Tangy delicious keto lemon pound cake with cream cheese is the perfect low carb lemon pound cake with a creamy tart frosting just like you remember but in a gluten-free, sugar-free package.
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Does anyone else out there absolutely love the fresh tangy flavor of lemons in summer desserts and bakes? Please tell me I'm not the only one who was incredibly sad to give up the coffee shop slice of lemon pound cake in favor of a keto diet?
Or if you're a Keto Chocolate Pound Cake fan you can find that keto recipe too!
Yes, I've always loved baked goods and had more than a little of a sweet tooth. Actually, that sweet tooth was one of the biggest motivations for me to change my way of eating. I hated being so dependent on sugar and seeing statistics everywhere about how Americans consume more and more of the stuff.
Your brain cells like sugar just like you, and the more you eat, the more they crave it. I made the choice to cut processed sugar from my diet, but that in no way means I've completely lost a sweet tooth. I went through a major sugar withdrawal but no longer have the cravings I used to. Have you had a similar experience?
However, all that means is that I needed to come up with low carb baked goods and sweets. In fact, I just had to learn to make keto lemon cream cheese pound cake, among other things.
While I think you'll love my super helpful tips and fun stories, I also realize we are sometimes pressed for time and just need a good recipe! Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the printable recipe or PIN it here for later!
A little lemon juice makes everything taste better.
- Virginia Sanbar
Do I have to use a blender to make the keto lemon pound cake?
I get this question every now and then because I do use a blender in so much of my keto baking. Do you have to use a blender?
The straight answer is no, of course not! Any of my recipes can also be made using a regular hand or standing mixer. However, if you do use a mixer, the ingredients all must be at room temperature or even a little warmer. If they're cold, they don't combine as easily.
Personally, I love to use a blender with baking, soups, just about anything, because it makes my life easier. Vitamix has some great tips on how to use your blender and makes it such a go-to cooking gadget for me.
If I want to make a keto lemon pound cake with the blender I don't have to set out the ingredients early or figure out how to warm them up. On the other hand, if I use a mixer I'm forced to get all the ingredients out and ready way ahead of time to warm up.
Often, at our crazy house, I prepare and set out everything. Then what happens? Some "emergency" or urgent call for help on the child's craft, book, or other activity distracts. One thing leads to another and you never get around to actually baking the keto lemon pound cake!
Quelle catastrophe!
Yes, it is a catastrophe because then I sadly put all the ingredients back into the fridge to try again the next day. Does it sound familiar? To be perfectly honest, I've had this happen several days in a row and decided it was time to put my foot down and find a better way to prep for baking.
The blender for low carb baking
I use a Vitamix blender and have had it a little over 5 years now. At first, I was hesitant to put so much money into a blender. A blender!? So much so that I sat on the idea for about two years before I finally bought it.
After the first week, I could not imagine going back to life without it. Also, now if faced with the question of if I could do without it for a while if it were to go out I shrink in horror. I might say please no!, sort of like I might do with the washing machine.
It is not an appliance I would want to do without, and have used it nearly every day since its purchase. Mine came with a 7-year warranty, but it's shown no signs of slowing down. Needless to say, I'm very happy with it.
And it's great for blending up cold ingredients like cream cheese and eggs directly out of the fridge. Perfect!
🍽 Equipment
For a Keto Lemon Pound Cake you'll need:
- a spatula
- whisk
- measuring cups and spoons
- a good blender (or a mixer)
- 9" x 5" loaf pan or bundt cake pan
- large bowls
- a knife or icing spatula
🥘 Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 8 eggs
- ½ cups butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups sweetener, Swerve or another equivalent
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon lemon extract, (can alternatively use 5-6 drops of lemon oil)
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
🔪 Instructions
How to make a lemon keto pound cake
I love this cake because it's actually really easy to throw together. It's also super-delicious. And, did I tell you it has 9 grams of protein per serving? Pretty awesome for a keto lemon pound cake recipe, right?
