Easy Keto Pound Cake

4.7 stars, average of 713 ratings

By Lauren Lester, updated March 27 202061

This keto-friendly pound cake is literally the easiest guilt-free dessert. Best of all - one slice has 3 grams of net carbs and less than 300 calories!

All it takes is one bowl and a few simple ingredients to whip up this fluffy low-carb cake. Eat alone or with whipped cream!

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0 hours, 40 minutes

Hands-on 10 minutes Overall 50 minutes

Nutritional values (per slice)

Net carbs3.2 grams

Protein9.1 grams

Fat25.4 grams

Calories275 kcal

Calories from carbs 5%, protein 13%, fat 82%

Total carbs5.1 gramsFiber1.9 gramsSugars2.3 gramsSaturated fat9.7 gramsSodium113 mg(5% RDA)Magnesium56 mg(14% RDA)Potassium191 mg(10% EMR)

Ingredients (makes 8 servings)

5 large eggs
115 g full-fat cream cheese (4 oz)
¹/₄ cup melted butter or ghee (60 ml/ 2 fl oz)
¹/₄ cup heavy cream (60 ml/ 2 fl oz)
2 tsp sugar-free vanilla extract
1 tsp sugar-free almond extract
1 ¹/₂ cups almond flour (150 g/ 5.3 oz)
¹/₂ cup granulated Swerve or Erythritol, or to taste (100 g/ 3.5 oz)
pinch of sea salt

Note: Instead of vanilla and almond extract, you can use freshly grated lemon zest and lemon juice or cinnamon.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 175 °C/ 350 °F (conventional), or 155 °C/ 310 °F (fan assisted) and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Place the eggs, cream cheese, butter, cream, vanilla, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl and beat using a hand mixer until smooth. Add in the remaining dry ingredients and beat once more until incorporated.
Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. The exact time depends on the size of your loaf pan. The wider it is the less time it will take to cook through.
Optionally, dust with some powdered Swerve or Erythritol. Slice and enjoy it on it's own or serve with some whipped cream! Store at room temperature for up to two days or in the fridge for up to a week.

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per slice)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Almond flour (blanched ground almonds, almond meal)
1.6 g	4 g	9.8 g	111 kcal
Swerve, natural sweetener (Erythritol and chicory inulin based)
0.6 g	0 g	0 g	3 kcal
Salt, sea salt
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Eggs, free-range or organic
0.2 g	3.9 g	3 g	45 kcal
Cream cheese, soft (full-fat)
0.5 g	1 g	4 g	35 kcal
Butter, unsalted, grass-fed
0 g	0.1 g	5.8 g	51 kcal
Cream, heavy whipping, pouring, full-fat (30-40% fat)
0.2 g	0.1 g	2.9 g	27 kcal
Vanilla extract, sugar-free, alcohol-based
0 g	0 g	0 g	2 kcal
Natural extract, sugar-free (peppermint, almond, orange, lemon, coconut, etc)
0 g	0 g	0 g	1 kcal
Total per slice
3.2 g	9.1 g	25.4 g	275 kcal

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Cynthia 5 months ago #

What size loaf pan did you use? ~ thanks

Martina @ KetoDiet 5 months ago #

This should be a 13 x 23 cm (5 x 9 inch) loaf pan (measured inside). You can use any size, just make sure it's not more than 3/4 full when you pour it in. Also, you may need to add baking time (5-10 minutes) if the loaf pan is smaller but deeper.

Lisa Campbell 7 months ago #

Love this recipe! Have made it with lemon and blueberries with a monkfruit and lemon powdered sugar glaze and also with almond flavor with sugar free chocolate chips. I do add baking powder. Thank you - this is a keeper!

Martina @ KetoDiet 7 months ago #

Thank you for your lovely feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed! ❤

VK 9 months ago #

Don’t make this recipe......unless you have a strong sense of control!!! It is amazing!! I did exclude the almond flavoring as I am not much for a strong almond flavor, instead adding extra vanilla flavor. I like it with the powdered swerve like is shown but I also adore it with keto cream cheese icing for a little more sweetness. Both ways are definitely a treat to the taste buds pair with coffee and you have a nice start to the morning. Thanks for the great recipe.

