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Heavenly keto gingerbread cake! This tender cream cheese pound cake is flavored with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves for a classic low carb holiday dessert. This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill.
I won’t lie, I have a mild obsession with gingerbread. Particularly as the weather cools down and the leaves start to fall. There’s something old-fashioned and homey about those warm spices baked into a cake or a cookie. You almost feel like you will step out your front door into a snowy European street from times past.
And this beautiful Gingerbread Cake is the latest culmination of my obsession. I have so many gingerbread recipes, such as my popular Keto Gingerbread Men, or the gorgeous and elegant Keto Gingerbread Cake Roll. And my Gingerbread Loaf is very popular around this time of year.
Gingerbread flavors lend themselves well to so many baked goods – cakes, cookies, puddings, soufflé, scones, biscotti. This time, I took the ever popular Cream Cheese Pound Cake, and turned it into gingerbread. How can you go wrong with an extra moist, dense, rich gingerbread pound cake?
What is in traditional gingerbread cake?
It goes without saying that gingerbread contains plenty of ginger, but that’s not the only spice that adds to the classic flavor. It also contains a fair amount cinnamon, as well as cloves, nutmeg, and/or allspice.
Conventional gingerbread typically also contains lots of sugar and molasses. It’s this last addition that gives gingerbread it’s rich, dark color and flavor. Alas, molasses is hardly keto friendly and while I have used a teaspoon here and there on occasion, it’s not enough to add the kind of deep brown color for a full cake.
So how do you make Keto Gingerbread Cake?
Excellent question, my keto friend. I do have plenty of tricks up my sleeve when it comes to keto baking, to improve texture, flavor, and appearance, without increasing the carb load.
This is an almond flour cake and of course I used my trusty Bob’s Red Mill finely blanched almond flour. It never fails to produce fine-crumbed cakes that rival their high carb counterparts. But please check the recipe notes if you need to be nut-free.
Now, to get that darker color, I always add a tablespoon of cocoa powder. That’s not normal in gingerbread cake but it works and it isn’t enough to make the flavor taste at all like chocolate. With sufficient ginger and cinnamon in the mix, you don’t get any hint of the cocoa.
Speaking of the spices, you can go as heavy or as light as you like here. Inevitably whenever I make keto gingerbread recipes, someone says it’s to much spice, and someone says it’s not enough. I write my recipes for the middle of the road folks, but like many of you, I prefer lots of gingery goodness!
And now that Swerve Brown is available, I prefer that for any gingerbread recipe. It has a richer, more molasses-like flavor.
You know what takes this keto cream cheese pound cake over the top? A sprinkle of powdered sweetener and a drizzle of my sugar-free caramel sauce. It’s heavenly! But a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream would be good too.
Can you freeze keto gingerbread cake?
Heck yeah! In fact, this would be a perfect keto cake to make ahead of the holidays and freeze until you’re ready to serve.
As with all keto baked goods, let it cool completely first. Then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place either in a sealable freezer bag (heavy duty is best) or a large tupperware. And just freeze the naked cake, with no garnish or glaze. You can make that later.
Let it thaw at room temperature in its wrappings and then it should be perfect for serving when you’re ready. Add any powdered sweetener or caramel sauce as you serve.
Many thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for partnering with me to bring you this recipe.
Keto Gingerbread Pound Cake
Heavenly keto gingerbread cake! This tender cream cheese pound cake is flavored with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves for a classic low carb holiday dessert.
5 from 37 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gingerbread cake, keto gingerbread
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 244kcal
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup Swerve Brown
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups almond flour (see notes for nut-free)
- 1 ½ tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Powdered sweetener
- Sugar-free caramel sauce
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a 10 to 12 cup capacity bundt pan very well.
In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until well combined. Beat in the brown "sugar" sweetener until lightened and fluffier, about 3 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract.
Add the almond flour, spices, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt all at once and beat in until well combined. Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan and bake 55 to 65 minutes, until the top is set and firm to the touch.
Remove and let cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before flipping out onto a wire rack to cool completely.Sprinkle with powdered sweetener and/or drizzle with homemade sugar-free caramel sauce.
Notes
** For a nut-free version of this cake, I recommend using sunflower seed flour as a 1:1 replacement. The one from GERBS is completely free of all allergens. The only issue is that sunflower seeds can react with baking powder and turn greenish as it cools. You can offset this with a tablespoon of acid such as lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.
Nutrition Facts
Keto Gingerbread Pound Cake
Amount Per Serving (1 serving = 1/16th of cake)
Calories 244Calories from Fat 191
% Daily Value*
Fat 21.2g33%
Carbohydrates 6.4g2%
Fiber 2.7g11%
Protein 7.1g14%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
