Peanut Butter Cake

My partner is a peanut butter fiend and requested a peanut butter cake for his birthday. I chose this one primarily because it had a frosting rather than an icing, it looked fairly simple, and it was different from other ones I'd made him in the past.

Notes:

• I halved the recipe and baked it in two nonstick loaf pans greased with butter to make a small rectangular layer cake, and baked them for about 25 minutes.
• I added vanilla extract to both the cake and the frosting because I love the combination of vanilla and peanut butter and I thought it would be weird without it.
• I used heavy cream instead of milk in the frosting, and I needed probably 3-4 times as much as it called for to get the right consistency.
• I decorated it with chopped mini peanut butter cups on the top. I feel like it would also be pretty with chocolate shavings. My partner bought Reese's Pieces for decoration too, but I didn't use them because I think their texture would be too hard for my liking unless they were chopped kind of small.

Verdict: I only had a small taste of it and thought it turned out well enough, though it was a little oily (especially the frosting) but lots of peanut butter desserts are and I'm not sure how much you can get away from that and still have a strong peanut butter taste. The frosting texture was a little strange and I might add butter or use a different frosting in the future, maybe the other one on this blog because I have loved it every time I've had it. But most importantly, my partner loved it so I would absolutely make it for him again.

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RECIPE: Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting (Mary Beth Manville, The Southern Plate) 

No Bake Chocolate Coconut Fudge Bars

I wanted something new but simple to make for a birthday treat and decided to go with these. They carried me through the immediate aftermath of losing my dearly beloved cat on July 31, which on one hand is a painful memory to associate with anything but on the other hand, it was something tasty for me to eat when I felt too sad to do much of anything and I was glad to have them then.

Notes:

• I think I used allulose as the sweetener the first time, and erythritol the second time. Both tasted fine to me, though there is a little bit of graininess until they are fully chilled. This doesn't make them particularly sweet so if you want them to taste more like they would with regular sugar I'd also add some stevia or stevia blend sweetener. (I used some packets of Truvia because I have a LOT of them at home lol.)
• I mixed them by hand and pressed it into the pan with the bottom of a drinking glass.
• I omitted the almond butter. The recipe says you can add extra chocolate chips, coconut oil, or butter instead of the almond butter. I went with about 3 tbsp melted unsalted butter.
• For the chocolate, I used Lily's semi-sweet style chocolate chips and I really liked the flavor. The filling with the butter reminded me of a grocery store chocolate doughnut icing, in a good way.

Verdict: I like them and would make them again!

Update 8/18/25: I made a version with matcha-white chocolate filling (I had extra Lily's white chocolate chips after making matcha chocolate covered strawberries with my annual fresh strawberry picking haul) and almond extract instead of vanilla, and I enjoyed them a lot. I used the same ratio of matcha in the white chocolate here as for the strawberry coating. For a full batch of these bars that would be 1 tbsp matcha (for 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips). The unsalted butter in the filling instead of almond butter really worked great here too.

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RECIPE: No Bake Chocolate Coconut Fudge Bars (Katie Higgins, Chocolate Covered Katie) 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars

These sounded tasty and I was looking for a new sweet treat to try.

Notes:

• I used regular size sugar free chocolate chips because I didn't want to go looking for mini ones.

Verdict: They were less sweet tasting than I was hoping for, but I did like them generally and would make them again. My sugar eating husband liked them too.

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RECIPE: Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars (Carolyn Ketchum, All Day I Dream About Food)

 

Lemon Bundt Cake

I was missing cake and decided to try this.

Notes: 

• I used Swerve granulated sugar substitute and I think it made the cake brown a lot more than it should have. I would recommend NOT using that in this cake (honestly it seems to ruin everything I put it in so I'm not going to buy it again).
• Because I did not have coconut butter I made a lemon glaze instead using a "powdered sugar" substitute (Swerve Powdered, which again turned out poorly probably because of the extra ingredients in it). I ended up adding cream cheese to it and making a thicker kind of frosting.
• I greased the bundt pan really well and it still stuck in one place so my cake kind of fell apart when I took it out of the pan.

Verdict: I wasn't happy with this. It turned out totally different from the picture, a lot more browned to the point of being kind of unappetizing. It was also not very sweet. It might have been my fault because I'm fairly new to low carb baking. If I make this again, I will use the suggested brand of sweetener or use more than it says to use.

