the quantities that work.
- Fine flour, fine crumb. Extra fine defatted almond flour gives a light, spongy result. Coarser ground almonds still work, but expect a denser, more crumbly cake, as the lemon muffin recipe warns.
- Pick the right sweetener. Erythritol is the all-rounder in these recipes, but it tends to crystallise and leave a grainy texture. That’s why the coffee Swiss roll uses allulose in its filling.
- Check early. A low carb sponge can go from moist to dry in a few minutes. Start testing with a skewer a few minutes before the time on the card, as the brownie recipe does.
Frequently asked questions
Are these keto cakes completely sugar free?
No sugar is added to any of them. They’re sweetened with erythritol, stevia or allulose instead, and a few recipes use a sugar free icing sweetener on top. Ingredients such as dairy, eggs and lemon carry small natural amounts of sugar, which are already counted in the carb figure on each recipe card.
What flour do you use for keto cakes?
There’s no single keto flour. These recipes mix and match almond flour, lupin flour, coconut flour and whey protein isolate, and the coffee Swiss roll uses no flour at all. They aren’t interchangeable one for one: coconut flour soaks up far more liquid than almond flour, for example. Our keto pantry guide explains what each one does.
How should I store keto cakes?
It depends on the cake, and each recipe card says which. Both Swiss rolls belong in the fridge. The lemon muffins keep at room temperature, uncovered, the cake bites wrapped in cling film, and the mini bundt cakes for up to four days.
Do I really need kitchen scales?
For keto baking, yes. Several of these cakes use only 10g to 30g of a flour or protein powder, and a few grams either way changes the texture. Every recipe card gives the quantities in grams, and a set of digital metric scales is the most useful tool you can buy for them.
Summary: the top 10 at a glance
That’s the full countdown. Here it is once more in one compact table, handy for saving or for planning your next bake. Tap or click a column heading to sort by rank, recipe, carbs or time. Every recipe link takes you straight to the full method with exact quantities and macros.
| # ↕ | Recipe ↕ | Carbs ↕ | Time ↕ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French Madeleines | 0.5g | 23 min |
| 2 | Simple Sponge Cake | 1.8g | 40 min |
| 3 | Lemon Muffins | 0.7g | 45 min |
| 4 | Coffee Swiss Roll | 0g | 45 min |
| 5 | Magic Brownies | 1.2g | 28 min |
| 6 | Chocolate Chip Muffins | 1.4g | 45 min |
| 7 | Mini Bundt Cakes | 1.5g | 45 min |
| 8 | Almond Cake Bites | 1g | 45 min |
| 9 | Chocolate Marble Cake | 1.8g | 1 hr 15 min |
| 10 | Strawberry Mousse Swiss Roll | 2.2g | 50 min |
Carb figures are per serving as stated on each recipe card; serving sizes vary (a slice, a muffin, a single madeleine), so do check the recipe card for your macros. Times are the total times from each recipe card and don't include draining, cooling or chilling.
Now it's your turn: which keto cake wins at your table? Did your favourite land the right spot, or did we rank it criminally low? Tell us in the comments below which of these cakes you bake on repeat, and which cake you'd love us to make keto next. We read every single comment!
About the author: Roos de Leeuw writes the roundups and guides on QueenKeto. She digs through the blog's archive of over 400 recipes and its reader statistics to surface the recipes most worth your time, so you don't have to scroll for them.
Happy baking, Roos
