Every cake recipe is gluten-free and made with basic ingredients you can find in your local grocery store.
You can make diabetic birthday cakes, sugar-free frosting, sugar-free mug cakes, and even creamy diabetic cheesecakes.
These are the best delicious recipes that are diabetic-friendly that will satisfy your sweet tooth and taste like the real thing.
There are almond flour cakes, sugar-free chocolate mug cakes, sugar-free cupcakes, cheesecakes, and of course, plenty of creamy sugar-free frosting recipes too.
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So when it’s time to sing Happy Birthday, you’re sure to find one that fits in with your dietary restrictions or special diets.
What is diabetic-friendly baking?
A diabetic-friendly cake is one that tastes delicious but has minimal effect on your blood sugar levels. It is important to watch your sugar intake and starchy carbohydrates in cakes and desserts, so you can enjoy the best part of the meal.
Ingredients to make sugar-free cakes
To make a true diabetic-friendly cake you will need low-carb flour and a sugar-free sweetener.
Some diabetic cakes use a regular cake recipe with wheat flour, gluten-free flour, whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour, But these starchy traditional flours will raise your blood sugar, whether you have diabetes or not.
You’ll also see many diabetic cake recipes in magazines that use natural sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup, but all of these natural sweeteners are still sugar.
READ MORE: How everyday carbs affect your blood sugar (and why organic sugar and honey are still sugar).
Best diabetic sweeteners
The best sugar-free sweetener is the one that tastes like real sugar, has zero calories, and will have minimal impact on your blood glucose levels. You can even make your own sugar blend with erythritol and a few drops of stevia.
TOP TIP: Always taste your cake batter or cookie dough before baking in case you need to add more sweetener to please your sweet tooth.
The most common sugar substitutes are:
You can find these sugar replacers in most local grocery stores or buy from my Amazon keto store or iHerb (with worldwide delivery).
READ MORE: The Ultimate Guide To Sugar-free Sweeteners (what are the best sweeteners to use and which sweeteners to avoid).
Best flours for diabetic cakes
Instead of cake flour, white flour, or gluten-free flour mixes, most diabetic cakes use coconut or almond flour which are naturally low in net carbs and naturally gluten-free too.
The two most common diabetic-friendly flours are:
- Almond flour – almond meal or ground almonds
- Coconut flour – perfect for those who have a nut allergy
You can find these low-carb flours in most local grocery stores or buy from my Amazon keto store or iHerb (with worldwide delivery).
EXPERT TIP: Avoid gluten-free flours. They are made from high-starch ingredients such as potato starch, tapioca starch, and rice flour.
1: The best sugar-free frosting
There is one thing that every sugar-free cake needs, a yummy creamy sugar-free frosting.
Cover your next keto chocolate cake with creamy sugar-free chocolate frosting, and in between each cake layer too.
This keto cream cheese frosting only needs 3 ingredients and can be made into 6 flavor variations. Perfect to decorate for almost any low-sugar cake.
Dark chocolate ganache can be used on your favorite chocolate cake or cheesecake. And for a delicious treat, cool your ganache to room temperature then roll it into balls for a quick and easy sugar-free truffle.
When decorating a diabetic celebration cake, you’ll need some sugar-free berry jelly. Sugar-free berry jam is amazing when spread in between layers of chocolate cake and covered in chocolate ganache for a diabetic-friendly black forest gateau.
2: The best sugar-free cakes
The nutritional values of each low-carb cake can be found in their recipe card.
The most delicious diabetic birthday cake recipe is covered in whipped cream and sugar-free sprinkles on top and in between each cake layer.
It’s the most popular sugar-free vanilla cake recipe that tastes just like Angle food cake.
The most popular sugar-free chocolate cake has to be this flourless sugar-free cake recipe that’s also nut free. It’s my personal favorite for any special occasion. Keep any leftovers in the fridge for the next day.
If you can’t tolerate almond flour, try coconut flour berry sponge cakes, and dust them with the sweet taste of a powdered sugar substitute (such as powdered erythritol).
The magic of this diabetic cake is that it uses a whole orange. Including the orange skin in your cake gives a really orange flavor but with much fewer carbs than a traditional cake that uses 2 or 3 oranges.
Soft and lemony gluten-free cake recipe with coconut and cream cheese frosting.
You can enjoy a diabetic Christmas cake this year with this basic keto almond cake with 7 variations, all with different net carbs.
If you are watching your sugar intake, you can still enjoy this delicious chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
Coffee is the secret ingredient in this sugar-free chocolate cake. It’s made with almond flour and coconut flour and covered with sugar-free chocolate frosting.
Carrot cake has some natural sugar from the carrots, but it has no added sugar and uses a low-carb flour mixture. It tastes like the real deal.
Zucchini chocolate cake is one of the low-carb cakes that is a sneaky way to eat more vegetables. No one will notice shreds of zucchini hiding inside this perfect recipe.
3: The best one-pot cakes
Using the slow cooker or Instant Pot to bake cakes, helps to keep them tender, moist, and fluffy.
This is the easiest way to cook a cheesecake is in the Instant Pot. Topped off with a jello topping with fresh berries.
Chocolate pudding cake served with whipped cream is one of those decadent diabetic dessert recipes that everyone will love.
Sugar-free chocolate lave cake is cooked in the slow cooker and packed with sugar-free chocolate chips.
4: The best sugar-free cupcakes
Diabetic cupcakes are the perfect single-serve sweet treat.
These coconut flour cupcakes are covered in a sweet cream cheese frosting. It’s a great recipe for the freezer too.
Sugar-free lemon mini cupcakes are all made in the blender.
Sugar-free chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting can also be decorated with a sugar-free chocolate ganache (recipe above).