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RECIPE: Keto Lemon Pound Cake (Katrin Nurnberger, Sugar Free Londoner) 

Tiramisu Cake

We visited a gluten free bakery and cafe on vacation in Florida that advertised keto friendly baked goods. When we arrived there was a long line to order, and then when it was our turn we were informed they were not actually able to make any of the hot food we wanted (disappointing). They also didn't have any keto friendly sweets in the bakery cases as far as I could tell while we waited about 15 minutes in line to be served. We asked anyway and the cashier looked confused, but then someone working there said the tiramisu cake was keto friendly so we said we'd get one. I had only seen gluten free ones specifically labeled as containing regular sugar in the case, and I'm pretty sure she just gave us one of those that I'd seen. This was all immensely frustrating but there was a big line behind me and I didn't want to make a stink so we paid $35 for our tiny fucking 4" cake and brought it back to the condo. I ended up eating it anyway and even if it had sugar in it (which I'm pretty sure it did because it felt a LOT more filling than keto baked goods), it was quite delicious and didn't really throw me off ketosis, so no harm done I suppose. But I'm not going back there.

Anyway, I was hungry for tiramisu cake after getting home and decided to try to make my own that I knew would be actually keto friendly.

Notes:

• Another NO for Swerve products. The powdered sugar substitute weighed down the frosting on the outside and made it taste grainy. I attempted it again with 100% erythritol as the sweetener with better results but still a little grainy. I would like to try it with the erythritol-monkfruit powdered sugar substitute next.
• I sprinkled cocoa powder in between the layers before putting the second one on and that was nice. 
• I tried dipping the cake layers in cooled brewed coffee before assembling and frosting for some extra coffee flavor (like you do with the ladyfingers in regular tiramisu), and it did NOT work. Didn't soak in at all and made a big mess and was risky because the cake is already a little crumbly. Not worth it.
• I made a 6-inch round cake the first time with 2 6-inch springform pans, and the second time because I wanted something less fussy to line and clean, I baked the layers in two rectangular metal loaf pans. Both turned out nice.
• I want to try putting chocolate shavings on top sometime instead of cocoa powder.

Verdict: I have tried it twice now and like it, but will need to keep working at it to make it exactly what I want it to be. I also think a matcha variation would be delicious, with prepared matcha instead of coffee and matcha powder instead of cocoa powder.

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RECIPE: Keto Tiramisu Cake (The Hungry Elephant)

Skillet Cheese Bread

I saw this mentioned in an article about comfort foods to eat when you're sick but on a keto diet, and sick or no, cheese bread sounded absolutely lovely so I gave it a shot. 

Notes:

• I baked mine in a 9-inch round pan but I would probably bake it in a bigger pan next time to ensure it gets fully cooked in the middle.
• Definitely bake it for longer than it says to. Even with extra time mine did not get fully cooked in the middle and it started growing mold after a couple of days at room temperature.

Verdict: I liked it before it started rotting. I also think I messed it up by unintentionally underbaking it. If I try it again I will definitely bake it for longer, and maybe bake it in a pan that allows it to be thinner (again, so it bakes better/more thoroughly).

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RECIPE:

Skillet Cheese Bread 

1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup flax seed meal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3/4 cup almond milk, unsweetened 

Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease pan with 1 tbsp butter, or if using a metal or glass pan or skillet, set the butter in the pan and place inside the oven to melt. Mix almond flour, flax seed meal, baking powder, salt, and 1 cup of the shredded cheese in a large bowl until combined. Add eggs, butter, and almond milk. Mix until thoroughly combined. If you used the oven to heat your pan, remove pan from oven and swirl it to coat the inside surface with the butter. Pour batter into pan and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese evenly over the top. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until browned around the edges and set through the center. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes.

Tea Parties vol. 5: Keto Easter

After a thoroughly disappointing experience with tea service at a fashion event I went to at the end of March, I decided the only way I am going to have a nice tea is if I make it myself. I was telling a friend about tea service and he told me he wished he'd gone to tea when he visited London. He was going to be cat sitting for us soon so I wanted to do something to thank him, and he wanted to get together for the Easter holiday right before our vacation so I invited him to tea at my house. I think he had a really nice time, and I got to replace a sub-par memory with a really nice one.

I made all of the food, and it was a mix of keto friendly items and regular ones since I was the only person following a keto diet. There were only three of us so things were very manageable. The cream cheese stuffed strawberries were an unexpected big hit! I will definitely make more of them for future tea parties with people who can't eat sugar.

