This basic keto pound cake has the perfect blend flavors. It’s just enough lemon and vanilla to add a nice layer of added flavor to this standard cake.
Don’t care for lemon extract? Just replace the lemon extract with more vanilla extract, or use another extract. The beauty of this recipe is that it is easily adaptable and you can change the flavors to suit your own tastes. Sometimes I’ll use only vanilla extract in place of lemon, or use butter extract with the vanilla extract. When I’m really in the mood I’ll toss in some berries before baking.
The texture of this pound cake is very dense and rich. I don’t doubt that you’d be able to easily fool someone who is not following a keto diet plan. It tastes just like a flour based pound cake. It’s sweet enough without being overly sweet. If you want to add some more sweetness to the loaf, I’d suggest a very small amount of stevia instead of adding more erythritol.
This pound cake freezes well whole or in individual slices. Personally, I find it easier to slice the bread before freezing. That way, whenever I’m in the mood for a last minute dessert I can just take this out of the freezer. I like to let it thaw out on the counter for a couple hours. There is no need to put in the microwave.
Yields 16 servings of Keto Pound Cake
The Preparation
Pound Cake:
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups erythritol
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 8 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Glaze:
- 1/4 cup erythritol, powdered
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
The Execution
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Toss in room temperature butter and erythritol into a mixing bowl.
2. Cream together the butter and erythritol until smooth. Then, add in softened chunks of cream cheese and blend together until smooth.
3. Add in the eggs, lemon extract,and vanilla extract in with the blended ingredients. Blend with a hand mixer until smooth.
4. In a medium sized bowl: mix together the almond flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Slowly add in the ingredients from the medium sized bowl into the batter. Use a hand blender to blend the clumps until very smooth.
6. Pour batter into a loaf pan. Bake for 60 – 120 minutes at 350F or until smooth in the middle when tested with a toothpick.
7. If creating a glaze: blend together the powdered erythritol, vanilla extract, and heavy whipping cream until smooth. Wait until the pound cake is fully cooled from the oven before spreading the glaze on top.
This makes a total of 16 servings of Keto Pound Cake. Each serving comes out to be 252 calories, 22.7g fats, 2.6g net carbs, and 7.8g protein.
If you want a single-serving chocolate dessert that’s ready in under two minutes, our chocolate mug cake uses cocoa powder, coconut flour, and almond flour mixed directly in a mug – no loaf pan needed.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 1/2 cup butter | 814 | 92.1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 1 |
| 1 1/2 cup erythritol | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 ounce cream cheese | 776 | 77.1 | 9.3 | 0 | 9.3 | 14 |
| 8 large egg | 629 | 41.8 | 3.2 | 0 | 3.2 | 55.3 |
| 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract | 6 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 |
| 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract | 19 | 0 | 0.8 | 0 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 2 1/2 cup almond flour | 1621 | 140 | 61.6 | 36.4 | 25.2 | 58.8 |
| 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder | 4 | 0 | 1.9 | 0 | 1.9 | 0 |
| 1/2 teaspoon salt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/4 cup erythritol | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 tablespoon heavy whipping cream | 152 | 16.1 | 1.2 | 0 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract | 6 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Totals | 4094 | 367.1 | 78.6 | 36.4 | 42.2 | 130.2 |
| Per Serving (/16) | 256 | 22.9 | 4.9 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 8.1 |
Keto Pound Cake
Ingredients
Pound Cake:
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- 1 ½ cup erythritol
- 8 ounce cream cheese softened
- 8 large egg room temperature
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cup almond flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Glaze:
- ¼ cup erythritol powdered
- 3 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Add the room-temperature butter and erythritol to a mixing bowl.
- Cream together the butter and erythritol until smooth. Then, add in the softened chunks of cream cheese and beat until smooth.
- Add the eggs, lemon extract, and vanilla extract in with the blended ingredients. Blend with a hand mixer until smooth.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the almond flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Slowly add the blended dry ingredients to the batter. Use a hand blender to mix until very smooth with no clumps.
- Pour the batter into a non-stick loaf pan. Bake for 60–120 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Blend together the powdered erythritol, heavy whipping cream, and vanilla extract until smooth. Wait until the pound cake is fully cooled before spreading the glaze on top.
Made this for my wife for her birthday yesterday. She and the kids loved it.
This pound cake is absolutely delicious! I wanted smaller mini pound cakes, so I used my mini cupcake tins. I ended up with 91 perfect little pound cakes. I am happy to read that these should freeze well!!!! I did throw 1/2 gram of 90% dark chocolate into a few to try as well.
