Low Carb Raspberry & Nutella Birthday Cake. Luxurious. Indulgent. Dreamy.
A celebratory slice of happiness with just 4g net carbs per serving.
This layered creation is ideal for special occasions. Although, once you discover how delightful and effortless it is, you may decide to make it a permanent fixture in your fridge :D.
A light-as-air sponge provides the structure, while a dense, mousse-type filling delivers indulgence. The raspberries are sweet but also slightly tart, offsetting the creamy richness of this dessert beautifully.
Tastefully simple, but incredibly good. So good, in fact, that it’s difficult to believe that there’s no sugar, no flour and no butter involved.
With so few carbs per slice, this cake is perfectly suited to the keto lifestyle. Just bear in mind that the calories aren’t insignificant, so portion control may be necessary (good luck with that ;D… )
How to Make Low Carb Raspberry & Nutella Birthday Cake
It all comes together pretty quickly. The sponge bakes in just 13 minutes. Pull out your weighing scales and a few glasses or cups, line up your ingredients and you’re off. An electric hand-held whisk is the only tool you’ll need.
Do not omit the tapioca flour… I’m aware that it’s a starch, but 10g won’t hurt, and it really does make the sponge feather-light.
Do not swap the oil, either. Providing you use organic, cold-pressed, high-oleic sunflower oil, you’ll find it is healthier than many other so-called keto-friendly oils. With neutral flavour and lightness, it is perfect for this sponge.
The filling is super simple: all you have to do is stir mascarpone, sweetener and nutella until well combined, add the whipped cream and it’s ready. Depending on the mascarpone you find, more or less elbow work may be required, but don’t be tempted to use an electric gadget – this Italian soft cheese is easy to overwhip and curdle, which would mean starting all over.
For the Nutella, I have a scrumptious 3-ingredient Nut.ella recipe that is simply mind-blowingly delicious.
But if you want an easier life, there are sugar-free/low carb hazelnut chocolate spreads you can buy. The downside to shop-bought, however, is that most sugar-free/low-sugar/low-carb chocolate things on the market use maltitol as sweetener.
Although maltitol is a sugar alcohol, it is not a good choice. Chocolate confectioners use maltitol because it’s cheap and adds a silky-smooth, velvety feel to their products. And as it is a sugar alcohol, they can make low-carb and sugar-free or reduced-sugar claims on the packaging. In truth, however, maltitol has been shown to spike blood glucose and is also the sugar alcohol most likely to give you gas, pain and discomfort, depending on your body’s ability to tolerate it (mine reacts in the worst possible way…).
After spending considerable time looking for and comparing sugar-free/low-carb nutella options currently on the market, I was able to add some links to the recipe. Please note that I do not endorse those products. The links I have provided are purely for your convenience. If you can, I strongly recommend my home-made 3-ingredient Nut.ella, which contains no rubbish whatsoever and takes minutes to make.
As with all layered cakes, it is important that you allow your assembled Low Carb Raspberry & Nutella Birthday Cake to chill and ‘mature’. How long? 3-4 hours minimum. Best overnight. It’ll be worth it. You’ll see.
Here is the recipe. Enjoy!
- Yield: 8
- Serving: ⅛th slice
- Calories: 384
- Fat: 36g
- Net Carbs: 4g
- Protein: 9g
- 4 extra large eggs (160g egg whites + 70g yolks)
- 70g erythritol (U.S. option HERE)
- ½ tsp pure stevia powder (U.S. option HERE)
- pinch of fine Himalayan pink salt (U.S. option HERE)
- 50g high-oleic sunflower oil (U.S. option HERE)
- 40g lupin flour (U.S. option HERE) (world-wide supply HERE - use code QUEENKETO5 at checkout for discount)
- 10g tapioca flour (U.S. option HERE)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (U.S. option HERE)
- 200g whipping cream
- 250g mascarpone
- 80g QK sugar free nut.ella, or try THIS (U.K.) or THIS (U.S.)
- 10g unsweetened cocoa powder (U.S. alternative HERE)
- 30g icing 'sugar' (U.S. alternative HERE)
- 180g fresh raspberries
- pre-heat oven to 170°C static.
- separate eggs.
- weigh and combine sifted lupin flour and tapioca - set aside.
- with an electric whisk, beat egg whites, salt and vanilla until firm, then add sweeteners and continue to beat until you obtain a stiff, glossy meringue mixture.
- using a balloon whisk - manually incorporate egg yolks (one at a time) into the meringue, then the oil (1/3rd at a time) and the combined flours (bit by bit); use an up-and-over circular sweeping motion to retain as much air as possible in the mixture.
- line an oven tray (28cm x 35cm) (U.S. option HERE) with non-stick baking paper and pour the mixture into it, spreading it right up to the corners and levelling it.
- bake on lowest rack for 15 minutes.
- remove from oven and set aside to cool for a couple of minutes, then lay a fresh sheet of parchment paper over the sponge and flip the whole ensemble onto a clean tea-towel placed on your worktop; remove baked parchment paper (see notes below) and cover with cling film plus another tea-towel; leave to cool down completely.
- beat whipping cream to stiff peaks and set aside.
- in a separate bowl, use a fork to manually beat and combine mascarpone, nutella, cocoa and icing 'sugar', then incorporate whipped cream; you should obtain a thick but spreadable mousse-like mixture.
- when the sponge is completely cool, measure the long side (it will be about 33cm after a bit of shrinkage) and make verticle cuts to obtain 3 equal segments measuring about 11cm x 26-27cm.
- place one segment over a serving dish, top with ⅓rd of the nutella mixture and repeat until all 3 segments are stacked and you have a nice even layer of nutella mixture at the very top; decorate with raspberries and chill for at least 3 hours (best overnight).
- dust with icing 'sugar' before serving.
To obtain 8 servings, slice across the centre in parallel with the long length, then make 4 perpendicular cuts.
The best way to ensure accurate measurement of ingredients is with Metric Kitchen Scales. They are inexpensive and take up very little space. Click HERE for the ones I use. For U.S. option click HERE.
Your feedback matters to me! Please leave a comment below. If you try this recipe, you’ll make my day by sharing a photo on social media with the hashtag #queenketo. Thank you! 🙂
