Sugar Free Gluten Free Low Carb Keto Sponge Cake
This Sugar-Free Gluten Free Low Carb Keto Sponge Cake is also nut free with all the traditional flavors and textures of a sponge cake.
Low Carb Sponge Cake
A sponge cake is basically just a very light and airy cake made with eggs, flour and sugar, but this recipe is low carb and just as delicious as its higher carb cousin!
Traditional sponge cakes rely on wheat flour and sugar to create that soft structure, but this version swaps those out for low carb, gluten-free ingredients while still giving you that same fluffy texture.
This Low Carb Cake is a masterpiece made grain free, gluten free, nut free and just around 100 calories per slice with less than 1 gram of carbs!
If you’ve been searching for a sugar-free low carb sponge cake that actually tastes like the real thing, this is one you’ll come back to again and again.
Unlike many almond flour cakes or coconut flour cake recipes that can feel heavy or dense, this sponge cake stays light because of how the eggs are handled.
The structure comes from properly whipped egg whites and gently folded batter, which is key for achieving that airy keto Victoria sponge cake texture.
From Failed Angel Food to Perfect Cake
Funny thing is, making this sponge cake was never my intention. I was trying to make an angel food cake. And after 4 attempts of it deflating I just gave up and adapted my recipe to include yolks and turn a failed recipe into a winning one!
When working with egg whites, especially when trying to achieve stiff peaks, small details matter—like making sure your bowl is completely clean and your egg whites are at room temperature. These little things can make a big difference in whether your cake rises or falls.
Don’t you love when the unexpected happens and turns out better than you would have thought or imagined?
Yep. Some recipes are like that for me. This one is beyond good.
Better than I would have expected considering it’s made without grains, gluten, or artificial sweeteners.
Why This Keto Sponge Cake Recipe Works
I want to note that although the angel food cake had 4 failing attempts, the family still ate it all up. The taste was incredible. The height was another story. But I will attempt again!
So with that I set my heart on the sponge cake and of course it came easily and without any angst on my part. No height needed in this beauty. It is perfect as is. A soft, light, and airy sponge cake.
What makes this one of the best keto sponge cake recipes is the balance of ingredients:
- A low carb sweetener keeps it sugar-free without compromising taste
- Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks create lift
- Egg yolks provide richness and structure
- Coconut flour keeps it low carb while absorbing moisture
- Whey protein powder helps stabilize the cake batter
Texture, Storage & Next Day Results
After completely cooling I added some sugar-free whipped cream and fresh berries. Since there were leftovers after each of my 3 kids and hubby and I had a piece, I needed to refrigerate it. If I hadn’t added the topping I probably could have left it out on the counter.
Guess what? It tasted even better the next day.
In fact these last two pics are straight from the fridge. The chilling time made it a bit more dense but the spongey texture was still just perfect.
This makes it a great option if you want to prepare a large cake ahead of time for gatherings, holidays, or even something like Mother’s Day. It also works beautifully as a base layer cake with a cream cheese frosting or whipped cream layered between.
Tips for Success (Don’t Skip These!)
If this is your first time making a sponge cake, don’t worry—just follow these simple tips:
First, make sure your egg whites are whipped to stiff peaks. This means when you lift the beaters, the peaks hold their shape and don’t collapse. This step is crucial for a light and airy result.
Second, when combining wet ingredients and dry ingredients, be gentle. Overmixing will deflate the batter and result in a dense cake instead of a fluffy one.
Third, use a large mixing bowl and fold slowly. Folding instead of stirring helps keep air in the batter.
Finally, line your pan with parchment paper if needed, especially if you’re not using a springform pan, to ensure easy removal.
Ingredient Notes & Easy Swaps
This recipe uses simple low carb pantry staples, but here are a few helpful notes:
- Coconut flour cannot be swapped for almond meal or wheat flour—it absorbs much more liquid
- Whey protein powder helps create structure; skipping it may change the texture
- You can use plain or vanilla protein powder depending on what you have
- Use your favorite low carb sweetener if you don’t have Swerve
- Almond milk or heavy cream are not needed in this recipe, which helps keep it light
If you’re looking for a dairy-free option, you can swap the butter for coconut oil, though it may slightly change the flavor.