Begin by preheating the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Take a loaf pan and line it with buttered parchment paper so the cake's easy to remove from the pan.
Now for the ingredients.
First, start with the blender. In it, place the cream cheese, butter, eggs, sweetener, vanilla, and lemon extract. Then blend from slow to high for about 40 seconds or until completely combined. Also, at this point, add in the lemon zest (if using) and pulse or stir it in until completely mixed in.
Second, take out a large mixing bowl. Is this an almond flour lemon pound cake or coconut flour lemon pound cake? Well, actually it's both, as I like the texture of the mix.
Whisk together the coconut flour, almond flour, salt, and baking powder. Perfect, the dry ingredients are done.
Third, pour the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture and combine well with a spoon or spatula until no lumps remain.
Next, pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake it for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Put the lemon cream cheese pound cake on a rack and let it cool almost completely before removing it from the pan and parchment paper. Take out the beautiful keto cream cheese pound cake and set it on a large serving plate or the cooling rack to frost.
How to make the sugar-free frosting
Again, this cream cheese frosting is super easy to make and use to decorate the low carb lemon cake. It's quick and easy to use a hand mixer to mix all ingredients until smooth. Then, use a knife or icing spatula and spread it over the top of the lemon keto dessert.
Lastly, slice the keto lemon cake with cream cheese frosting evenly into 16 pieces and serve for breakfast, dessert, or even high tea!
💭 Top tips
and tricks for the perfect keto pound cake
Hint #1: After about 30 minutes I place a piece of foil over the top of the cake so it doesn't darken too much. It can form a crust around the edges, which I think tastes amazing, but provides a deep contrast to the light lemon yellow insides.
Hint #2: If you are worried about the appearance of the keto lemon cake and whether or not there will be a crack running down the middle, there are a couple of things you can do.
- Place an open pan of water on the rack in the oven below the lemon keto pound cake. The water will make the oven moister and decrease the chance of a crack.
- I've found 325 degrees to be the perfect temperature for my high altitude cakes. However, if you continue to get a crack in your bakes even with the pan of water in the oven, there is another option. Turn the heat down slightly and it should improve your chances of a crack-free loaf. Of course, the bake time in total may then need to be increased.
Hint #3: This can also be made as a keto lemon bundt cake. Just switch out the pan with a bundt cake pan and be sure it's well-buttered so the cake will come out easily.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Almond flour vs. coconut flour
Which flour do you prefer? Almond or coconut for keto baked goods? I've come to appreciate a mix of the two, but often use almond flour only due to a sensitivity to coconut in the family.
1 cup of almond flour is equivalent to about Ā¼ cup coconut flour. Therefore, sometimes you can mix it up depending on who you're baking for or what your goal is.
What are your favorite Keto summer desserts lately? Or do you have any recipes you'd love to see have a low carb or keto makeover? If you're loving lemon, these Keto Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are pretty fabulous as well. I'm always up for a challenge so put those ideas in the comments below!
I hope you try out this awesome sugar-free lemon pound cake and enjoy it as much as I do!
Pin the recipe here!
Tag me in your recipe pics on Instagram @explorermomma.
If you LOVE this recipe please consider giving it a five-star rating in the review area below!
This lemon keto pound cake is amazing in the Keto Berry Trifle centerpiece recipe! Believe me, it's worth it!
🥣 More summer keto dessert recipes
- Low carb lemon blueberry cream cake
- Low carb chocolate pie
- Butter and jam keto thumbprint cookies
- Keto blackberry cobbler
📖 Printable recipe card
š Recipe
Keto Lemon Pound Cake
Tangy delicious low carb cream cheese cake is the perfect keto lemon pound cake with a creamy tart frosting just like you remember but in a gluten-free, sugar-free package.
