The most delicious and easy sugar-free birthday cake that only needs 7 ingredients and takes less than 5 minutes to prepare in 1 mixing bowl.

It’s a gluten-free, dairy-free, diabetic-friendly moist fluffy vanilla birthday cake to celebrate someone special.

So skip the store and make this delicious sugar-free birthday covered with sugar-free sprinkles.

Birthday celebrations are a special time, and that calls for a special cake covered in sprinkles and candles. Everyone will love this easy sugar-free vanilla cake with whipped heavy cream or cream cheese frosting.

When it’s time to sing happy birthday, this sugar-free vanilla cake (delicious diabetic birthday cake) is perfect for any healthy sugar-free diet.

Is vanilla cake healthy?

A classic vanilla birthday cake is made with wheat flour, sugar, and sometimes unhealthy oils. This birthday cake is made with almond flour (a naturally low-carb flour) and a sugar-free sweetener so it is very low in net carbs and sugars.

Keto vanilla cake (nutritional value per slice): 3.9g net carbs, 2.6 g fiber, 25.6 g fat, 8.9g protein, and 280 calories.

It is perfect for the low-carb diet, sugar-free diet, keto diet, and anyone who wants to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

Vanilla cake ingredients

Only seven simple ingredients are needed to make this cake batter. Since almond flour is used to bake this gluten-free birthday cake, your cake will be a bit denser than a regular cake. However, the whipped cream frosting is light so it is perfect for offsetting the density of the cake.

A little apple cider vinegar is used to activate the baking powder. This makes the cake a little lighter, and you can’t taste the vinegar at all.

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Keto vanilla cake ingredients

See the recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

• eggs – it’s best to use fresh medium eggs, rather than an egg substitute in baking
• almond flour – if you can get super fine blanched almond flour, this makes lighter and fluffier keto cakes
• baking powder – always check the expiry date to make sure you use fresh baking powder (and not baking soda)
• sweetener – the most popular sugar-free sweeteners are granulated erythritol, powdered erythritol, allulose, monk fruit sweetener, and xylitol. Try to avoid stevia because it can often add a bitter taste to cakes.
• vanilla extract – or sugar-free vanilla extract
• salt – a little pinch of salt brings out the sweetness and vanilla.
• apple cider vinegar – the vinegar activates the baking powder to create air bubbles and softness.

Decorations

• whipping cream – while the birthday cake is dairy-free, the whipped heavy cream is delicious to decorate. You can use whipped coconut cream to have a dairy-free topping instead.
• sugar-free sprinkles – colorful sugar-free sprinkles bring the cake alive.

How to make sugar-free cake batter

Start by preheating your oven to 180C/350F. Grease your cake pans using olive oil or brush with melted butter to ensure they can be easily removed.

Line each cake pan with circles of baking parchment paper.

Hint: Be sure to oil and line each cake pan before filling them with batter.

How to decorate a sugar-free birthday cake

Decorating a birthday cake can be as easy or complicated as you want to make it. I prefer to keep it simple, using heavy whipping cream (or coconut cream) and sugar-free rainbow sprinkles.

ALWAYS make sure the cake has been cooled on a wire rack to allow any moisture to escape and to reach room temperature.

To decorate the sugar-free cake, add ¼ of the frosting to the first cake layer. This adds a nice layer of frosting between the two layers. Place the second cake layer on top.

Next, cover both cake layers with a thin layer of frosting and placed it in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes to set. This is the crumb layer.

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A crumb layer of frosting locks in any stray crumbs before adding the top layer of frosting.

Cover the layer cake with another layer of frosting and add sprinkles on the top and sides. Pipe the remaining frosting around the edges of the cake or in swirls.

How much frosting to use on a cake

Whether you decide to use whipped heavy cream, cream cheese frosting, or chocolate frosting (chocolate buttercream), this is how you divide the frosting when decorating a layer cake.

• ¼ of the frosting = filling between layers
• ½ frosting = cover the cake layers (sides and top of the cake)
• ¼ frosting = pipe decorations around the edges.

Substitutions

Do you love the idea of this sugar-free birthday cake, but need to make a couple of changes to meet your needs? Check our recommended substitutions below.

• Almond flour – use ground almond, almond meal, fine almond flour, or a different nut/seed flour as your flour mixture. Check my guide to low-carb flours to learn why coconut flour is NOT a suitable replacement for almond flour.
• Vinegar – substitute the apple cider vinegar with white vinegar, lemon juice, or orange juice(from an orange). However, you will be able to taste the lemon or orange juice
• Rainbow sprinkles – If you can’t get your hands on these sugar-free rainbow sprinkles try using colored unsweetened coconut instead. This will take a bit more preparation on your part, but you could color the coconut yourself and let it dry before sprinkling it on the cake!

Learn how to color shredded coconut in my Sugar-Free Coconut Ice recipe.

Variations

This delicious birthday cake recipe is the perfect base recipe for any birthday cake.

This birthday cake recipe is so versatile and so easy to make whole new flavors of sugar-free cakes with just a few simple adjustments.

• Cream cheese frosting – there are other frosting recipes you can use instead of whipped cream. A simple cream cheese and butter mixture can transform a birthday cake recipe. Sugar-free cream cheese frosting or a sugar-free chocolate buttercream frosting instead of whipped cream frosting.
• Funfeti – mix sprinkles into the batter before baking.
• Strawberry – layer sliced fresh strawberries or fresh berries between the layers of the cake.
• Chocolate cake – perfect for chocolate lovers, add ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder to the cake batter and 1 or 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Sprinkle sugar-free chocolate chips over the chocolate frosting.
• Lemon vanilla cake – make the vanilla cake as per the recipe card below, but add 2 tablespoons of lemon zest to the cake mixture before baking, then cover with the lemon frosting recipe and sugar-free sprinkles.

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Equipment

You can make the cake with a large mixing bowl but you can also use a blender or food processor, however, do not over-mix the batter to ensure the birthday cakes are light and fluffy.

You will want to bake this cake on the middle rack in your oven. I have fallen in love with silicone cake pans because it’s so easy to remove the cakes from the pan.

I used two 8-inch round silicone pans while making this sugar-free birthday cake. Alternatively, you can use two 8-inch springform pans.

To make the whipped cream frosting I recommend using an electric hand mixer, stick blender, or stand mixer to whip up the frosting. However, you can also beat the frosting by hand using a large whisk.

How to store birthday cake

Store this sugar-free birthday cake in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

Leftover cake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5-7 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

You can store individual slices of cake so it’s easy to defrost only one serving at a time.

Recipe FAQ

More healthy birthday cake recipes

These are the most popular sugar-free cake and diabetic cake recipes that are all family-friendly too. Perfect for your next birthday party.

These delicious recipes are all gluten-free and sugar-free cakes.

• Baked chocolate ganache cake (keto chocolate cake)
• Sugar-Free Flourless Chocolate Fudge Cake – served with heavy cream, yogurt, or even sweetened sour cream
• Low-Carb Chocolate Zucchini Cake
• Delicious Keto Carrot Cake – a simple layer cake with cream cheese frosting
• Berry Keto Sponge Cake – sprinkled with powdered sweetener
• Whole Orange Flourless Cake – with an orange cream cheese frosting
• Keto lemon cupcakes – with lemon frosting recipe

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