Serving Ideas
This cake is delicious on its own, but you can easily elevate it:
- Top with fresh berries and whipped cream
- Add a light glaze with lemon juice and sweetener drizzled over the top of the cake
- Layer it with cream cheese frosting for a birthday-style cake
- Serve with a side of sugar-free chocolate sauce
It’s one of those perfect cake recipes that works for so many occasions.
Tools to Make Keto Sponge Cake
Stand Mixer- Helps whip egg whites to perfect stiff peaks in no time at all!
Electric Hand Mixer– If you don’t want to spend the money on the stand mixer, this is the next best thing to whipping up egg whites in no time!
8 inch Spring Form Cake Pan-Springform pans are not only helpful for this cake recipe and easier removal of it than using regular cake pans, but it works well for any low carb cake recipe like my Low Carb Cheesecake and my Carrot Cake and just about any other keto recipes and dessert you want to make.
It’s an easy cake, don’t let egg white whipping scare you. This comes together without a problem and the batter is light enough to fold the egg whites into.
Wonderful idea for Mother’s Day I think!
Brenda’s Notes:
- You don’t need to use a vanilla protein powder, plain is fine, that is just what I had in my cupboard.
- Looking for a Mother’s Day keto cake recipe? Try these! Carrot Cake Cheesecake, Almond Ricotta Cake, Coffee Cheesecake
Sugar-Free Keto Low Carb Sponge Cake
Sugar-Free Low Carb Sponge Cake
Ingredients
- 9 eggs separated
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp vanilla liquid stevia
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
- 1/2 cup low carb confectioners sweetener
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp butter melted and cooled
- optional toppings: fresh sugar-free whipped cream and berries
Instructions
- Grease an 8 inch spring form pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place your egg whites and cream of tartar in a stand mixer and mix until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Place your yolks in another bowl and whisk with vanilla extract, liquid stevia and lemon zest.
- In another bowl whisk together the remaining dry ingredients.
- Combine the yolks and dry ingredients together until smooth.
- In small portions a little at a time, fold the egg whites into the yolk and flour mixture, be careful not to over mix and deflate your egg whites.
- Drizzle the melted, cooled butter on the side of the bowl to slowly fold it into the batter.
- Pour batter into pan and bake 30 minutes or until golden on top and a toothpick in center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before removing and adding optional toppings.
- Keep refrigerated.
Notes
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach, and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & refined-carb free for 20 years and is the author of four cookbooks: Sugar-Free Mom, Naturally Keto, The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, and her newest release, Good, Better, Best (2025). Her work focuses on helping women detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar, and lose weight while enjoying delicious, nutrient-dense whole foods. Brenda is also the creator of the Midlife Macro™ Method and the weekly Midlife Macro Meal Plans™, designed specifically for women in perimenopause and menopause who want simple, high-protein, low-carb meals to support hormones, metabolism, and long-term health.She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and the Sugar Free Mom Tribe membership.
I’m guessing that I can make this in 2 – 8″ pans for a layer cake, yes?
Yes that works.
I forgot to mention, since I used allulose in place of the stevia, I omitted the Swerve as well.
So I only used 1/2 C plus 1/3 C. allulose and no other sweetener.
I used two 9×13 sheet pans to make this because I wanted to be able to roll them into a log, filled with mousse/frosting. worked out great (except I forgot to spray the parchment paper, so it did stick a bit)! I also cut down on cook time to 12 or so minutes. Since I split this between 2 pans, it cooked much faster. I didn’t have liquid stevia, so I used 1/2 C. plus another 1/3 C. of allulose. I didn’t have lemon zest so I added 2 Tbsp lemon juice. Everything still worked out great, but the lemon zest would have given it more depth. I didn’t want to wait until I bought lemons, lol. One cake I made whipped cream filling with lemon juice added. It was good, but definitely needed more lemon flavor – lemon zest would help a lot here, too. The other cake, I made a chocolate mousse filling. Again, it was good, but I need to make a stronger tasting mouse.
overall, the cake was great, I just need to tweak my fillings. Will definitely make again!
Sounds wonderful!
I used your recipe to make my girlfriend strawberry raspberry mousse cake with fresh sliced strawberries coated with monk fruit sweetened puree strawberries glaze birthday cake.
Hello! Can I sub out the butter with applesauce or yogurt? I also do not like coconut flour. Would chickpea or tapioca flour suffice? TIA!
Are the degrees celcius or fahrenheit? thanks!
Fahrenheit
I only have whey protein Isolate do you think that would work instead of the protein powder.
