Home › Recipe Index › Dessert › Mini Low Carb Lemon Cake
By Joanie Zisk
on Sep 11, 2018, Updated Mar 25, 2024
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This low carb lemon cake recipe is perfect to use when you’re craving something sweet. Made with almond flour, it’s perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack. This mini cake is buttery, lemony and incredibly delicious!
I’ve had this lemon cake recipe in my dessert recipe arsenal since the beginning of the summer. I intended to post the recipe much earlier, it just got pushed back on my calendar.
Even though I haven’t shared this cake recipe until now, I’ve certainly made this low carb dessert many, many times this summer and I’m so excited to share it with you today.
RELATED: 15 Easy Dessert Recipes For One
Table of Contents
- Why I Love This Recipe
- Ingredient Notes
- How To Make This Recipe
- Expert Tips
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Other low carb recipes:
- Mini Low Carb Lemon Cake Recipe
Why I Love This Recipe
My daughter and son have gone KETO, both following not-so-strict versions of the Atkins diet as well as the KETO diet.
So, I’ve been modifying a few of my recipes to help them with with their food choices. Although main dish meals aren’t too hard to adapt into low carb versions, sometimes desserts can be tricky.
This lovely lemon cake recipe has been the most popular low carb cake recipe I’ve made here at my house. It’s gotten rave reviews by everyone.
This cake recipe is adapted from the “quarter” pound cake recipe from the Banana Upside Down Cake recipe posted a while back. It’s not a single-serving cake, meaning that you won’t want to eat it all at one sitting – although I won’t pass judgement if you do. This is a mini cake, enough to serve a few people.
If you are just cooking for yourself, enjoy it for a few days. This dessert is perfect to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning and ideal as an afternoon snack.
My favorite low carb sugar substitute to use is Swerve sweetener. It is sweet and delicious and won’t leave you with any bitter aftertaste. Swerve also measures like sugar and has ZERO net carbs.
RELATED: 20 Single Serving Breakfast Recipes Worth Waking Up To
Ingredient Notes
See recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Butter: Use softened butter, not cold butter in this lemon cake recipe. Softened butter should still be cool to the touch but when you press your finger into the butter, your finger will leave an indentation. The best way to soften your butter is to put it out on the kitchen counter for a half hour before you want to use it. Another way to quickly soften butter is to put the cold butter in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. If you use this method, be sure to watch carefully – you don’t want the butter to melt at all.
- Sweetener: I recommend using Swerve sweetener.
- Egg: Use 1 large egg.
- Lemon juice: Use fresh or bottled lemon juice.
- Almond flour: I recommend using blanched almond flour or a superfine almond flour as it gives the cake a better texture.
- Baking powder: To give the cake a little lift.
- Almond milk: Use unsweetened almond milk to moisten the cake batter.
How To Make This Recipe
- Beat butter and the sugar substitute together in a small bowl.
- Beat in egg and lemon juice.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Add this to the butter/Swerve mixture and stir to combine.
- Stir in unsweetened almond milk.
- Spread the batter into a small baking dish and bake for 40-45 minutes.
Easy and delicious, I think you’ll enjoy this lemon cake as much as we do.
Expert Tips
- If you’re not following a low carb diet, feel free to use all-purpose flour in place of the almond flour and replace the Swerve sweetener with sugar.
- I use a 9.5-inch baking dish with this cake recipe. For best results use a dish of similar size. For more information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit ourFAQ page. For examples of the dishes used at One Dish Kitchen, please visit ourStore page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Should I Serve With This Cake?
The cake is delicious on its own or you might like to add homemade whipped cream. To make whipped cream, pour 1/4 cup of heavy cream and 1 to 2 teaspoons of Swerve or another sugar substitute into a small mixing bowl. Whisk until the cream reaches soft peaks, about 2-4 minutes.
How Do I Store This Low Carb Lemon Cake?
Cover and store the cake at room temperature. It will stay fresh for up to 3 days.
RELATED: The Best Single Serving Summer Recipes
Other low carb recipes:
- Crustless Quiche Lorraine For One
- Slow Cooker Chicken Piccata For One
- Keto Fat Bombs – A Small Batch Recipe
- Ratatouille For One
Mini Low Carb Lemon Cake
By: Joanie Zisk
Prep: 10 minutes mins
Cook: 45 minutes mins
Cooling time: 10 minutes mins
Total: 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
Servings: 4 servings
This Low carb Lemon Cake recipe is perfect to use when you're craving something sweet. Made with almond flour and Swerve sugar substitute. Perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack, this "mini cake" is buttery, lemony and incredibly delicious!
Equipment
9.5-inch oval baking dish
Ingredients
- ¼ cup salted butter , softened
- ¾ cup Swerve sweetener
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¾ cup almond flour
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degree F (177 degrees C). Grease a 9 1/2-inch baking dish (or dish of a similar size). Set baking dish aside.
Mix together the butter and sweetener in a small bowl until well mixed.
Whisk in the egg and the lemon juice.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter/sweetener mixture and stir to combine.
Stir in the almond milk.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth over the top. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until top is golden.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before slicing.
Notes
Expert Tips
- If you’re not following a low carb diet, feel free to use all-purpose flour in place of the almond flour and replace the Swerve sweetener with sugar.
- I use a 9.5-inch baking dish with this cake recipe. For best results use a dish of similar size. For more information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit ourFAQ page. For examples of the dishes used at One Dish Kitchen, please visit ourStore page.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 241kcal, Carbohydrates: 4g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 77mg, Sodium: 212mg, Potassium: 29mg, Fiber: 2g, Vitamin A: 420IU, Vitamin C: 1.5mg, Calcium: 79mg, Iron: 1mg
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Welcome!
Hi, I’m Joanie and welcome to ZagLeft where we share favorite recipes as well as exciting travel experiences that we’ve enjoyed while always trying to take the road less traveled.
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11 Comments
Thank you for offering some other options for desserts. We’ve eliminated sugar for a while and also trying to convert to either whole wheat or alternative flours. I’m excited to make this one.
Reply
Very good recipe. Made this recently and the whole family loved it.Reply
I LOVE this recipe! This is my go-to, any night of the week, dessert. It’s easy, it’s low carb, it is simple to tweak according to the pantry items I have on hand, and my husband always appreciates it. I have served it in the summer, fall, winter, and spring; it works for any season. Pair it with fresh fruit, citrus zest, and unsweetened freshly whipped cream (with vanilla flavoring).Reply
I also added lemon zest to make it extra lemony. I must have done something wrong because mine was almost like a lemon bar but I enjoyed the flavors! I’ll have to try again. Maybe I was short on the almond flour.Reply
This cake is a hit in my home; I did add some lemon zest to add a tad of extra lemon zing. We ate it with fresh berries, fresh whipped cream, and a sprinkle of Vietnamese cinnamon. We both went back for seconds almost immediately. ( I made this cake with regular flour and whole milk.)
Reply
Can you please check the ounces on the baking dish by pouring water in it and seeing what it holds? I don’t see that dish in the links now, and I have bought 4 dishes and some ramekins that you use, but there s a limit to what my cupboards will hold, even if they are small. Thank you
Reply
Debbie, the dish used in this recipe holds 26 fluid ounces.
Reply
I’m allergic to almonds, could I use coconut flour and coconut milk?
Reply
No, coconut flour and coconut milk will not work in this recipe.
Reply
Absolutely delicious. Great paired with fruit!Reply
This lemons cake looks incredible! I can’t wait to try it!Reply
