Recipes
Keto Pumpkin Spice Cake with a Spiced Cream Cheese Layer
A moist almond flour pumpkin cake with a baked cheesecake layer swirled through the middle. One 8x8 pan, no sugar, and it is better the next day.
Two cakes in one pan
This is a pumpkin spice cake with a baked cheesecake layer running through the middle of it.
The base is a soft, moist almond flour cake, warm with spice. On top of that goes a spiced cream cheese layer, and then the last of the batter is dragged through it so the two marble together. When you slice it you get a bit of cake, a bit of cheesecake and a swirl in every square.
It is all made in one 8x8 pan, and the only thing that is hard is waiting for it to chill.
Why the egg matters
The cream cheese layer has an egg in it, and it is not optional.
That egg is what sets the cheesecake layer as it bakes. Without it the cream cheese would loosen and melt into the batter around it, and you would lose the layer completely. With it, you get a proper creamy middle that holds its shape when you slice.
Mix it in on low speed, and only until the layer is smooth. Beating a lot of air into it is how cheesecake layers puff up and then sink.
Use pure pumpkin puree
Check the tin. It should say 100% pumpkin, with nothing else in it.
Pumpkin pie filling is a different thing. It is already sweetened and spiced, and it will throw off the whole recipe. If you would rather skip the tin altogether, homemade pumpkin puree works exactly the same way. Just make sure it is thick. If yours looks loose, cook the water off first, because wet puree makes a wet cake.
The same goes for the spice. I use my own pumpkin spice blend in both layers, but any pumpkin pie spice will do.
Things I would tell you before you start
Bring everything to room temperature. The cream cheese, the butter and all four eggs. Cold cream cheese leaves lumps in the layer that no amount of beating fixes, and cold eggs do not blend smoothly into the batter.
Whisk the dry ingredients properly. Almond flour clumps, and you want those broken up before the wet goes in.
Fold, do not beat. Mix the batter only until it comes together. It will be thick, and that is right.
Do not worry about a perfect swirl. A few gentle figure eights is enough. If you go over it too many times, the layers blend into one and you lose the marbling.
Trust the jiggle. The centre should still wobble slightly when it comes out, because the cheesecake layer firms up as it cools. If you bake it until there is no movement at all, it will be dry once it chills.
Cool it, then chill it
Let it cool completely in the pan, on a wire rack, for about an hour. Then it goes in the fridge for at least two hours.
Overnight is better. The cheesecake layer sets fully, the spice settles in, and the cake slices cleanly instead of crumbling. Lift it out using the parchment overhang and cut it with a sharp knife, wiping the blade between slices.
Keep it in the fridge in an airtight container.
If you are new to keto baking
You do not need any special equipment. A hand mixer, two bowls and an 8x8 pan will do it.
The almond flour should be finely blanched, not almond meal. Almond meal is coarser and gives a heavier, grainier cake. For the sweetener I use monk fruit, granulated in the cake and powdered in the cream cheese layer, because powdered dissolves into the cream cheese without any grit.
Everything else is cream cheese, butter, eggs, pumpkin and spice.
The recipe
- Prep
- 15 minutes
- Bake
- 35 to 40 minutes
- Cool and chill
- 3 hours
- Serves
- 9 squares
Ingredients
Some ingredients link to the exact products I use. They are affiliate links, so I may earn a small amount if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. I only link to things I actually keep in my own kitchen.
Spiced cream cheese layer
- 225g (1 cup, 8 oz) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 30g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 3 to 4 tbsp powdered monk fruit sweetener. A powdered blend works best
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ to ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
Pumpkin spice cake
- 250g (2½ cups) finely blanched almond flour
- ½ cup granulated or golden monk fruit sweetener
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 185g (¾ cup) 100% pure pumpkin puree. Not pumpkin pie mix
- 60g (¼ cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 to 3 tbsp coconut milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Method
Prep the oven and pan
- Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F).
- Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides so you can lift the cake out later.
Make the cream cheese layer
- Beat the softened cream cheese and butter together until completely smooth, light and creamy.
- Beat in the powdered sweetener, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice.
- Add the egg and mix on low speed just until smooth, silky and even. Set it aside.
Mix the dry ingredients
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and sea salt.
- Whisk thoroughly to break up any clumps in the almond flour.
Mix the wet ingredients
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, 3 eggs, melted butter, coconut milk and vanilla until smooth and well blended.
Make the batter
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture.
- Fold gently with a spatula until just combined. The batter will be thick, silky and easy to spread.
Assemble and swirl
- Spoon about two thirds of the pumpkin batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out evenly.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture evenly over the pumpkin base.
- Dollop the remaining third of the pumpkin batter over the top.
- Drag a butter knife or skewer through the surface in gentle figure eight loops to make a marbled pattern.
Bake
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
- The edges should be golden and firm, and the centre should have a slight, firm jiggle from the cheesecake layer. A toothpick pushed into a cake portion should come out clean.
Cool and chill
- Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack at room temperature, about 1 hour.
- Move it to the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight, before slicing.
Thanks for reading.
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