Low-carb red velvet cake

INGREDIENTS

• 1+ 3/4 cups almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
• 2/3 cup  Swerve Confectioner Sweetener (No substitutes)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (Hain brand is grain-free)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp whole milk   (or full fat coconut milk)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring (Watkins brand is a more natural alternative). Gel color is more concentrated, only use about 1-2 teaspoons .

Frosting

• 1 eight oz container cream cheese, room temperature (Kite Hill for dairy-free)
• 2.5 tablespoons butter, softened (Earth Balance Spread for dairy-free)
• 1 cup Swerve Confectioner Sweetener
• 2.5 tablespoon whole milk (or coconut milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• **Double Frosting For Layer Cake

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Start with your wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together your milk, eggs, olive oil, vanilla extract, food coloring and apple cider vinegar. Whisk until smooth.
3. Then sift the Swerve Confectioner, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder over top of the wet ingredients and incorporate into batter with whisk or electric hand mixer.
4. Finally, sift the almond flour into the batter-be patient, it takes just a minute. Using a whisk to push it back and forth over the sieve speeds this process up significantly. Mix the sifted almond flour into the batter until smooth and the ingredients are incorporated together well. Use batter immediately.
5. For Cupcakes: Spoon batter into muffin liners only 2/3 of the way full-make sure not to over-fill. Making sure your oven is preheated, bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then rotate muffin tin by 180 degrees and bake for an additional 10 minutes. (Keep in mind, oven times can occasionally vary- altitude and humidity can affect things, so keep an eye on them-they might need a couple minutes more or less).
6. Remove from oven and let them cool COMPLETELY before removing from pan. If you’re in a rush, place them in the freezer for 25 minutes, works like a charm!
7. For Layer Cake: 2 Layer- make sure to line the bottoms of two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides. Pour batter evenly in to both pans. Smooth the surface of the batter with a wet spatula. Use the same method for 3 layer, but use these thin pans and divide batter 3 ways-each layer will be thin.
8. Place layers into oven and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Carefully rotate the pans 180 degrees and lightly cover with foil at the halfway mark. At 20-25 minutes the layers will be ready to come out, they’ll still be a touch soft. Let them cool COMPLETELY and once they are cool, run a knife around the edges and carefully flip them over onto a cooling rack or plates and let them rest for another 5-10 minutes before frosting. While you’re waiting for your cake layers or cupcakes to cool, go ahead and blend together your frosting.
9. With a hand mixer, blend together your softened cream cheese and butter.
10. Add milk + vanilla extract and blend again. Finally, sift in Swerve, salt and then blend one last time. Chilling the frosting will thicken it. You can also add more Swerve for a thicker texture or more milk to thin it out. *Double frosting recipe for layer cake.
11. Pipe or spread frosting onto cupcakes, serve and enjoy!! For layer cake, it is easiest to first freeze the layers. Then frost and stack each layer, finally frost the top and sides. We used our Swerve sprinkles for the pink and red topping, you can find that recipe at the bottom of our Keto Devil’s Food Cake Post.
12. Store any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate, enjoy!