Light and moist, made with mascarpone frosting and fresh strawberries, this keto strawberry shortcake recipe is a perfect low carb gluten-free dessert to enjoy during strawberry season.
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Ingredients and substitutes
Almond flour - It will give your sponge cake a perfectly soft and moist texture. You won't need to use a cake soak for sure!
Xanthan gum - You don't want to skip this ingredient. It will improve the texture and make your cake less fragile and easier to assemble.
Eggs - You want to use eggs at room temperature for this low carb strawberry cake.
Baking powder - Leavening agent is always a must in keto baking.
Sweetener - I use an erythritol and stevia blend from Sukrin, but you can use Swerve, allulose, or xylitol (xylitol can be deadly for pets!) if you like them more.
Salt and vanilla - A pinch of salt will balance the flavors and vanilla... well, you can't go wrong with vanilla! Right?!
Olive oil - Use extra-mild olive oil or refined coconut oil to avoid a strong coconut flavor.
Mascarpone cheese and heavy whipping cream - I find cream cheese too heavy for this gluten-free strawberry shortcake and heavy cream is too light and unstable. Mascarpone with the addition of heavy cream, on the contrary, seems to make a perfect combo for a decadent, creamy, and slightly more stable frosting for a cake.
Strawberries - Use fresh strawberries. I cubed ⅓ cup to use in the filling and reserved some whole berries for decorating my low carb keto strawberry cake.
Step by step directions
For the sponge cake
Start by preheating the oven to 355F (180C) and lining the bottom of an 8-inch (20cm) cake pan or springform with parchment paper.
Combine the almond flour, xanthan gum, and baking powder in one bowl. Use a hand mixer to beat the eggs with the sweetener in another bowl. The beaten eggs should triple in size and become pale yellow. Then, add the vanilla extract and olive oil and beat on low for 10 seconds.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and fold gently using a rubber spatula until no dry ingredients are left. Work in 2 batches to make the combining process easier and to avoid deflating the egg mixture.
Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake on the lowest rack. Bake for around 35 mins, or until the toothpick inserted into the center of the sponge cake comes out dry and clean. If the top is browning too fast, cover with a piece of foil and continue baking until done.
Remove from the oven and let cool down in the cake pan for 5-10 minutes. Then, run a blunt knife or a thin spatula against the wall of the pan to loosen the cake. Remove from the pan and place on a cooling rack to cool down to room temperature. If not using the same day, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
For the frosting
In a large mixing bowl, place all the frosting ingredients and beat with a hand mixer to stiff peaks.
If desired, place ½ cup of the frosting in a separate bowl and color with a fat-soluble food color of your choice. Use to decorate the cake when it’s been assembled.
Assembling the low carb strawberry shortcake
You can assemble this gluten-free strawberry shortcake the way you want, but here’s how I did that.
Cut the completely cooled sponge cake in half and place the bottom layer of the cake on a serving plate. Spread some frosting evenly on top.
Then, sprinkle the cubed strawberries in an even layer and pipe a thick border around the strawberry filling (this will keep the strawberries inside the cake). Add more frosting on top and even out with a spatula.
Place the second layer of the cake on top. Add the rest of the non-colored frosting and spread evenly on top and on the sides of the cake.
Decorate with fresh strawberries and colored frosting (if you made one), then refrigerate our sugar-free strawberry cake for at least one hour before serving.
Carbs in keto strawberry shortcake
You can slice this cake into 10 slices – each one will have around 4g net carbs which makes this low carb shortcake perfect for you to enjoy on a keto diet.
Flavor variations
Berries – You don’t have to use strawberries at all! Make this decadent cake with blackberries, strawberries, or raspberries, or with everything together.
Keto caramel sauce –Use caramel between the cake layers and on top or drizzle some on top of the strawberry filling. Delicious!
Chocolate – Melt some dark chocolate and drizzle it between the layers. You can also combine it with the strawberry filling because those two are meant to be together.
FAQ
You can freeze the cake layers for up to 2 months, but you can't freeze the assembled cake or frosting as it has heavy cream as an ingredient.
It will last for up to 3 days.
More low carb recipes
NO BAKE KETO STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE
GLUTEN-FREE KETO CARROT CAKE RECIPE
Recipe
Keto strawberry shortcake
Equipment
- 8-inch (20cm) cake pan or springform
Ingredients
- 2 cup 200g almond flour
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 5 large eggs at room temperature
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup 100g granulated sweetener such as from Sukrin, Swerve
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp 30g extra mild olive oil
Frosting
- 9 oz 250g mascarpone cold
- ⅔ cup 60g powdered sweetener such as from Sukrin, Swerve
- 1 cup 250g heavy whipping cream cold
Filling and decoration
- ½ cup 70g fresh strawberries diced
- Fresh strawberries for decoration
Instructions
For the sponge cake
- Preheat the oven to 355F (180C). Line the bottom of an 8-inch (20cm) cake pan or springform with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, xanthan gum, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, add the eggs, salt, and sweetener. Beat with a hand mixer for around 10 minutes or until tripled in size and pale yellow. Then, add the vanilla extract and olive oil and beat on low for 10 seconds.
- Add the dry ingredients to the beaten eggs and fold gently using a rubber spatula until no dry ingredients are left. Work in 2 batches to make the combining process easier and to avoid deflating the egg mixture.
- When done, pour the batter into the cake pan and bake on the lowest rack. Bake for around 35 mins or until the toothpick inserted into the center of the sponge cake comes out dry and clean. If the top is browning too fast, cover with a piece of foil and continue baking until done.
- Remove from the oven and let cool down in the cake pan for 5-10 minutes. Then, run a blunt knife or a spatula against the wall of the pan to loosen the cake. Remove from the pan and place on a cooling rack to cool down to room temperature. If not using the same day, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
For the frosting
- Place all the frosting ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer to stiff peaks.
- If desired, place ½ cup of the frosting in a separate bowl and color with a fat-soluble food coloring of your choice. Use to decorate the cake when it’s been assembled.
Assembling the cake
- Cut the completely cooled sponge cake in half and place the bottom layer of the cake on a serving plate. Spread some frosting evenly on top.
- Then, sprinkle the cubed strawberries in an even layer and pipe a thick border around the strawberry filling. Add more frosting on top and even out with a spatula.
- Place the second layer of the cake on top. Add the rest of the non-colored frosting and spread evenly on top and on the sides of the cake.
- Decorate with fresh strawberries and colored frosting (if you’ve made one), then refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.
Notes
This website, https://heretocook.com, offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. This information is a product of online calculators such as Cronometer.com and MyFitnesPal.com
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