Do you love serving a pretty patriotic dessert for the 4th of July? Dazzle them with this ultra-moist sour cream cake topped with a silky whipped cream cheese frosting. Made with almond flour and sour cream, this easy sheet cake cake is gluten-free, low carb, and feeds a crowd
For me, the best part of Independence day is wowing my family with a delicious red, white, and blue dessert. While traditional desserts like Blueberry Crumble Bars, Strawberry Shortcake, or Strawberry Cream Pie are always a hit, this sour cream cake festively decorated with strawberries and blueberries is as pretty as it is scrumptious!
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Keto Sour Cream Cake
Unlike other low carb cakes, this sour cream cake has minimal ingredients and is easy to prepare. Most keto dessert recipes use a blend of low carb flours but this cake only calls for almond flour. Sour cream and melted butter keep the texture moist and velvety while vanilla adds a delicious flavor.
Expect an incredibly moist almond flour cake with a delicate crumb and luscious texture. It’s topped with a light, whipped cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries and blueberries. This low carb dessert recipe is absolutely delicious and so simple to make. I promise you’ll never miss the carbs in this keto cake.
Sugar-free Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
This sugar-free whipped cream frosting is my husband’s favorite. You’ll find a hint of butter in the in the background and just enough vanilla to balance the tartness of the cream cheese. Starting with cold cream cheese ensures that the heavy cream will whip, producing a more stable frosting.
Erythritol based sweeteners will sometimes recrystallize after sitting in the refrigerator – especially in moist confections. We’ve all experienced “crunchy” frostings or cake fillings. To reduce this effect, I use a finely powdered sweetener like Sukrin Icing Sugar (Melis), Swerve Confectioners, Lakanto Powedered or Besti Monk Fruit with Allulose (Powdered).
To get the best results in your keto frosting recipes, make sure to beat the icing sugar with butter or cream cheese for several minutes to encourage it to dissolve. When completely dissolved, less/finer crystals form. Another trick is to use less erythritol and augment sweetness with stevia.
Tips for the perfect keto cream cheese frosting:
- Start with cold cream cheese. This ensures that the heavy cream will whip well and produces a more stable frosting.
- For the smoothest frosting, use a finely powdered sweetener.
- Make sure to beat the icing sugar with the cream cheese first for several minutes so it completely dissolves. This helps prevent crystals from forming.
- Then, beat in the softened butter.
- Next add the heavy cream, a little at a time, whipping until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Low Carb Baking Simplified!
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the steps required to make a cake? I know I have. I thought it all had to be done in one day. Then, I discovered the secret of professional cake decorators – don’t do it all in one day!
I make my cakes in advance and cool them completely before wrapping well in cling film and refrigerating until needed. Make this sour cream cake a few days ahead of time and park it in the fridge until you’re ready to frost it.
If you plan to frost this sour cream cake today and serve it tomorrow, store it uncovered in the fridge overnight or at least 6 hours without the fruit. Refrigerating it uncovered, ensures that the frosting chills and forms a thin skin that won’t stick to the cling film. Add the fruit to decorate just before serving or several hours before serving and lightly cover with cling film.
NOTE: When decorating, be sure to use the fruit sparingly. We low carb Keto dieters keep our fruit consumption to a minimum in order to keep blood sugars low. Using fresh berries as a garnish allows us to enjoy without overdoing it. And, it provides a pretty patriotic twist making this sour cream cake a winner for all the summer holidays.
Keto Sour Cream Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3 cups almond flour (280 g)
- 2/3 cup low carb sugar See menu bar for gram conversion
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3 large eggs (I always use cold)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup salted butter, melted (4 tbsp, 2 oz)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp stevia glycerite
Frosting:
- 6 oz cold cream cheese
- 1/3 cup low carb powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup salted butter (very soft) (4 tbps, 2 oz)
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp stevia glycerite (or to taste)
Garnish:
- 6 medium strawberries, halved
- 36 small blueberries
- 12 mint sprigs (optional)
Instructions
Cake Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in middle position. Spray a 1/4 sheet pan (small jelly roll pan) with baking spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper and spray the paper.
Cake Procedure:
- Stir almond flour before measuring with a whisk to break up any lumps. Measure all of the dry ingredients into a medium-large bowl. Whisk to thoroughly combine.