Martina @ KetoDiet 9 months ago #

Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed! ❤

DeNett Reed one year ago #

Love it!... the perfect way to take care of my sweet tooth. The almond extract made this cake oh sooooo delicious!!! Thanks for such a wonderful recipe. I look forward to making more recipes, you are much appreciated 😊

Martina @ KetoDiet one year ago #

Thank you so much, I'm happy you enjoyed! ❤

George Newman one year ago #

Well that didn't work at all. Flat heavy wet brick.

I've made this a few times and mine was never a "heavy flat brick" but compared to other cakes it does not get light and fluffy - it is supposed to be more dense. Pound cake does not use baking powder but you could always make it fluffier by adding some.

Tina one year ago #

Hi,
Thanks for your recipe. Can I bake it in a bread machine? I used to make my non keto pound cakes in a bread machine.
Thanks

I'd love to know that too! I never owned a bread machine so I'm not sure. But please do share your thoughts if you try it 😊

Sherry Ann one year ago #

Hi! Love love love the flavor of this and we made a vanilla cream cheese icing for it too!
My cake (we are at 4400 elevation), so we are not sure if that is the challenge? But mine did not look as airy as yours and the top was completely smooth. So we're not sure if we beat it or what we did different.
But it was delicious!!!
Sherry Ann

Thank you Sherry! It might be due to the high altitude (see my comment below for tips). I'm glad you enjoyed! ❤

Fern one year ago #

Hi Martina,
I’ve made this cake several times, always with great results..I’m not an experience baker, btw.
Love your recipes🌟
Happy New Year, sending love and good wishes🥰

Thank you for your kind words, Fern, I'm happy to hear that! 😊

Elora Dunn one year ago #

Love this recipe, any tips for high altitude baking?

Hi Elora, I'd use the general tips and as a minimum increase the temperature by 25 F. There's no baking powder here so no need to reduce. A good guide is here: http://dish.allrecipes.com/high-altitude-cake-baking/ 😊

Kevin Stansbury one year ago #

this is a wonderful recipe and taste delicious my only question is how did you get the almond flour to be so yellow? Because my almond flour mix my poundcake a little bit more brown

Thank you Kevin! I think it may be the eggs. If the egg yolks are dark yellow/orange then the pound cake will have a more yellow/orange hue 😊

Elena one year ago #

Just made this, very yummy !!!
Thank you so much for the recipes, you're an absolute star.

Thank you Elena!

Kaysi 🌸 one year ago #

OMG I love this cake! Made them in a cup cake tray - perfect!! Yum yum 😋

Thank you!

Rhonda 2 months ago #

Did you cut the time on the baking for the cup cake size? Would love to have this option as well. Thanks.

Martina @ KetoDiet one month ago #

Yes, I think you should cut the baking time to 20-25 minutes.(Use a wooden stick or a skewer to test for doneness.)

rebecca starr one year ago #

I made this yesterday for the first time. I’ve never made a pound cake before, but this came out dense, moist, and heavy (which I love) and very generous portions. Will try again using lemon juice and zest next time. Only negative is that it sort of collapsed in the middle after taking it out. So definitely not as pretty as the photo in the recipe. But super easy to make (shoved everything in my nutri ninja and gave it a blast). Then poured the (very runny) mixture into the loaf tin!!

Thank you for your feedback! I will be just guessing... There is no baking powder (too much of it would cause air bubbles) or psyllium (can't be over processed). Possibly sudden temperature changes could cause that.

JJ one year ago #

I was a bit skeptic of this batter as it was very runny, but it turned out fine after leaving it in the oven for an extra 10 minutes.
The cake itself is quiet dense, but nice texture and flavour ( I used lemon rind and juice instead).
Overall lovely pick me up snack with a cup of tea or coffee.

Thank you for your kind words, JJ!

