This coconut lime keto cake is like a vacation in dessert form! Light, fluffy, and refreshing lime cake, topped with an airy coconut “icing,” this gluten free and dairy free treat is something everyone can enjoy!
The best keto cake!
Summer seems to be birthday season around here and having a killer cake on hand is a must! This dairy-free keto cake is as good as it gets. It tastes like decadent, tropical rum cake. It’s moist, flavorful, elegant and beautiful and it’s easy to make!
I made this cake for my unsuspecting stepdad who flew to Hawaii with my mom on his birthday! We had dinner, we had cake, everyone was hooked. Then I kind of forgot about this recipe until today!
How to make sweetener free keto cake
So I remembered this cake because it came up in a dairy-free keto facebook group… does someone have a sweetener free cake and I thought of this one. It originally only uses 1/3 cup of erythritol for the entire cake… that could easily be omitted with little change to the flavor.
Then I thought … some delicious replacements would be Primal Fuel Vanilla Collagen (adds vanilla flavor and a hint of sweetness) or MCT Oil Powder for texture!
Either way, you can’t go wrong.
How to make dairy free icing
Is simple. Chill a can of full fat, good quality coconut milk overnight. Open the can while it’s still very cold. Scoop out the hard, creamy, coconut milk fat. Promptly whip that up with lime zest, pinch of salt and the optional stevia.
Whip with egg beaters until it looks whipped, fluffy and smooth. Then keep cold, in the fridge. Quickly dress the cake. Keep that cold too until ready to serve.
A visual guide: how to make this keto lime cake
For those who have had trouble with this recipe, I made it on IG stories to help you 🙂 Watch and learn my loves!
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Coconut Lime Cake (Keto, Paleo, Dairy Free, Nut Free)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 2 layer 6″ cake 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Keto
Description
A simple, delicious cake for any occasion. Dairy and nut free with a sweetener free option!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/3 cup erythritol or another granulated sweetener (optional, see notes)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 pinch salt
- 2 limes zested
- 4 large eggs, room temp
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, room temp
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (left over from coconut milk can)
- 1/4 cup unsalted ghee, softened butter or lard
“Buttercream”
- 2 cans full fat coconut milk, chilled (use the cream on top)
- 1 lime zest
- 10 drops liquid stevia or 1 tablespoon honey (optional)
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F. Lightly grease two 6″ cake pans.
- Sift the dry ingredients (flour, sweetener, baking powder, and salt) together in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl mix with an electric hand mixer beat the eggs, milk, lime zest, coconut oil, and lard for 2-3 minutes until foamy and fluffy.
- Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat until well combined.
- Pour the cake mix into the two prepared cake pans, place them on a sheet pan and bake 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean.
- Let the cakes cool completely before unmolding. Set them to chill while you make the coconut cream.
- In a small bowl whip the coconut milk fat until with a hand mixer until smooth and whipped. Add in the lime zest, stevia if you’re using it and salt. Then use a cold metal spatula to spread some on top of one cake round in the middle.
- Stack the cakes and then use the rest of the cream to frost the outside of the cake. Keep the cake chilled until ready to serve!
Recipe Notes:
*Use of sweetener is optional in this recipe the natural sweetness of the coconut and lime are enough if you don’t do keto sweeteners! Alternatively, you may use raw honey if you eat honey or Vanilla Collagen Primal Fuel instead of the erythritol too!*
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of cake
- Calories: 339
- Fat: 32g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Fiber: 14g
- Protein: 7g
Mauri says
I have made this cake twice already. Once a few months ago and then again a couple weeks ago. Its amazing. Instead of the coconut cream as a frosting I found a recipe for buttercream using palm shortening which I heard is a fruit and its not hydrogenated so its supposed to be healthier. Anyway no one could tell this was paleo/keto. My friends who were gluten free were like…”are you sure??!?”. Yes honey! It’s that good. Anyway im going to make it again tonight just for me and my husband
Mauricia says
I would like to make a lemon berry cake with this recipe since it’s keto and nut free. If I add blueberry compote will I need to decrease the liquid? what do you suggest?
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
I have a great blueberry compote recipe on the blog, I would serve it on the side not add it to the batter. You would just add fresh blueberries to the cake batter, and I would reduce the liquid by 1/4 cup. It’s a pretty wet cake.
Mauricia says
Thank you for the suggestion! I’m going to make this today and let you know how it goes.
Mauricia says
I forgot that I already commented on here. This cake turned out great. Its my go-to recipe whe. Entertaining guests. It’s so good!