Brenda, this was EXCELLENT!!!
I really needed cake and I had bookmarked your recipe and decided to give it a try. WOW!
I was leery because I don’t like coconut and try to minimize any flavor of it when I use coconut flour. But, I try to make a recipe once as it is written, before I make changes. Well, I am not going to make any changes on this one!!
Even my son, who is not keto, liked it!!
It was soft and had great texture and taste. A real gem.
Thanks again!!
Please help: I can’t find unsweetened pure egg white protein powder anywhere where I live. Any substitutes? Just plain egg whites?
Egg whites will work.
I’m late to what looks like is going to be a delicious party! Planning on making this for my sister’s dinner party- have you ever added anything, like matcha to the recipe? Was thinking of making a matcha sponge with berries and whipped cream.
This was fantastic! I actually split the cake in half and filled the middle with a layer of low-sugar banana pudding, then put some sliced/diced strawberries and peaches on top along with a *generous* helping of homemade sugar-free whipped cream. It was delish!
I just had one minor issue… it seemed as though there ended up being a layer of denser eggy-ness at the very bottom of the cake, a thin layer – just not the same consistency of the rest of the cake (which was marvelous)… might my “extra large eggs” need to be “medium” or “large” instead? Or might I have not folded the egg whites in through enough? (I didn’t want to over-mix.) Any thoughts on what I can do to prevent this next time? (Because there definitely will be a next time!)
Definitely related to the size of the eggs I think.
Hi there,
Thank you for the recipe. Just 1 question:
On the traditional sponge cake I had to mix the egg yokes til it form a slow ribbon, etc. But I am noticing here your instruction stated to simply whisk it. Is this correct?
Thanks,
Maile
You’re correct. You can certainly do it the traditional way, not sure it will work like traditional though, but please let me know if you try it.
I have no Swerve confectioners sugar I only have Stevia 100% natural plant extract, it is 250-300 times the sweetness of sugar. I’m not sure how much to use to get the right sweetness. What would you recommend?
Could I use just egg white to
Lower the fat and calorie count? 🙂
Not sure you’d get the same texture here. May be much drier. The fat in the egg helps with moisture.
Hi Brenda, can I replace the protein powder with vanilla and coconut flour? Or something else please? I live abroad, and cant get but a huge protein powder package.
I think almond flour would be a better sub for the protein powder but I’ve not tried that in this recipe.
Is the per serving, one slice or is it for the whole cake?
An if it is per slice, how big is the slice or weight of the slice?
So my diabetic partner can have a slice or whoel cake eithout any need of insulin.
Thank you
Right under the title is shows 12 servings. So slice the cake into 12 pieces and the nutrition info is for one piece.
This looks great–but I have a question about this comment: “You don’t need to use a vanilla protein powder, plain is fine” –do you mean plain vanilla flavoring? Or plain protein powder? I’ve thought about buying some protein powder for some of my keto recipes–just now sure how often I would use it (to warrant the expense).
Plain protein powder is what I meant.
Could it be made without the protein powder all together? Would you increase or su something else?
No I don’t think the texture will be as good without the protein powder.
Hi, I’m pretty new to baking recipes with as little sugar as possible as my Dad is a diabetic so I try to make some nice treats for him. I’ve found your recipes to be really great, he loves them!
I’m trying to make an apple sponge cake and I was wondering do you think this sponge would work well if I layered apples on top and then baked it?
If I don’t have vanilla stevia or vanilla whey protein (both unflavored); should I add more vanilla extract or perhaps even scrape in a vanilla bean in addition to the extract?
I think the vanilla bean would be better to use.
I made this cake this afternoon and am enjoying a slice right now. So YUMMY!! The hint of lemon is delightful–
Thanks so much!
From one blogger to another, thought you should know that it looks like this click bait site has stolen your posts… apologies if they have asked your permission, but doesn’t see that way x
http://aboutdiabetescure.info
Thanks so much!
This looks wonderful. Can’t wait to try making it.
For Passover I usually make a traditional sponge cake in a spring form pan so it rises (lots of sugar, eggs and matzoh meal & matzoh cake meal). Since I am trying to reduce the sugar in my diet due to diabetes I’d like to make this cake for Passover (not really strict so cream of tartar & baking soda don’t phase me. Do you think this could be made in that sort of pan?
I made this in a spring form pan.