Make a delicious gluten-free and keto fruit cake that you can eat and give away during the holidays. Filled with real fruit!
Keto Fruit Cake
The fruit cake has to be one of the most iconic holiday desserts in existence. It’s an easy homemade gift that people can make and bring to holiday parties and potlucks.
Did you know this is one of the oldest recipes too? Baking fruit and nuts in a cake goes back to the Middle Ages and it’s about time that someone made a low-carb version.
Unlike the dense fruit cake that people joke could last for centuries on the shelf, my keto fruit cake is soft, moist, and melts in your mouth. In fact, you might just like this version better than the original!
You’ve got to try it!
Easy Fruit Cake
Does the idea of cake with all sorts of fruits and nuts mixed in sound like a texture nightmare? Give it a try anyway!
It might surprise you how well it all works together. The base is a sweet vanilla cake. Then, I added sugar-free dried cranberries and a bunch of different kinds of nuts and seeds.
Yes – the only fruit I added was dried cranberries. Sadly, even though fruit is full of vitamins and nutrients, it’s also full of natural sugars.
And even natural sugars from fruit could kick you out of ketosis. Thankfully, if you follow my recipe, there are only 4 grams net carbs in each slice.
Gluten-Free Fruit Cake
Another benefit of making keto-friendly fruit cake is that it will be naturally gluten-free, too! For the base, I used almond flour with eggs, butter, Swerve brown sugar substitute (to sweeten it), and baking powder.
Then, I flavored it with both vanilla and orange extracts. The orange extract allows me to add citrus flavor without the added carbs.
Remember to use almond flour, not almond meal. If you use almond meal, the keto fruit cake will have a grainy texture.
And you can’t use coconut flour as a 1:1 substitute for almond flour. If you try, it will turn out much too dry and crumbly.
Best Nuts For Fruit Cake
Nuts are a classic mix-in for all kinds of fruit cake, so you know I had to add them to my keto version. For this bread, I added some chopped walnuts, pecans, and pumpkin seeds.
Feel free to change it up – but look up which types of nuts have more carbs in them. The best seeds to eat on keto are flax seeds, hemp seeds, and pumpkin seeds.
They’re low in carbs and high in protein. Other nuts that are also really good are macadamia nuts, almonds, and hazelnuts.
How To Store Fruit Cake
Unlike traditional fruit cake, my keto-friendly recipe doesn’t have a years-long shelf life. Store your cooked fruit cake in an airtight container and keep it for up to one week.
You can freeze it too, if you want! Wrap it tightly in foil and store it in the freezer for up to six months.
Since fruit cake is a popular Christmastime dessert, I suggest serving it with your favorite Christmas treats. Start out with a slice of Low-Carb Christmas Cookie Cheesecake. Or serve it with some Keto Christmas Cookie Cups too.
For something savory, make Keto Christmas Ornament Cheese Balls.
Keto Fruit Cake Recipe
Here’s the list of the ingredients and steps that you’ll need to make this keto fruit cake recipe. Exact measurements and instructions are located in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
Servings: 10
Net Carbs: 4 net carbs per serving
Ingredients:
- Almond flour
- Large eggs
- Swerve brown sugar substitute
- Butter softened
- Baking powder
- Vanilla
- Orange extract
- Sugar free dried cranberries
- White rum (optional)
- Chopped walnuts
- Chopped pecans
- Pumpkin seeds
- Cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Pinch nutmeg
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If using, pour the rum into a bowl with the cranberries.
Soak and then drain before using.
Add the almond flour, eggs, Swerve, butter, baking powder, vanilla, orange extract, cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg to a mixing bowl, and blend until well combined. Fold in the pecans, cranberries, walnuts and pumpkin seeds.
Spread the mixture into a well greased loaf pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until browned and cooked through completely.
Cool the cake to room temperature before slicing to serve.
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Keto Fruit Cake
Make a delicious gluten-free and keto fruit cake that you can eat and give away during the holidays. Filled with real fruit!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups Almond Flour
- 5 large Eggs
- 1/2 cup Swerve Brown Sugar Substitute
- 4 tbsp Butter softened
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 2 tsp Orange Extract
- 1/2 cup Sugar-Free Dried Cranberries
- 1/2 cup White Rum optional
- 1/2 cup Chopped Walnuts
- 1/2 cup Chopped Pecans
- 1/4 cup Pumpkin Seeds
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 pinch Nutmeg
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
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If using, pour the rum into a bowl with the cranberries. Soak and then drain before using.
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Add the almond flour, eggs, Swerve, butter, baking powder, vanilla, orange extract, cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg to a mixing bowl, and blend until well combined.
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Fold in the pecans, cranberries, walnuts and pumpkin seeds.
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Spread the mixture into a well greased loaf pan.
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Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until browned and cooked through completely.
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Cool the cake to room temperature before slicing to serve.
Recipe Notes
Calories: 193 Net Carbs: 4 net carbs Per Serving
The nutritional information for this recipe is calculated as a courtesy and is an approximate only. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipes on this site.
Cake Recipes
You really can have your cake and stay on keto too! If you enjoyed this keto-friendly fruit cake, here are some more low-carb cake recipes you should make next.