Ingredients
Keto Pound Cake
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 8 eggs
- Ā½ cups butter, softened
- 1 Ā½ cups sweetener, Swerve or other equivalent
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon lemon extract, (can alternatively use 5-6 drops of lemon oil)
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- Ā¼ cup coconut flour
- Ā¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (optional for extra lemon flavor)
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- ā cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon powdered sweetener (Swerve Confectioners or other)
- Ā½ teaspoon lemon extract
Instructions
Keto Pound Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line a loaf pan with buttered parchment paper.
- In a blender, place the cream cheese, butter, eggs, sweetener, vanilla, and lemon extract. Blend from slow to high for about 40 seconds or until completely combined.
- Add in the lemon zest (if using) and pulse or stir it in until combined.
- Take a large bowl and whisk together the coconut flour, almond flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture and combine well with a spatula until no lumps remain.
- Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Use a hand mixer to mix all ingredients until smooth. Spread over the top of the pound cake when completely cooled.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Servings 16.0 Amount Per Serving Calories 266 Total Fat 24 g Saturated Fat 9 g Monounsaturated Fat 7 g Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g Trans Fat 0 g Cholesterol 140 mg Sodium 211 mg Potassium 127 mg Total Carbohydrate 5 g Dietary Fiber 2 g Sugars 2 g Protein 9 g Net Carbohydrate 3 g
*Nutrition Facts per MyFitnessPal.com. For most accurate facts, calculate your own with the exact ingredients you use in the recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16Amount Per Serving: Calories: 266Unsaturated Fat: 0g
DavetteB says
What size loaf pan are you using that you can get 16 slices out of it? 10"?
The recipe card doesn't say.
Thanks
Kim Boland says
I'm wondering also, just made it and had batter left over...poured it into a small loaf pan I had.
Ruth says
I thought I had the best Keto Pound Cake recipe already. I tried this one.
Wowsers! That is a really tasty pound cake. This right here is my new go to keto pound cake recipe.
Lauren says
Love this! Thanks so much for commenting - I'm glad you liked it!
Tabatha L says
I am not sure if I did something wrong, but my cake did not look like yours! If you take big bites, it tastes very āeggyā. It is delicious no doubt! I recommend adding lemon zest to the icing as well as extra truvia or whatever brand you use of sugar substitute! My husband and friends loved it, but Iām a carb lover who just canāt find the right recipe to curb her craving! š Thanks for this recipe, it was good!
Lauren says
Thanks for your comment, Tabatha! I've had a range of comments with success or not on this recipe, and with baking, a lot depends on the altitude, oven, type of pan, etc. You can always alter the sweetener and lemon flavoring to your taste, some people prefer a lot, others not so much.
Dee says
I am a FIRST time Baker and I have scoured Pinterest and other keto sites looking for a "simple" or "easy" pound cake recipe...I know your's say LEMON but I did everything exact EXCEPT adding lemon (sorry I don't like lemon) and I used only half the amount of sweetener but other than that the cake was pretty and golden brown, I did put the foil to stop more browning...awesome tip and my cake came out outrageously good!!! I could not believe it, it was solid, moist and the texture OMG!!! My husband was really amazed and enjoyed every bite. I have given out a couple of slices to my neighbors for critiquing. Thank you, thank you, I now have a great pound cake recipe I can always make.
Lauren says
I love that you made it your own! Thanks for sharing!!
Kim Boland says
This cake turned out amazing! I compared a couple of other recipes before trying this one. I was a little concerned about 8 eggs tasting too eggy, but liked the idea of cream cheese as part of the batter. It has great texture and flavor. I used a 9' pan and had batter left over. Also, I used 3/4 cup of monkfruit granular sweetner as that was the amount used in other recipes that specified monkfruit. It was mildly sweet...I'd say 1 1/2 cup would be very sweet. I'm sure it matters what brand of sweetner is used. The baking tips with temp and water worked perfectly. The frosting didn't come out great. I remade with another cream cheese frosting recipe I've used, 4T softened cream cheese, 4T heavy whipping cream, 3T powdered Monkfruit sweetner, and 1/2 tsp vanilla or lemon extract - it comes out fluffier and melts nicely on a slightly warm cake.
