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An easy keto carrot cake recipe with a moist cinnamon crumb filled with carrots, crunchy pecans, and a sweet cream cheese frosting.
Nobody can resist or guess this is a keto low-carb carrot cake! You will love sharing this celebration keto cake with your friends.
Can I add raw carrots to a keto carrot cake?
Before sharing this lovely almond flour carrot cake recipe, let’s answer your main questions.
You might think that carrots are high in carbs, high in sugar, and they shouldn’t be included on a keto diet as a keto-friendly vegetable.
You are (partially) right! Eating too many carrots can raise your carb count and your sugar level.
Eating 1 cup of raw carrots as part of a meal will blow your daily macros, adding 7.9 grams of net carbs to your day. But, here we are, not talking about eating that many carrots at once!
It’s totally fine to use carrots sparingly, for texture and flavor, in keto baking recipes.
Let’s do the maths. If you spread 1 ½ cup of carrots into a 16-slice cake, the net carbs per slice from the carrots is only 0.74 grams!
The most important thing on a keto diet is to keep your macros under control.
It’s not about putting labels on food. Saying what’s keto and what isn’t. It’s all about the balance. Keeping your total daily net carbs, fat, and protein under control and keeping your body in fat-burning mode – ketosis.
So, yes, you can eat a piece of this keto-friendly carrot cake. It’s full of good fats from keto flours and has no sugar added using keto-friendly sweeteners. One slice gives you 4.1 grams of net carbs. Make room for it in your meal plan, and you are in for a treat.
How to make keto carrot cake?
This gluten-free low-carb carrot cake contains quite a few ingredients, and it’s easy to miss one if you don’t prepare yourself well. So first, gather all your ingredients into small bowls and measure each of them precisely.
Step 1: bring ingredients to room temperature
One hour before making this keto carrot cake, bring the ingredients out of the fridge to make sure your eggs, butter, and cream cheese are at the same temperature. One our is short enough to be on the safe side. No bacteria will grow in that time!
Step 2: prepare the bowls and pan
Next, grease two 9-inch round pans with coconut oil. Line a piece of parchment paper at the bottom of each pan and grease again.
I highly recommend double-greasing your cake pans for keto cake recipes to prevent the batter from sticking to the mold.
Also, prepare an electric beater and two large mixing bowls—one for the cake batter and one for the keto carrot cake cream cheese frosting.
Step 3: Measure the cake batter ingredients
Now, measure all the ingredients below into individual bowls or containers. All you need to make this cake are:
- Almond flour – use ultra-fine almond flour and avoid almond meal. In fact, almond meal is coarse and adds a grainy texture to keto cake recipes, so I don’t recommend it. Read more about choosing your keto-friendly flours.
- Coconut flour – you need a balance of both flour to achieve the best keto carrot cake texture. If you want to use only almond flour, you may have to use 4 times more almond flour to replace the recipe’s coconut flour.
- Erythritol – or any keto crystal sweetener of choice to naturally sweetened the cake batter. Learn how to convert keto sweeteners.
- Unsalted butter
- Large eggs at room temperature
- Vanilla extract
- Shredded carrots – peel the carrots, trim the ends, and shred in a food processor using the smaller attachment.
- Almond milk
- Baking powder
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Pecans
- Walnuts
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Salt
Step 4: measure the cake frosting ingredients
On another area of your kitchen countertop, measure all the cream cheese frosting ingredients.
It is totally fine to measure these ingredients later in the recipe, for example, when the cakes are baked.
It takes about 1 hour for the cakes to cool down, giving the frosting ingredients time to soften and be at room temperature when you need to make the frosting.
Don’t remove dairy ingredients from the fridge for more than 2 hours before using them in a recipe to avoid bacteria contamination.
The keto cake frosting ingredients you need are:
- Softened cream cheese – read why it is keto-friendly.
- Powdered sugar-free sweetener – I used powdered erythritol.
- Vanilla extract
- Softened unsalted butter
How to make the keto carrot cake batter?
First, beat the eggs, melted butter, erythritol, unsweetened almond milk, and vanilla extract. Ensure that the ingredients are roughly at the same temperature to avoid issues like hot melted butter cake ‘cooking’ the eggs and forming egg lumps.
In another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, spices, and salt.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine and form a smooth keto carrot cake batter.
Finally, stir in the shredded carrots and half of the finely chopped nuts.
Fill the cake pan
Now, divide the batter evenly into the two 9-inch round cake pans.
Oil and cover the cake pans with parchment paper to prevent the cake batter from sticking to them.
You will roughly fill each cake pan with 2 cups of cake batter. Then, bang each cake pan onto the kitchen countertop a few times to remove any trapped air bubbles.
How to bake keto carrot cake?
Option 1: bake both layers at the same time in two cake pans
This is my favorite option to create two cake layers of the same thickness.
This works only if your oven temperature is well calibrated and you can fit two 9-inch cake pans in the center rack of your oven.
If so, place both cake pans in the oven’s center rack, preheated to 350°F (180°C). Bake until a pick inserted in each cake comes out clean.
If you work on fan-forced mode, both cakes will bake at the same speed. For regular mode, the cake in the front may need a few more minutes to set in the center.
Option 2: bake each cake pan separately
Use this option if your oven is too small to fit two pans on the same rack or if your oven temperature calibration is not perfect.