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Hi i only have the erythritol sweetener, I dont have the powdered sugar. what is a subsituation for it??? would love to make this on the wekeend.
thanks
If you have a spice or coffee grinder then you can powder erythritol up.
Can I use salted butter and leave out the 1/2 tsp. of salt?
Yes!
Thanks! It came out amazing! We followed the directions exactly except for the lemon extract (used all vanilla). For the frosting we added 4oz of cream cheese and a splash of lime juice. This is our new favorite recipe!
The lime juice sounds like a great punch of acidity – I’m so glad you liked it!
Hi
I’m confused on the baking time. You list 60-120 minutes (1 to 2 hours!) for baking. That is a 100% spread. Can you give some additional guidance?
In my oven it takes the full 2 hours, but you only need to start checking it after the first hour. I also thought the long bake time was weird, but several people have commented that theirs only took an hour. I’m not sure what causes it to vary so much, but after the first hour I just try to keep an eye on it and check it every 15 minutes or so until I feel it’s done.
Absolutely Delicious!!! Thank you for sharing these recipes. I don’t know if you will realize how many lives you have changed for the better. God Bless you!!
It took cake approx 35-40 minutes to cook. It was brown on the edges, but that’s how we like it. 🙂
I used a cake pan and then still had left over batter so I placed them in a cupcake pan. I used 1/2 stick of salted butter and 1/2 stick of unsalted butter. I didn’t have lemon extract on hand so I used more vanilla extract plus 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice.
I’m so happy to hear you liked it! Thanks so much for the kind words – keep up the good work 🙂
Until recently, I had only three “go to” recipes. Now there are four. My cake came out absolutely perfectly balanced in flavor, moisture, and texture. Do yourself a favor and wait until the cake is very cool – I put mine in the refrigerator – before you cut into it. Your patience will be rewarded. As an FYI, I use very finely ground almond flour and the best sweetener whenever I cook; my current favorite sweeter is monkfruit. I cooked mine for about 1.5 hours in a gas oven and it got very brown, but the crust is perfect. I made the glaze but decided to not use it after tasting it. I had run out of monkfruit sweetener and substituted stevia, but the aftertaste was too noticeable. Clearly, the cake didn’t need it anyway!
I’m super happy to hear our recipe made it into your go-to recipe rotation. That is truly an honor and I’m super happy to hear that you like it!
Other recipes?
Hi Leah,
I’m curious to know what are your three other “go to” recipes are?
Made this cake several times. I also used lemon juice and the zest. I also swapped out some of the almond flour for coconut flour. I also swapped out the sweetner, sometimes using stevia without success (not a stevia fan). Besides the flour swap, I follow the recipe to the letter. This is one of my favorite keto deserts. Thanks Laura@Ruled me!
As with many recipes on the web, this was a total failure: If you cook at 350 degrees, at one hour the outside will be turning dark brown and will burn if left any longer. Yet the center was completely raw. We may–if we want to waste more ingredients–try this again at 325 degrees for two hours. But 350 and one hour, and you have a combination of too brown and raw ingredients. Very disappointing. People who insist on posting their recipes should actually TRY them, directly according to their instructions, before posting!
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t turn out well. I’m not sure if it’s an oven temperature problem (some ovens run hot/cold) or if it’s an altitude problem. We make all of the recipes that we post – that’s how we’re able to take step by step photos. We usually test recipes a few times before posting. As you can see in the other many comments, people have had a lot of success. You can also see that many people have had similar issues to you. I’m not exactly sure what may be causing it.
We have a new and very accurate convection oven that has been tested for accuracy using an optical pyrometer. We are at 400 feet above sea level. I’m trying again, using foil once the outside is nicely browned, and we’ll see how that turns out. By the way, using a toothpick was not useful, as it came out perfectly clean through the crust, even though the center was still liquid.
So I made this today and it came out so soft, moist and spongey! How does it do that? Is it the cream cheese and butter that goes in? I have never experienced this type of cake using almond and coconut flours before! Also I was preoccupied because the batter was sort of liquidy and I added in abit more almond flour however I took the risk of baking it in that way and I had to bake it for longer as the insides weren’t done yet. The cake came out beautifully and I did the glazing as per the recipe and it was gorgeous and creamy..oh also I used xylitol and not erithrytol so not sure if that adds calories to my recipe.. the presentation of the cake is simple but next time I think I adorn it with fresh strawberries!