THE MENU

Drinks 

• Yorkshire Tea
• Sparkling wine

Savory course 

• Crustless quiche using my regular recipe but omitting the crust and instead greasing the baking dish very very well with butter. It had cheese, scallions, and grape tomatoes in it.
• Charcuterie plate (sausage, cheeses, olives) with optional crackers
• Cucumber sandwiches, with and without bread. I mixed a dried herb blend from Penzey's (Justice) into some cream cheese with salt and pepper and spread it on bread and topped with cucumber slices for the regular version, and sandwiched the cream cheese between cucumber slices for the keto friendly version.

Scone course 

• English style scones with homemade strawberry jam and store bought fig jam 
• Almond flour scones (keto friendly) with sugar free raspberry jam made with home grown raspberries

Dessert course

• Sugar free Jello eggs (made as directed on the package and poured into egg shaped molds)
• Keto fudgy brownies (keto friendly) decorated with Russell Stover sugar free candy drops in cute bright colors
• Peanut butter cookies with peanut butter candies
• Strawberries stuffed with sugar free vanilla flavored cream cheese (no recipe, just mixed powdered sugar substitute and some vanilla extract into cream cheese until thoroughly combined, then smushed as much as I could into strawberries that were hulled and had a cross shaped cut in the top)
• Minneola slices 

Almond Flour Scones

After a thoroughly disappointing experience with tea service at a fashion event I went to at the end of March, I decided the only way I am going to have a nice tea is if I make it myself. I was telling a friend about tea service and he told me he wished he'd gone to tea when he visited London. He was going to be cat sitting for us soon so I wanted to do something to thank him, and he wanted to get together for the Easter holiday right before our vacation so I invited him to tea at my house. I think he had a really nice time, and I got to replace a sub-par memory with a really nice one.

For an English style tea service it is of course necessary to serve scones and clotted cream and jam, so this was the first thing I tried to find a keto friendly recipe for.

Notes:

• I used Swerve granulated sugar substitute and they got very brown, almost burnt on the bottom the first time I made them. I plan to experiment with the sweetener to hopefully get them to not brown so much in the future.
• I left out the lemon zest one time because I didn't have it and it worked fine. The vanilla is really nice. If you don't want them to have a default sweet kind of taste though you could probably leave it out. 
• I ate these with clotted cream and sugar free homemade raspberry jam.
• I've also used these as a base for strawberry shortcake and liked it! (pictured) 

Verdict: I loved these and have made them one additional time since the keto friendly tea service because I missed them when they were gone. I have a feeling this will be a go-to recipe.

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RECIPE: Grain Free English Scones (Katrin Nürnberger, Sugar Free Londoner)

Keto Vanilla Cupcakes

I tried these along with the frosting recipe because I missed cake.

Verdict: I was not really impressed. They were edible but not really what I was hoping for. If I make them again I will add the eggs gradually rather than all at once so they blend in better (a commenter mentioned they did this with decent results).

The frosting was an abject failure texture wise though the flavor was good. I think it was because my sweetener was not just sweetener; it had tapioca starch in it, and between that and the almond milk it got grainy and too heavy. Next time I will probably use allulose. I ended up mixing cream cheese into it and it tasted a lot better. I ended up eating it like dip with pecans rather than putting it on the cupcakes.

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RECIPE: Keto Cupcakes (Arman Liew, The Big Man's World)

RECIPE: Keto Frosting (Arman Liew, The Big Man's World)

Napa Cabbage Stir Fry

I had a bunch of napa cabbage languishing in my fridge and was looking for something that would use a lot of it in one go, and this sounded good to me.

Notes:

• I used dried rehydrated shiitake mushrooms because I did not have fresh.

Verdict: I liked it and would consider making it again, especially if I found myself with all the ingredients.

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RECIPE: Napa Cabbage Stir Fry (Namiko Chen, Just One Cookbook)

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I really miss cookies and I'm starting a hunt for a go-to keto friendly cookie that I like.

Notes:

• I used Swerve brown sugar to make them keto friendly.

Verdict: These were just OK for me. Mine did not look anywhere near as good as the photo; they were significantly darker in color and texture was different. I used the end of a jar of almond butter so maybe it had less oil than it was supposed to. The texture is a little nicer than an almond flour cookie but it's not quite the soft chewy kind that you get with regular flour and sugar. They were darker and more crumbly looking. I don't know if it's possible to get that yummy soft chewy texture with keto ingredients but I'm going to keep looking. Pros of this recipe is that it was very simple to make and if you need a quick cookie fix these will do the trick.