- Add all of the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly with a hand mixer. Scrape the thick batter into the prepared sheet pan and smooth evenly with an offset spatula for best results.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes. The cake should spring back when lightly pressed with a finger, but still sound slightly moist. Remove from oven and let cool completely. (I place a clean tea towel over the cake while it cools to trap in the steam.)
Frosting:
- Place the cold cream cheese in a small-medium bowl with the powdered sweetener, vanilla extract and stevia glycerite. Beat with a hand mixer until the cream cheese is completely smooth and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides to incorporate any stray lumps. Add the soft butter and repeat.
- Incorporate the heavy cream, 1/4 cup at a time, whipping well between additions. Beat the frosting until it resembles whipped cream and the sweetener has dissolved.
Assembly:
- Frost the cake. Garnish with fruit. Cut and Serve. Serves 12 at 4.5 net carbs each (including the fruit).
NOTES:
- I always make my cakes in advance and cool completely before wrapping in cling film and refrigerating until needed. After frosting my cakes, I leave them uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. This helps the frosting "crust" a bit so cling film doesn't stick to it. (If using an all whipped cream frosting, I cover loosely with cling wrap use tooth picks to prevent the wrap from marring the cake. I don't leave it uncovered.)
- I baked this cake two days before photographing. I frosted it the night before and left it in the fridge uncovered. Then, I carefully measured and cut my pieces. Lastly, I decorated it just before photographing. The strawberries were medium sized and the blueberries were very small. The biggest blueberries were medium sized with the others the size of small peas. I used mint from my garden, but you could use a larger single leaf of mint or very small triangles of lemon, too.
- Always let a low carb cake sit on the counter for 10-20 minutes before enjoying. The fat solidifies in the fridge causing a firm texture which some mistake as being dry. I take my dessert out at dinner time and it is ready by the time we are finished.
- This cake keeps well in the fridge for a week and can be frozen.
I just made the cake but it doesn’t seem to have risen. I followed the directions exactly except that I beat the cake batter for two minutes. And I had no jelly roll pan so I used a 9 x 13 cake pan. My cake is only 1/2 inch thick.
Hi Karen. A quarter sheet pan is approximately 9×13″ with 1 inch sides. You can see in the picture that even frosted, the cake doesn’t quite reach the rim of the pan. My cake rose to around 1/2″ (maybe a tiny higher? I posted this over a year and a half ago). If the cake is super dense and has no air holes, it didn’t rise. You can try using more baking powder or bumping the rise with about 1/2 tsp baking soda along with the baking powder. I hope the cake tasted nice despite not rising as much as you liked. Boosting the rising power with the baking soda or using more baking powder should resolve the problem. -Kim
Hi Kim. I want to thank you that dessert was delicious! The cake was light and moist. It was a big hit with my keto family. I have tried other recipes but my husband has not like them he raved over this and asked me how did you get rid of the grittiness LOL. Thanks again for taking the time to post recipes; everyone of your recipes that I have tried are wonderful.
Can you substitute the Stevia glycerite for liquid Stevia?
Yes, Connie. Sub it to taste. I use the stevia glycerite because I find the liquid stevia very bitter. Enjoy the recipe. -Kim
Question- Do you think your sour cream cake would work if I added shredded Zucchini in it? I have an abundance of it and need low carb ideas of things to make. I would love some “sweet” treat recipes!
Thanks!!
I don’t know, Lynn, it might. I have a great zucchini bread recipe and an awesome chocolate zucchini muffin recipe. -Kim
We made this for the 4th of July. It was one of the best low carb cakes, ever! Where can I post a photo? Thank you.
Oh, i’d love to see it! You can post it on Facebook on the Low Carb Maven page or on Instagram and tag me. I’m so happy you liked it. -Kim
If I could give this 10 stars, I would. I baked it in a 9 x 13 pan and covered it with the frosting and berries as described. I make a lot of keto desserts, this was by FAR the best.
I baked this cake for a graduation ceremony and it was a huge hit!! A few people asked me for the recipe so I gave them the URL of this page. Thank you for sharing your special recipe!!!