Angie says
If you like Lemon then you want to make this!!! It's so moist and tastes like it was made with regular flour. I started eating it as soon as it came out of the oven without the frosting and it's sooooo good. I'm going to make the frosting and give a few slices to my neighbor before I eat it all. She is not on Keto but this is so good that she won't even know it's not made with regular flour. I added the juice of 1 lemon plus some lemon peel to it on top of the 2 tsp of lemon extract! Perfect! I never made anything that calld for 8 eggs. I was a little worried but there is no eggy taste.
Patricia says
The cake was delicious. Texture was a bit different it had a wet/moist taste is this normal? I know it was done because I did the toothpick test. This is my first time cooking with these type of ingredients.
Lauren says
Yes, it is moister than a traditional pound cake due to the ingredients. My husband's been known to pop a piece in the toaster (without frosting) to rewarm it and dry it out a little more after it's been in the fridge.
Cw says
How much lemon juice can I use if I donāt have the extract? I do have concentrated lemon juice.
Lauren says
If you put too much lemon juice in, it will change the bake and will not turn out as well. I would do no more than 2 tbsp lemon juice and double (or even triple) the amount of lemon zest, depending on how lemony you want it.
Rosaura Lopez says
My new favorite cake. A variation Iāve used is replacing the lemon extract with rose water extract delish!!
Lauren says
Oh, wow! I love that flavor idea - completely different! Thanks for sharing. š
Liz says
So any idea why mine is green on bottom? I also didnāt have baking powder and used baking soda instead. Could that be why itās so moist in middle?
Lauren says
The green color is the result of a chemical reaction between the baking soda and chlorogenic acid. Usually, it reacts with sunflower seeds, but can also react with coconut or other flours. The different recipe could be why it's more moist in the middle, or it could just need more time in the oven. I've not tried it with baking soda so I can't say for sure!
Jerrica S says
Oh my gosh!!!! I made this pound cake and it is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!! I was nervous about the almond flour and the eggs, but it takes just like lemon pound cake. My husband could not tell it was KETO. It's great with or without the glaze. I did omit one egg, and I added extra lemon juice and zest. It turned out wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!!
Lauren says
Love this! Thanks for sharing! I've been adding more lemon flavor to it lately as well as I love that punch of lemon flavor.
Beth says
Iām wanting to make this pound cake but Iād like to know what size loaf pan to use. Iām thinking an 8.5x4.5 might b3 too small. Thanks.
Lauren says
I prefer to use a 9x5-inch pan as it's a good-sized pound cake. However, if you line it with parchment paper and fill it about 1 cm from the top, the paper should guide it as it bakes. If there is a lot of excess batter, I would use it to make a couple muffins and bake at 325F for 25-30 min.
Tracy says
Very good cake I added 1/2 cup of sour cream. Moist.
Misti Lefevre says
Why does it say add butter in the blender with cream cheese and then again after it says add butter for 30 more secs? So just add butter at the end not at the beginning?
Lauren says
Agree! You can just add it with the cream cheese and the listed ingredients for that step. I updated the recipe to make it more clear, thanks!
Lilly says
This was so good! I was nervous about it being too lemony, so I didn't use the lemon zest but next time I definitely will. The lemon flavor is fantastic. I bet orange extract and zest would also be good. I baked it in a silicone loaf pan with room to spare. The glaze is to die for! I used liquid sweetener for that and it came out perfectly and perfectly sweet. "Glaze" though is the wrong word as it's more of a lusciouscream cheese frosting. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you!
Lilly says
Can you fix the recipe to say where to add the lemon zest? I forget to add it.every.single.time. š
Lauren says
Done! Thanks for asking! And now I'm thinking I need to make this tomorrow! š
Monica Mugavero says
I am a very inexperienced cook but this was outstanding and simple to make. The hardest part for me was getting the parchment paper to fit the pan! I have now made it twice and didn't even frost it the 2nd time because it is fantastic without it. Thank you!!!!