Coconut flour cupcakes with berries and vanilla extract can also be baked as one large cake.
Almond flour cupcakes are sweet but without a blood sugar spike.
If you’re looking for mini sugar-free cakes, these orange cupcakes are amazing.
Almond flour strawberry shortcakes (scones) served with sugar-free lemon curd or sugar-free chia jam are diabetic-friendly and so pretty.
5: The best sugar-free mug cakes
The best thing about sugar-free mug cakes is they can be ready in just 1 minute. They are easy recipes for single servings and perfect portion control. There won’t be any leftovers to tempt you later.
The most popular mug cake is the keto berry mug cake (with coconut flour).
The fastest sugar-free chocolate cake recipe only needs 1-minute of baking time. Filled with sugar-free chocolate chips for that extra chocolate flavor.
Serve with plenty of sugar-free whipped cream on this chocolate cake in a mug. If you’ve got melted butter, cocoa powder, almond flour, and monk fruit sweetener, you can make the best mug cake recipe.
This sugar-free cheesecake is not only sugar-free, and gluten-free, but it’s also egg free.
Pipe some whipped topping over this mug cheesecake then sprinkle some pumpkin pie spice to garnish before serving.
If you don’t like almond flour or coconut flour and are allergic to eggs, this sugar-free cake is for you.
A single-serve cake recipe is wonderful to stop sugar cravings.
Mini sugar-free cake recipes don’t get easier than this mug cheesecake.
Cinnamon is naturally sweet so often used in sugar-free cake recipes. Add any remaining frosting on top to serve once you cool completely.
Sugar-free cakes with lemon curd are sweet and sour at the same time.
6: The best sugar-free cheesecakes
These diabetic cheesecakes are sweet and creamy but without sugar or flour.
A sugar-free peanut butter chocolate cheesecake actually makes a delicious birthday cake for diabetics too.
Making a no-bake cheesecake is a delicious diabetic dessert if you don’t want to bake a cake today.
Drizzle some sugar-free chocolate over the top of this sugar-free cheesecake and serve with fresh berries.
Sugar-free chocolate ganache can cover cakes and cheesecakes too. This sugar-free New York baked cheesecake will keep the whole family happy.
Instead of a Graham cracker crust, this cheesecake uses melted butter and almond flour. Your blood sugar level will thank you.
All you need is an electric mixer and a few simple low-sugar ingredients to make this show-stopper diabetic dessert.
A sugar-free lime cheesecake cooked in the Instant Pot is beautifully served with a whipped topping and slices of lime.
Some of the best creamy cheesecake recipes are no-bake cheesecakes. The great thing is that you don’t need your oven.
With only 3g net carbs per slice, no-bake sugar-free lemon cheesecake is a winner at parties and summer BBQs.
Diabetic baking FAQ
Choose a sweetener that tastes like real sugar such as erythritol, monk fruit sweetener, or allulose. Avoid maltitol which can often spike blood sugar levels and any artificial sweeteners that make your gut grumble.
The most requested whipped topping has to be keto cool whip. Whip 1 cup of heavy cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form. In another bowl, whip 4 oz cream cheese with monk fruit sweetener then spoon into the whipped cream and beat again. Serve immediately or store in the fridge for up to 3 days. It’s quick to make and without the extra cost of heading to the grocery store.
Cakes that have been made using low-carb flour and sugar-free sweeteners are the best for anyone who is on a sugar-free diet or who has trouble managing their blood glucose.
No, when a brand or recipe says low sugar, it generally suggests the recipe has lower sugar than their regular recipe or they used a different natural sugar such as honey. This is often called confusion marketing.
Most cream cheese has minimal sugar, but always check ingredient labels and nutritional information. Avoid cream cheese with sweet chili sauce or high-sugar sauces. Lite or low-fat cream cheese often has added carbs or starch to make it tasty and palatable.
You need to read the ingredients to make sure it is a true sugar-free cake. Some sugar-free cakes don’t use refined sugar but use honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar instead in the naive and incorrect belief that it is sugar-free.
Coffee is the secret ingredient in many of my coffee cakes. A small amount of coffee actually enhances the chocolate flavor. So next time you make a chocolate cake, add some espresso powder, espresso shot, or dissolved instant coffee and taste the difference.
Most brands of vanilla extract and vanilla essence are sugar-free but always check nutrition labels for any hidden sugar or change in formulation since you last bought it.
With each recipe above, the recipe card can be dialed up or down so you can set how many servings you want. The ingredients will be magically calculated for you. Alternatively, you can make regular birthday cake layers, and freeze one cake layer for later so any leftover cake doesn’t tempt you.
Diabetic-friendly baking helps to keep your blood sugar stable by reducing all sugar, starch, and net carbs.
In many cake recipes, you can swap butter for coconut oil, cream for coconut cream, and milk for almond milk. Always read the recipe notes before making too many changes.
While almond flour is the most common low-carb flour, it does not behave like wheat flour and cake flour because there is no gluten to make it soft and bouncy. Almond flour cakes generally use more eggs and baking powder to make them light and fluffy.
These low-carb flours have completely different baking qualities so cannot be directly swapped easily. I suggest only using the flour the cake recipe recommends. But you can use these low-carb flour conversion charts which may help you.
Press a clean knife, fork, or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean without any raw cake batter, your cake is cooked.
Most tropical high sugar fruit should be avoided such as melon, pineapple, mango, and grapes. Dried fruit is also high in sugar because it was whole fresh fruit with all the fruit sugars, but with the water removed. One handful of raisins is equal to a few bunches of grapes.
Always choose tart fruit and low-sugar berries. Take a look at these sugar is in fruit charts.
If the cakes have been made with keto flour and keto sweeteners (and the net carbs fit within your daily carb limit), then go for it.
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