Low-Carb Strawberry & Cream Cake

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Strawberries with cream is what defines the beginning of summer for me. It's their beautiful sweet scent that always brings back the best childhood memories from when the summer break starts.

This cake is the perfect keto dessert for hot summer days. It's like a large version of your favourite strawberry shortcake. If you prefer a smaller treat, our Low-Carb Strawberry Shortcake can easily be scaled down or frozen in batches. It's such an easy low-carb summer cake and you won't have to use a piping bag to decorate it.

This strawberry & cream cake is simple yet pretty enough to be a birthday cake. Who can resist delicious layers of vanilla almond flour sponge cake filled with fluffy cream and fresh strawberries?

To make the cake base, I used a tweaked version of my Low-Carb Lemon Cake. The filling is simple and it's similar to my no-bake cheesecake recipe which I adore.

It's a combination of whipping cream, mascarpone, vanilla, lemon and sweetener, all topped with fresh strawberries. If you don't have mascarpone, use more heavy whipping cream, or use cream cheese instead. I added lemon zest which works really well with strawberries and vanilla but you could leave the lemon zest out.

This strawberry cake will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days but I dare you to keep it for so long. It's that delicious! If you make this recipe and share it on Instagram, make sure to tag me @martinaslajerova — I'd love to see all your creations!🍓

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How To Make Dairy-Free Keto Strawberry & Cream Cake

For a dairy-free option, you could try substituting the cream and mascarpone with coconut cream or coconut yogurt (make sure it's thick). I haven't tried it but coconut cream is what I generally use instead of whipped cream so I think it should work.

How To Make Nut-Free Keto Strawberry & Cream Cake

If you can't eat nuts, try substituting the almond flour with an equal amount of ground sunflower seeds, or with coconut flour. If you use coconut flour, you will need to substitute each cup of almond flour with about ¹/₃ cup of coconut flour, plus add one more egg.

This means that instead of 2 cups of almond flour, you could use an additional ²/₃ cup (80 g/ 2.8 oz) of coconut flour (a total of 1 cup) and two more eggs (a total of 6 eggs per recipe).

How to Make Fluffy Keto Cake

This cake is more on the dense and rich side as almond flour is naturally high in fat, ands we are using butter. For a cake that is light and fluffy, try some of these tricks:

• Use defated almond flour instead of regular almond flour.
• Add ¹/₄ cup (25 g/ 0.9 oz) whey protein isolate or egg white protein isolate powder. Collagen powder is another option. All of these options are going to replace the missing gluten and will help the cake rise.
• Swap part of the melted butter for more almond milk. Less fat means lighter cake.
• Instead of adding whole eggs, separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Whip the egg whites with a few drops of lemon juice or ¹/₈ teaspoon of cream of tartar (this will help them stay fluffy). To the bowl with the dry ingredients, add the yolks together with the almond milk mixture and then fold in whipped egg whites.

Nutritional values (per serving, 1 slice)

Ingredients (makes 12 servings)

Cake base:

• ³/₄ stick unsalted butter, melted (85 g/ 3 oz)
• ¹/₂ cup unsweetened almond milk or cashew milk (120 ml/ 4 fl oz)
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• zest of ¹/₂ organic lemon
• 2 cups almond flour (200 g/ 7.1 oz)
• ¹/₃ cup coconut flour (40 g/ 1.4 oz)
• ²/₃ cup granulated Erythritol or Swerve (134 g/ 4.7 oz)
• ¹/₂ tsp vanilla bean powder or 1-2 tsp sugar-free vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cream of tartar or lemon juice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of sea salt

Topping:

• 1 ¹/₂ cups heavy whipping cream (360 ml/ 12 fl oz)
• ¹/₂ cup mascarpone cheese or cream cheese (120 g/ 4.2 oz)
• ¹/₄ cup powdered Erythritol or Swerve (40 g/ 1.4 oz)
• ¹/₄ tsp vanilla powder or 1 tsp sugar-free vanilla extract
• zest of ¹/₂ organic lemon
• 450 g fresh strawberries, halved (1 lb)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 140 °C/ 285 °F (fan assisted), or 160 °C/ 320 °F (conventional). In a sauce pan, heat up the almond milk. Pour it in a bowl over the butter and let it melt. Then add lemon zest, eggs and vanilla (if using vanilla extract) and whisk until well combined.
2. In another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients to make the cake: almond flour, coconut flour, Erythritol, vanilla (if using vanilla powder), baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.
   
3. Using a mixer, process while pouring the wet ingredients slowly into the bowl.
4. Pour the dough into a spring pan lined with parchment paper. (You can use an 8-inch or a 9-inch spring pan.)
5. Transfer into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the cake is set and the crust is golden brown. If unsure, use a wooden skewer and insert it in the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, your cake is done. If you're not sure, leave it in the oven for a few more minutes, as long as the top is not too dark.
6. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack until it reaches room temperature. Once cooled, run a sharp knife around the edges to release the cake, and carefully remove from the spring pan.
7. When the sponge cake base is cool, prepare the cream filling. Place the cream, mascarpone, powdered sweetener, vanilla and lemon zest into a bowl. Use a mixer or a hand whisk to whip until stiff peaks form.
8. Using a large sharp knife, carefully cut the cake widthwise. Spread slightly less than half of the cream over the cut side of the bottom half of the cake.
9. Top with half of the sliced strawberries.
10. Spread a thin layer (3 to 4 tablespoons) of the cream over the cut side of the top half. This will prevent the strawberries from "bleeding" into the cake. Place on top cut side down to "sandwich" the strawberries between the two halves.
11. Spread the remaining cream on top and then add the remaining strawberries.
12. Place the cake in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
13. Serve, or cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days. If you really need to, you could freeze any leftover slices in a sealed container for up to 3 months but the strawberries won't be as pretty once defrosted.

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving, 1 slice)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Butter, unsalted, grass-fed
0 g	0.1 g	5.7 g	51 kcal
Almond milk natural (unsweetened)
0 g	0.1 g	0.1 g	1 kcal
Egg, whole, fresh, raw (free-range or organic eggs)
0.1 g	2.1 g	1.6 g	24 kcal
Almond flour (blanched ground almonds, almond meal)
1.5 g	3.6 g	8.8 g	98 kcal
Coconut flour, organic
0.4 g	0.6 g	0.5 g	12 kcal
Erythritol (natural low-carb sweetener)
0.6 g	0 g	0 g	2 kcal
Vanilla extract, powder (vanilla bean)
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Lemon zest (peel), fresh
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Cream of tartar, raising agent
0.1 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Baking soda, raising agent (bicarbonate of soda)
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Salt, sea salt
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Cream, heavy whipping, pouring, full-fat (30-40% fat)
0.8 g	0.6 g	11.4 g	110 kcal
Mascarpone cheese
0.2 g	0.6 g	3.5 g	35 kcal
Erythritol (natural low-carb sweetener)
0.2 g	0 g	0 g	1 kcal
Vanilla extract, powder (vanilla bean)
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Strawberries, fresh
2.1 g	0.3 g	0.1 g	12 kcal
Lemon zest (peel), fresh
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Total per serving, 1 slice
5.9 g	7.7 g	31.7 g	347 kcal

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