Brooke says
This looks great! In the notes, you mentioned the option of no sweetener or using honey. Would the other ingredient measurements need to change if did not use any sweetener or if used wet sweetener (honey)? Thank you!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
You don’t have to change any ingredients
Stacy Hall says
Made cake but used lemon instead of lime. It was amazing! Thank you for this recipe! 😍
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
So glad you enjoyed it!! Thank you for leaving a comment and review!
George H says
OMG! This is fabulous! So delicious and simple to make. Thank you Cristina for another great recipe!!
The cake has a wonderful texture and the frosting is surprising. The lime really adds a nice touch of brightness that compliments the coconut well. Yummy!!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Thank you so much!
Anu says
This is so lovely! I do eat dairy and was looking for a less coconut-ey flavour, so I replaced the coconut oil and ghee/lard with melted butter, and used double cream instead of coconut milk for a little extra indulgence 🙂 I threw in about 180g of halved blackberries, and also added 1/4 teaspoon each of monk fruit sweetener and pure Stevia to suit my palate. For the frosting, I made a buttercream with approximately half a cup of softened butter, about 65g of powdered Erythritol, and 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice… Yum! I baked this in a loaf pan (so it took nearly an hour to bake through) and once completely cooled I sliced it in half and frosted the middle and top. Given how rich it turned out, it made 9 perfectly sized servings. This is such a delicious summer treat, thank you so much for a great recipe!
Cristina says
That sounds lovely indeed!
Sabra Myres says
Thanks for sharing this information.have shared this link with others keep posting such information.
Bas says
I also had the issue with my coconut oil not blending in. Was it supposed to be melted? I’ve rarely baked with coconut oil. Maybe my butter was still too cold, but I thought it was room temp. I think it would be a good cake if that part was figures out.
Cristina says
Perhaps using room temp eggs would remedy that. I don’t have that issue when I make it. But I guess my kitchen is pretty warm. I will make a note in the recipe. Did the cake turn out despite the batter having clumpy coconut oil? The butter (or lard) is supposed to be softened, which is definitely room temp.
Donna says
I put my eggs in warm water and it blends in perfectly. I also keep my coconut oil in the cupboard. Eggs always bake up better and fluffier if they are room temperature in any recipe. So I have just gotten to be in that habit 🙂 thanks for the recipe! I am making it into pineapple upside down cake 🙂
Cristina says
Oh that sounds lovely!
Karalee Garber says
Would it be possible to bake this into cupcakes?
Cristina says
I have not tried it… but I think it would!
ALI says
My cake didn’t TURN OUT WELL AT ALL. I WAS PRETTY SURE THAT THE LARD SHOULD BE SOFTENED TO ROOM TEMP, BUT SINCE THE RECIPE DIDN’T SAY THAT, I USED IT STRAIGHT OUT OF THE FRIDGE. THIS MADE THE COCONUT OIL TURN INTO HARD LITTLE LUMPS THAT WOULDN’T BEAT INTO THE EGGS, SO THEY NEVER BECAME FOAMY OR FLUFFY. AS SUGGESTED, I USED MCT OIL POWDER + STEVIA INSTEAD OF ERYTHRITOL BC MY TUMMY CAN’T TOLERATE ALCOHOL-BASED SWEETENERS. THE FINAL TASTE… VERY SALTY AND BLAH. THE ICING WAS GOOD BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO REDEEM THE CAKE. SO SAD BC I HAD HIGH HOPES FOR A CAKE THAT COULD WORK WITHOUT FAKE SWEETENERS. 🙁
Cristina says
Hi Ali- Well…. I keep my fats out at room temp… so I didn’t think to say soften to room temp.. ummm but you know… common sense and all. Obviously refrigerated fat would not mix into eggs.
As for being salty… The cake only takes a PINCH of salt… not sure why it would turn out salty… is your lard salted??
If you tolerate stevia, you could have used more to taste.
Either way, sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Daniela says
Oh my gato! Soooo good!! I’m so happy i got it right!
Cristina says
Yeayyyy Que bueno!!!
KT says
HOly cow, this cake is soooo good. And let me tell you i am not a huge cake fan. I did have a little troublE wiTh the FROSTING being a little more “liquidy” than it should, bUt i added some cream cheese and it was magical. Thank you for all the INFORMATION and the great recipes you have created. I am glad i found you!
Cristina says
ahhh thank you KT!!! Yes, the coconut cream can be a little finicky… I strongly prefer 365 Brand full fat coconut milk, those cans make the thickest cream!
Melinda says
WOW! THIS LOOKS GREAT!!! EXCITED TO TRY IT. PLEASE COME TO DENVER ON THE NEXT BOOK TOUR!
Cristina says
I hope I do too