This is the case for most ovens that are roughly more than 8-10 years old or for toaster ovens – not recommend to bake keto cakes!
For this option, you will fill both cake pans evenly with the keto cake batter. Then, bake the first cake layer in the center rack of the oven keeping the other filled cake pan at room temperature.
When the first layer is baked, remove it from the oven, cool down on a rack. Immediately place the second cake pan in the same oven spot, and bake for the same time until baked through.
Option 3: bake the whole batter at once
This is not a recommended option because this keto carrot cake is very moist, and it won’t be easy to half it lengthwise without breaking the crumb.
So if you only have one 9-inch cake pan at home, I would rather recommend baking the first cake layer.
Then, cooling it in the pan, washing the pan with water and soap, drying and greasing again, adding a piece of parchment paper at the bottom. Then, reuse the same pan to bake the remaining batter and make the second cake layer.
How to frost keto carrot cake?
First, place each baked carrot cake into a cooling rack and cool completely – it takes about an hour.
Prepare the cream cheese frosting
Meanwhile, prepare the keto cream cheese frosting.
In a large mixing bowl, add softened cream cheese, heavy cream, and vanilla extract.
Beat with an electric beater at high speed for 1 minute until the cream cheese is soft and fluffy.
Then, stop beater, add softened butter and powdered sweetener.
Finally, beat again until the frosting is smooth and fluffy. You can add more heavy cream if your frosting is too thick to your liking.
Frosting the keto carrot cake
Place the first cake layer onto a turning table or serving plate and spread half of the keto frosting.
Then, place the second cake layer on top of it and add the remaining frosting. Spread all over the top and sides of the cake.
Finally, decorate the top of the keto carrot cake with the remaining chopped pecans and walnuts.
How to store keto cakes?
This is a large keto cake, serving 12 slices.
Luckily, it stores up to 4 days in a cake box in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.
If you freeze your keto carrot cake, make sure it’s in a sealed box to avoid contact with air.
Then, thaw the cake the day before eating it in the fridge.
If you prefer a single-serve keto carrot cake recipe, try my keto carrot cake muffins instead.
Can I swap carrots with zucchinis?
Even if the amount of shredded carrots is very low in this recipe to keep the total net carbs low, you may want a lower-carb option.
In this case, swap the shredded carrots with shredded zucchinis. Zucchinis release way more water into the cake batter, so before adding them, make sure you:
- Squeeze the grated zucchinis in a clean kitchen towel
- Discard the zucchini juice
- Measure in a measuring cup to avoid adding too much – this will make the cake batter too moist.
More keto cake recipes
I love creating keto low-carb dessert recipes to fix my sweet tooth on my keto journey. Below I listed my other keto cake recipes for you to try and share with family and friends:
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Have you tried this gluten-free carrot cake with almond flour? Share a review or comment below. I love to hear back from you on my recipes!
XOXO Carine
Recipe Card
Keto Carrot Cake
An easy keto carrot cake recipe to celebrate any occasion!
16 slices
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Bring all the cake batter ingredients out of the fridge 30 minutes before making the cake to ensure your eggs and almond milk are at room temperature.
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Preheat the oven to 350°F(180°C). Line two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and generously oil the bottom and sides with coconut oil. Set aside.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, melted butter, erythritol, unsweetened almond milk, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
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In another large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and baking powder.
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Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until it forms a consistent smooth cake batter.
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Stir in shredded carrots and half of the amount of pecans and walnuts.
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Divide the batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans.
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Bake both cake pans in the center rack of the oven for 35-40 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool completely the cake layers
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Cool down the cake onto cooling racks for at least 1 hour before frosting.
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Meanwhile, take the cream cheese frosting ingredients out of the fridge. It will give them 1 hour to soften to make a creamy keto cake frosting.
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When the cake layers are at room temperature, prepare the frosting.
Prepare the frosting
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In a large mixing bowl, add softened cream cheese, 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed for 1 minute, until fluffy.
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Stop the beater, add in softened butter and powdered sweetener, and beat again until creamy. If too thick, beat in the extra tablespoon of heavy cream.
Frost the cake
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Place the first cake layer on a cake turning table or serving plate. Using a flat tool like a spatula, spread half of the cake frosting all over the top of the cake. It’s ok if it overflows on the sides.
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Add the second layer on top of the cake, and spread the remaining frosting on top. Spread with a flat tool until the top and sides of the cake are all covered with frosting and smooth.
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Decorate the top of the keto carrot cake with the remaining chopped pecans and chopped walnuts.
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Place the cake in the fridge for 2 hours to set the frosting and blend the flavors.
Storage
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Store the cake in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Slice just before serving to keep the crumb moist and fresh.
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You can also freeze the cake for up to 3 months in an airtight container and thaw it the day before in the fridge.
Nutrition Facts
Keto Carrot Cake
Amount Per Serving (1 slice (serve 16))
Calories 311.8 Calories from Fat 268
% Daily Value*
Fat 29.8g46%
Saturated Fat 11.7g73%
Trans Fat 0.5g
Cholesterol 104.4mg35%
Sodium 338.6mg15%
Potassium 113mg3%
Carbohydrates 7.2g2%
Fiber 3.1g13%
Sugar 1.9g2%
Protein 7.1g14%
Vitamin A 2638.9IU53%
Vitamin C 0.8mg1%
Calcium 116mg12%
Iron 1.2mg7%
Net Carbs 4.1g
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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