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I’m really happy that you liked it – it looks beautiful! As far as the texture, it’s a mixture of all of the things, but the cream cheese and butter definitely help keep the moisture in there.
Xylitol will add some calories (and also some carbs, as it does have a glycemic index), but it shouldn’t be too much. Just be careful with the xylitol and added strawberries as the carbs will add up quickly.
I’m really happy to hear! You can also cover it with foil to help with the quick browning. I hope you enjoy it on your next birthday as well!
Just for clarification, is the erythritol used in the cake portion of the recipe granulated? Thanks.
Yes – granular or powdered form will work.
Thank you for the recipe! The cake itself is GREAT! I will definitely be making this again, and it’s probably my current favorite keto dessert I’ve made. I am not a huge fan of the icing though, I think it’s a bit too much cooling from the erythritol for me, and even though it’s powdered the texture was a bit off. I will say the texture was a bit better after the icing sat in the fridge overnight. I opted for eating it plain or with a scoop of vanilla halo top ice cream. Deeeelicioussss!
Yum! If you find an alternative for the icing that you think is better, feel free to share it with us 🙂
Hello, I baked the cake last night and use all of the ingredients and tha cake has a weird chemical smell, not sure if it’s the blanched almond flour. This is my first time baking and Im sure I followed the instructions correctly.
This cake was a huge hit on Father’s Day! My father who isn’t keto but has to be low sugar was so happy because he hasn’t been able to eat traditional pound cake in so long. This is definitely going to become a go-to.
This turned out amazing! Taste and texture are just like pound cake. I had only one issue. The cake stuck to the pan, even after buttering. Any ideas?
You could try lining with some parchment paper next time. If you have an older pan, it’s possible some of the non-stick surface has come off over time.
I was just now looking to see if someone had tried this with xylitol instead of erythritol (because I already have xylitol on hand). Was curious how to adapt the recipe. Thanks!
You should be able to use the same amount – maybe cut it back by around 15%.
I loved this! I thought the oven temp was too high as well, knocked it back to 325 and the cake turned out perfect.
Here’s a couple variations I tried and it turned out good too.
1. No lemon extract, extra 1/2 of vanilla. Take out a 2 cups of batter and add 1/8 c. unsweetened cocoa powder. Pour 1/2 vanilla batter into bread pan, then spoon chocolate batter into the center, top with the rest of the vanilla batter. Lovely.
2. No lemon extract, extra 1/2 tsp of vanilla; add 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. bake as directed. It’s a nice brunch treat, like a cinnamon roll.
😫😫 be sure to use an XL loaf pan or split it into two. Mine completely baked over and made a huge mess!!! I’m so bummed. I had to try and salvage by pouring the remaining batter into a new loaf pan. On the plus side it taste amazing and I will be making again. But lesson learned.
I’m planning on trying this today with a bundt pan and without the glaze but have a question re: sweetener. Can I substitute the cake sweetener with honey, maple and/or agave syrup? If so, how?
For keto, unfortunately none of those sweeteners you listed are accepted.
Made this recipe today with a twist. I left out the lemon and added about half to three quarters of a cup of natural pnut butter. Boy was it tasty! I scooped the pnut butter from under the oil. Figured it didn’t need any extra oil and it baked up perfect. 2 loaf pans. After about 40 minutes it was starting to look a little browned on top so I turned off the oven and just let the loaves sit in there for the remaining time. They were perfect. Froze one and will slice off one for the next couple days. Great recipe. Highly recommend.
Thanks for sharing this awesome keto pound cake variation, Beth! Sounds delicious.
I am going to make this tonight. Is the pan that it is baked in greased?
We didn’t grease the pan but it was a non-stick pan. If you have an older non-stick pan that doesn’t work as well as it used to, greasing would be recommended.
Laura,
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I enjoyed so much this morning with a cup of coffee/coconut milk added your webpage is really great your instructions are clear and neat, I really enjoyed baking this cake! . This recipe is what I was looking for long time especially after feeling of guilt when eating 2 slices of regular bread in the morning ….my carbs were ruined for the day and i was still hungry . Again thank you for your generosity!
Awesome recipe! I added fresh lemon juice to the icing and it curdled into a cottage-cheese-like consistency, but I warmed it on the stove top and it smoothed right out.
My newly-keto’ed husband has been struggling with cake cravings and this made him so happy. <3
https://uploads.disquscdn.c… Yum 😋 is all I can say. I halved the recipe and put in an 8in bundt cake pan, used lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice only changes I made. No lemon extract.
