25 mins
For serious chocolate lovers only! This rich keto chocolate pound cake gets a holiday twist with some sugar-free chocolate peppermint ganache and a drizzle of low carb white chocolate.
A true pound cake would have a pound of flour, a pound of butter, a pound of eggs, and a pound of sugar, and that’s about it. It’s incredibly rich and dense, and let’s be honest, not so great for you.
But you can achieve a similar texture and richness with keto ingredients, even if they aren’t used in the same proportions. This dense chocolate loaf cake is a prime example. It’s super rich and chocolatey so a little goes a long way!
1 hr 10 mins
16 servings
Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, leaving overhanging sides for easy removal. Grease the parchment.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cocoa powder, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the beaters and the sides of the bowl in between additions. Beat in the peppermint and vanilla extracts.
Add half of the almond flour mixture and beat until well combined, then beat in the cream and water. Beat in the remaining almond flour mixture until combined.
Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake 60 to 70 minutes, until the top is firm to the touch and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely in the pan and then use the overhanging parchment to lift out of the pan.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the heavy cream and the powdered sweetener. Whisk until smooth, then bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
Add the chocolate chips and let sit a few minutes to melt. Add the peppermint extract and whisk until smooth.
Let the ganach sit 3 to 5 minutes to thicken. It should still be pourable but not runny. Drizzle over the top of the cake and let run down the sides. You can spread it over the sides if you prefer.
Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, combine the white chocolate chips and the cocoa butter. Watch carefully and whisk until smooth (white chocolate can seize easily, especially this small amount).
Drizzle over the chilled cake and let set.
To get that same dense pound cake crumb, I used a combination of almond flour and coconut flour. Along with the cocoa powder, it produces a denser texture more reminiscent of the real thing.
But don’t leave out that protein powder! It’s not for added protein but for good cake consistency. In the absence of gluten, it helps keto cakes rise better and hold their shape. I left it out once in a chocolate cake like this and I regretted it instantly. The cake was fragile and didn’t rise enough.
My sweetener of choice for this cake is Swerve, of course, but you will notice that it’s not even close to equal a pound of sugar. My tastes have changed considerably and I found 2/3 cup about right for the cake. I wouldn’t have wanted it any sweeter, especially with the ganache on top.
Most granulated sweeteners would work here so feel free to sub. But also feel free to use your judgement on sweetness. If you find dark chocolate flavors too bitter, add more sweetener.
Not all peppermint extracts are created equal, as it turns out. I usually use the Simply Organic brand, which is oil based. But for this cake, I was out of it so I grabbed an alcohol based extract and noticed that it was much less potent so I had to add more to get the flavor I was seeking.
For the white chocolate drizzle, you really want to melt them with some cocoa butter or coconut oil. White chocolate is even more finicky than dark chocolate and this helps keep it from seizing.
For a little added festive touch, I added just a sprinkling of edible glitter from The Sprinkle Company (totally unsweetened). You could do other sugar-free sprinkles, if desired. Or just a light sprinkling of granulated sweetener might look pretty too.
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