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RECIPE: 3 Ingredient Almond Butter Cookies (Arman Liew, The Big Man's World)

Almond Flour Pizza Crust

When this appeared on my feed in the app I use for my dietary treatment I was very curious to try it because I really missed pizza. Sure, my local pizza place is confused but obliges when I ask if they can make me a dish of sauce and melted cheese and toppings, but I still sometimes miss pizza with crust.

Notes:

• The recipe calls for almond meal (which is a term some people use to specifically designate that it contains the skins of the nuts). I used almod flour with skins because I had it on hand but I think they want you to use the kind without the skins, or at least that's what the picture makes it look like. HOWEVER. I have a feeling they used a picture of a regular ass non-keto pizza on the recipe in my app, and not the product of this recipe, though I haven't tried it with the other kind of almond flour yet to be sure.
• I use the large holes of my grater to shred the cheese, though since you're melting it other sizes would probably work fine too. DO NOT buy pre-shredded cheese since it is coated in something that may interfere with melting and might also be carbs.
• I mix in the egg with my hands because it's kind of hard to do with a spoon.
• For toppings, I use about 1/2 cup jarred marinara sauce, about 2-3 oz shredded mozzarella cheese, and any keto-friendly cooked meats and vegetables. I made my own Italian sausage with ground pork and this herb/spice mixture to ensure it didn't contain sugar or starch.
• For future reference: if not adding extra salt, the crust + 2 oz cheese for topping has ~1800 mg sodium for the whole pizza.
  

Verdict: I was surprised at how much it behaves like bread dough before you put the egg in! It's not quite the same as regular pizza dough obviously but it's rather good. I would absolutely have it again, and I really want to try it with the other kind of almond flour once my flour-with-skins runs out. Posting the full recipe below because my phone falls asleep every 5 minutes and it kicks me all the way out of the app every single time I want to look at the recipe again.

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RECIPE:

Almond Flour Pizza Dough
Makes 6 servings

6 oz (170 g) mozzarella cheese, shredded (plus more for topping the pizza, I usually use about 2-3 oz more)
3/4 cup (75 g) almond meal or almond flour
1 large egg
2 tbsp (1 oz, 28 g) cream cheese
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp oregano or Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix the shredded cheese, almond meal, and cream cheese in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir, then microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Add egg, salt, and spices and stir gently until combined.

On a cutting board, place ball of dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll into a circle about 1/8 inch thick and about 12 inches in diameter. Remove the top piece of parchment paper and poke holes with a fork all over to prevent bubbles from forming while baking.

Place pizza dough (still on the parchment paper) on a baking tray or pizza stone and bake for 13-15 minutes or until browned around the edges. For a crisper crust, flip the pizza dough over before adding toppings. Add toppings of choice, return pizza to oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until toppings are warm and cheese (if added) is melted.

No-Bean Beef Chili

Another try borne from a desire to eat foods I loved before keto.

Notes:

• The second time I made this I used canned tomatoes and it tasted fine, though I will admit I liked the taste of the fresh (frozen) tomatoes better.

Verdict: I loved it! I wasn't sure I would like chili without beans but apparently that is how traditional Texas style chili is made. My partner who is anti-bean loved it. I brought it to a party with non keto friends and they loved it too. Definitely keeping this one for future use.

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RECIPE: Keto Chili (Arman Liew, The Big Man's World)

Iced Matcha Latte

This is the first at-home matcha latte I've ever made that I really liked. And I have tried quite a few times. I love that this one doesn't need any special equipment.

Notes:

• I make this keto friendly by using unsweetened almond milk and a sugar-free sweetener (Truvia, or sugar-free flavored syrup like lavender, vanilla, or almond is especially lovely. I also want to try rose flavor sometime.)
• Spend a little more money and get a nicer matcha for drinking. Rishi sells a decent one, and I have recently ordered matcha from Blue Bottle but haven't tasted it yet. I am curious about Costco matcha but haven't taken the plunge yet.
  

Verdict: Easy to make and tastes really good. I make them several times a week.

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RECIPE: Matcha Latte (1899 Matcha Cafe)

Almond Flour Biscuits

I can't remember what prompted me to make these, maybe because I was craving bread. But I wanted to give them a try. I made them exactly as written. Shown served with cream cheese and cured salmon.

Verdict: The crumbly texture that almond flour tends to give things works really well for biscuits. I liked these and would make them again.

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RECIPE: Keto Almond Flour Biscuits (Arman Liew, The Big Man's World)