I’m happy your cake was a success, Kiko. It feels so good when people ask for the recipe! Thanks for coming back and letting me know that it was a success. Enjoy your weekend. -Kim
This looks perfect for the 4th of July. I’m the only Keto/low carber in my family and I think a 9 x 13 would just be too big for me- or I’d eat too much! Can I half the recipe and make it in an 8 x 8 pan? Think that will work?
Thanks, Ranee. You can absolutely make it in an 8X8 pan. I would rather you use a metal pan than a glass pan because the baking time and temp will be different leading to over baking and a dry cake. Halving the recipe may lead to a much thinner cake, which is already thin at about 3/4 of an inch. -Kim
I am anxious to make this. I am confused as to when you cover or not the cake. I understand you bake the cake and then wrap and store in fridge. Then uncover to frost….put back in fridge to crust……..then I am lost…….. do you have the dimensions of the pan? Wondering if I could do 2 8×8? thank you
Hi Sue. I’m sorry I didn’t get onto my computer until just now. I answered your question on my Facebook page. I’m sorry for the confusion. I’ll try to rewrite that section tomorrow. -Kim
I can’t wait, I will make this lovely cake perfect for the 4 of July, Thank you.
What is Stevia Glycerite? Is it just regular Stevia?
Hi Terrie. Stevia glycerite is a viscous, concentrated from of stevia which I do not find bitter. Many of the liquid stevia drops are very bitter to me but this one is not – unless I use too much in a chocolate recipe. I hope this helps. -Kim
This looks like it’s really good.. I hope to try it real soon but I need to ask you a question before I do. Must all no sugar, low carb. desserts be made with the sweetener in your recipes + the almond flour? I am fairly new to cooking this way and don’t have the special flour and sweetners that you use. . Thank you for sharing your recipe; I look forward to getting your answer.
Is the sweetener you used liquid? And could I use another sweetener such as Splenda or Equal?
Hi Rita, good questions. If you plan on doing low carb baking, you will find that most recipes use almond flour, coconut flour or a combination of the two. Whey protein powder is often used to provide a little structure to a recipe that may otherwise be a little mushy or dense in texture. I have two good articles about sweeteners. The first talks about natural, artificial, and natural low carb sweeteners and the second talks about some great low carb sweeteners and how to use them to the best effect.
I found early on that Splenda for baking produces mushy baked goods. Moreover, it contains mostly dextrose and maltodextrine, both of which have higher glycemix than regular sugar. If you can find the Splenda which is an erythritol blend of erythritol and stevia, that would be fine to use. It’s best not to heat Equal (aspartame) as it breaks down in heat. It is also neurotoxic, from what I have read and should be avoided whenever possible.
You can find almond flour at Costco now, but I often purchase mine from Amazon. Look for Welbee brand. I also like coconut flour, but more care is needed in using it in recipes. Most people say to use lots of eggs with coconut flour, but that leads to overly eggy products that stick like crazy to the pan Low carb baking is a science. The very best results are found in those recipes that use more ingredients rather than less, but that doesn’t mean that a simple recipe isn’t good.
I could go on-and-on about low carb baking. I love it so much, but don’t often post sweet recipes because it takes me so long to test them.
Please let me know if you have any more questions. -Kim
Kim, what a gorgeous dessert this is !!!! Love the fruit decoration on the top….so inviting. This sounds delicious. Sour cream, yum. Would be so nice for a bridal shower as well…one of the prettiest low carb cakes I have ever seen, and so easy. Can’t wait to try it.
Thank you, Deborah! I love the idea of serving this for a bridal shower. Thank you for taking the time to leave such a nice comment. Enjoy your week. -Kim
If I did the math right, this cake had about 100 grams of carbohydrates, is that right? 60 grams from the almond flour and 30ish hands from the cream cheese.
Hi Walid. I am so sorry I didn’t have the little code in place to share the nutritional information. It is there now. Each serving is 4.5 net carbs. I use Fatsecret.com to calculate the nutritional information. Make sure to weigh your ingredients in grams and to subtract the carbs from erythritol for the most accurate numbers. -Kim
This is beautiful! Perfect for Independence Day. I am so excited to try this!
Are swerve and Sukrin the same?
They are similar, Julie. You can sub Swerve for the Sukrin. -Kim