San one year ago #

Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m in my first week of Keto, finding my way around. I was short of a couple of macro nutrients tonight, but more importantly i was on the hunt for something sweet. I made this. It ticked a lot of boxes. It was so easy, it came out perfect and everyone in the house is grateful. Also, im able to carry it forward for a snack here and there on my plan. And ive frozen 3 pieces. Thanks again.

Thank you for your lovely feedback!

Gloria one year ago #

I'm not a fan of eggs and I'm wondering if this pound cake turns out "eggy" since the recipe calls for 5 eggs? Thanks in advance!

Hi Gloria, I haven't made this specific recipe but I made a similar one and didn't think it was eggy. I found that vanilla helps beat any eggy aftertaste. Or you could substitute 1-2 of the regular eggs with flax eggs (1 egg = 1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp water). Just mix the flax and water and add it to the eggs. I hope this helps!

DavetteB 9 months ago #

All pound cakes have 5-6 eggs; that's where it gets its name - it called for a pound Each of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. You should taste butter (use the good stuff) and whatever flavoring you used. HTH
PS: I'm going to try it as the cake part of a keto upside down cake 🙂

Thank you, that sounds like a great suggestion!

Norma one year ago #

Cheese, ghee, heavy cream. I get a guy ache from cow milk products

You can try some of our dairy-free keto recipes: ketodietapp.com/Blog/Filter

angie one year ago #

Is there any baking powder in this recipe?

No baking powder (just like the traditional version) 😊

Emma one year ago #

fyi its easier to mix the melted butter and (softened) cream cheese first and then mix in the eggs.

Sheila one year ago #

Can you use a stand mixer? Like KitchenAid with the wire wisk attachment? I'm new to Keto and see a lot of these recipes using a hand mixer - and wonder why...
Thanks in advance

Absolutely! I make most cakes in my Kenwood (similar to KitchenAid).

Brooke Freeman one year ago #

I made the pound cake for a celebration night and it was fantastic. I put a keto lemon glaze on top with flaked almonds which made it lovely and tangy. I love how dense it is, very much like the pound cake from my childhood. Thank you 😊

Thank you Brooke, the glaze sounds like a great addition!

Dee one year ago #

Do I have to use almond extract - can I just use vanilla? Also can I make these into cupcakes and what would the cooking time be? Thank you.

You can use just vanilla extract or even lemon zest - it depends what you like. Cupcakes will work too! Depending on the size, I'd bake them for 20-25 minutes 😊

VScott one year ago #

This was a very easy and exceptionally delicious Pound Cake. The serving size is generous for the carb count. Whole family loved it.
Thank You

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

Melissa Griffiths (http://www.blessthismessplease.com/) one year ago #

What a gorgeous cake! It looks so moist!

Eva one year ago #

I made a lemon version. This is a very dense cake. It's a lot for two people who are not that into sweets to consume. Wondering if it would freeze well. Any ideas about that? (Next time I'll make a half recipe.) Made a topping of whipped coconut cream, a bit of sweetener and lemon juice, Yum

Yes, this cake will freeze well and it's best if you can pre-cut it into individual servings before freezing 😊

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Could mascarpone be used in place of cream cheese?

Yes you can. It will just result in slightly more fat/calories per serving.

Danielle one year ago #

Aside from wishing I had really let the cream cheese soften so that it blended completely in with the batter, this recipe is excellent! I only had a weirdly small loaf pan so I just baked it in an 8in cake pan. It tastes delicious! And it’s dense like a true pound cake! I will definitely be making this one again. Thanks for such an easy and tasty recipe.

Alice Gomez one year ago #

Ok so I made this today. Am very pleased
on how it turned out. I am no Betty Crocker but it was easy enough even for me.

I'm glad you like it! It's super simple and so versatile! 😊

Cathy one year ago #

What size loaf pan?

You can use a medium loaf pan about 20 x 12 cm / 8 x 5 inch.

Julia one year ago #

I'm going to give this a go, replacing the vanilla with lemon rind & juice.

sosi one year ago #

Same! Natural vanilla is so good but it's very expensive.

Easy Keto Pound Cake

Hands-on 10 minutes Overall 50 minutes

Nutritional values (per slice)

Ingredients (makes 8 servings)

Instructions

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per slice)

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