This lemon low carb coffee cake is a delicious cake for any time of the year. A layer of coconut flour cake is slathered with a lemon flavoured cream cheese layer, topped with a coconut flour crumble topping.
An easy low carb cake perfect for spring or lemon lovers! The light sponge cake is flavoured with lemon, added with an almost cheesecake topping it is a delicious combination of sweet, tart and creamy cream cheese. Add a crumble topping and you will be going back for a second piece.
I took this cake to my weekly art class for a group survey. The group devoured it and it’s a recipe I would happily bake again when I have lemons to hand. It was still a bit warm from baking and although delicious, I preferred it cold the next day as the lemon flavour had really developed. I used St Lucia lemons that are very juicy.
Did you notice the tea towel in the photos? I won it in a raffle at a charity lunch event in St Lucia. A very fun afternoon and our table won the overall competition too! A fun reminder of a great day for me.
Making the lemon low carb coffee cake
You will need a few bowls to make this cake for the different layers. I hope you have a dish washer to hand! When baking a cake with coconut flour I like to separate my eggs and whisk the whites for a lighter sponge. In the absence of gluten, you need every help you can get when baking low carb and gluten free!
I used 4 bowls for:
- Whipping the egg whites
- Cream cheese layer
- Crumble mixture
- Cake mixture
This low carb coffee cake is made of 3 layers
Can I replace coconut flour with almond flour?
You could substitute the coconut flour to make this cake with almond flour. I would recommend that you use my raspberry almond crumble recipe and adapt with lemon in place of raspberries. Or combine them both?!
Tips
For a touch of spice, add cinnamon to the crumble topping.
If there is a slight wobble to the centre of the cake when baked, return it to the oven for another 5 minutes. The cake will firm when chilled too like a cheesecake does.
To serve, I drizzled my cake with low carb lemon curd.
Other low carb coffee cakes to bake
Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Strawberry Cheesecake Streusel Muffins
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Lemon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 5 medium eggs separated
- ½ cup erythritol
- ½ cup butter, unsalted softened at room temperature
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest grated
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Layer
- 8 oz cream cheese softened at room temperature
- ¼ cup erythritol
- 1 medium egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 lemon - juice & zest
Crumble Topping
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup erythritol
- ¼ cup Butter, unsalted cold, cut into small pieces
Instructions
Cake layer
- Preheat the oven to 180C/375F degrees.
- Grease and line an 8 inch springform cake tin with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, mix the erythritol and butter together until soft and blended.
- Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract and stir thoroughly.
- Add the coconut flour, salt, baking powder and beat until combined.
- In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff.
- Gently fold the egg whites into the cake mixture.
- IF the mixture seems dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water.
- Spoon the mixture into the baking tin and smooth evenly.
Cream Cheese Layer
- In a bowl, add the softened cream cheese and beat with the erythritol.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, lemon juice, zest and beat until smooth.
- Spoon this mixture over the cake mixture into the cake tin and smooth evenly.
Crumble Topping
- For the topping, place the coconut flour and erythritol in a bowl and mix until combined.
- Add the butter and mix with your hands, gently, so that the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
- Scatter the topping over the cream cheese layer
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until firm and the top is cooked.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool, then place in the fridge to firm.
Notes
Any nutritional analysis on the website is based on an estimate, calculated by http://nutritiondata.self.com from the individual ingredients in each recipe. Variations may occur for various reasons, including product availability and food preparation. We make no representation or warranty of the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
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Claire
5 net carbs? Or is the sugar listed sugar alcohol?
KATE
Hi Angela
I was looking to make this delicious looking cake but am a bit confused that I can't find in which layer the coffee is included as you don't seem to mention it! Can you let me know where to add it. Many thanks. Kate
Angela Coleby
"Coffee cake—also referred to as gugelhupf or kaffekuchen—evolved from other sweet dishes from Vienna. In the 17th century, Northern/Central Europeans are thought to have come up with the idea of eating sweet cakes while drinking coffee."
Kate matthews
Ok Angela. Thanks. I would never have thought about that. I shall enjoy making it. Regards Kate
LIsa
No coffee IN the cake- it’s to enjoy with coffee or tea!
Jojo
can you substitute for almond flour
Angela Coleby
Yes you can. Use this recipe as a guideline for quantities https://divaliciousrecipes.com/almond-raspberry-crumble-cake-low-carb/