Hi there,
I made this- delicious! I was attracted to it since you listed it as less than 3 net carbs per serving so I went ahead and made it. I like to do my own calculations so I can be exact and gasped when I realized that your calculations hadn’t taken into consideration the Eyrithritol? You zero’d everything out but I looked at the brand you use and it is net 4 carbs. 1 serving is 4 grams and your recipe calls for 192 grams! I just realized the slice I ate (of 16 slices) has a whopping 17 net carbs! Am I missing something?
With erythritol we tend not to count the carbs since erythritol is not processed by the human body. You can see more about it on our sweetener page here: https://www.ruled.me/keto-d…
Hi Craig, I appreciate the super quick response! Thanks for pointing me to this article, feeling a bit more relieved now : ) – S
I have found that anytime I make something using erythritol it throws me out of ketosis. I know it’s not supposed to but it does. Just want people who are doing keto to beware. I knew erythritol was too good to be true
In the scientific testing I’ve seen on erythritol, it shouldn’t be the erythritol that is knocking you out of ketosis. Are you sure that it’s not something else? It’s possible that you just have a negative reaction with it.
Can you use a bundt pan with this recipe? or would you need to double the ingredients? The loaf pan seems small
You definitely could use a bundt pan, but I am not sure what the volume equivalent would be. I think you should be fine using the same amount of batter and giving it a try. Double the batter may take a lot longer to cook.
I felt like there was not enough lemon flavor. I tasted the batter before I baked and added another 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract, but I was afraid that it might taste different after baking. Wish i had added fresh lemon juice. That is what I did for the glaze, and it made such a difference. The cake has good texture though, but browned very quickly. Might lower to 325 and add lemon juice if I do this again.
Let me know how the lemon juice goes for you – I’m very excited to hear.
A three part question: Can I use Swerve as the sweetner? If so, which do you recommend for the batter (granular or confectioner)? If confection, do I use the same measurement as the recipe calls for?
You could just use granular. I find that powdered usually does give a better overall texture though. If you want, just throw the granular swerve in a coffee grinder and powder it yourself. Much cheaper that way, too.
I’m allergic to milk protein but would love to make this cake. What substitution would you recommend in place of cream cheese? Thank you!
This was really, really good. Very moist and delicious. I used 1 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice and the zest from a whole lemon instead of lemon extract. The batter tasted lemony but the finished cake only had a very mild lemon flavor. I didn’t like the taste of the glaze so I added lemon juice until it tasted right to me. I baked mine in a pound cake pan at 350F and it was done in 50 minutes. I used Swerve confectioners as my sweetener and there was no after taste and it was definitely not eggy. Totally satisfied my craving for pound cake. Thanks for the great recipe!
Can this be done with monkfruit? How much to substitute for the erythritol if so?
It can, but it may change the texture of the overall cake since monk fruit is much sweeter than erythritol and usually requires much less volume. For substituting, you can find more info here: https://www.ruled.me/compre…
Can erythritol be substituted with Stevia? Thank you.
As with monk fruit extract, you can use stevia as a substitute, but it may change the texture of the overall cake for the same reasons that monk fruit would.
To figure out how much stevia to use and how to adjust the recipe, follow the recommendations in this article:
https://www.ruled.me/compre…
What size pan, regular loaf or small loaf?
Regular
Is there a way to reduce the number of eggs? I am intolerant but up to a certain point, I can have them mixed in recipes but 8 looks like a lot;
People have reported good success using 6 eggs in this recipe, so you could try that. Remember that it makes a whole loaf which is many, many servings (so the amount of egg per serving will be relatively small).
Very delicious cake even without the glaze 🙂
Really happy to hear you enjoy it! I personally prefer it without the glaze myself 🙂
I absolutely love this recipe. I have baked it twice and it does not disappoint. My family and friends can’t believe it’s sugar free. I am making it again today 🙂
Sounds like a great idea to me! Thanks for the feedback, Syvella 🙂
Can I make this into muffins?
Yes, you can! Just make sure to check the muffins a bit sooner, since they will need less time in the oven.
Ok so as I was reading the comments of others I noticed that they said the cake overflowed in their pan so I decided to take some out and put it in a little bread pan I had in reserve thank god I did because it would’ve made a mess in my oven but it came out very good the frosting is a little sweet but I really like the taste of this pound cake and I’m sure I will be making it again !!!