This delicious and fluffy gluten-free red velvet cake is made with all-natural ingredients and grated beets for color. While the sponge cake does not turn out as intensely red as the traditional red velvet desserts (due to natural colors changing during baking), this is made up with the gorgeous baby pink cream frosting. This beet red velvet cake is also grain-free, low-carb and keto-friendly and I provide dairy-free alternatives in the recipe below.
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My Healthy Red Velvet Cake
I love a good red velvet cake or cupcakes but I am always a bit worried about that intense red color. I also find some of these desserts a little too sweet for my liking, so I was keen to make a healthy red velvet cake that doesn’t use added artificial coloring and is gluten-free, low in sugar and carbohydrates. I developed this natural beet version that turned out marvellous and looked absolutely beautiful on a cake stand.
With my red velvet inspired cake, you’re looking at about 8-10 grams of net carbs per serving (that’s your total carbs minus the dietary fibre). It is however still quite energy-dense with 500 calories per serving, so keep that in mind.
👩🍳 You might also like these healthy desserts: flourless chocolate cupcakes (gluten-free and low-carb), black forest cupcakes (can be made gluten-free), chocolate zucchini cake, gluten-free apple slice with nut butter maple drizzle (also low-carb and Paleo), or this lemon and coconut slice.
How To Make Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake
Before we dive into the recipe, I want to quickly go through some ingredients you will need for this cake and the basic steps. I’ve got a few process photos to guide you along.
Cake Batter
The two main flours used to make a low-carb and gluten-free red velvet cake batter are almond meal and coconut flour, as well as the usual suspects like butter, eggs and cream. I do provide dairy-free options for those of you avoiding milk products. In place of red coloring traditionally used, I added grated beets. These will provide a lovely pink color/tint to the sponge and also a little earthy, sweet flavour and extra nutrients.
To sweeten the cake, I used sugar-free granulated sweetener by Natvia (in Australia) but you can use Swerve brand or Monk fruit sweetener – these are all great low-carb options.
One thing to note is that although the color of grated beets will be bright pink/purple when added, once cooked, the cake sponge will be more chocolatey brown. That’s just what happens to natural colors under heat.
This is a two-layer cake, so I recommend baking it as separate sponge cakes in two baking tins. If you only have one tin, you can make a taller sponge cake and bake for longer (I’ve provided time adjustments in the recipe). Then slice the tall sponge cake into two disks once it’s cooled.
Low-Carb Cream Frosting
The cream frosting is also low-carb but is quite rich as we’re using cream cheese, butter and cream. I have linked to a dairy-free frosting recipe in the recipe notes below. For that blush pink color, I simply added a couple of tablespoons of beet juice to the whipped frosting cream. Worked a charm!
Tips & Tricks
- Beet prep hack: If you don’t want to deal with boiling and peeling beets, you can use store-bought cooked beets (just make sure they’re plain and not pickled!).
- Want a richer chocolate flavor? Add an extra teaspoon of cocoa powder for a deeper, slightly more intense taste.
- Beets naturally keep this cake moist, but make sure not to overbake—check with a toothpick at the 30-minute mark to avoid dryness.
- Since this is a low-carb recipe, taste your batter before baking and adjust the sweetener to your liking. Different sugar alternatives have different levels of sweetness!
- For a deeper red hue without artificial coloring, add a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of apple cider vinegar to enhance the beet’s natural vibrancy.
- Storage Tips: Store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. The flavors actually get better after a day or two. You can freeze slices for up to 3 months. Wrap them individually and thaw at room temperature when ready to eat. Frosting tip: If you’ve already frosted the cake, let it firm up in the fridge before wrapping it up to keep the topping intact.
- If serving from the fridge, let the cake sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before eating for the best texture and flavor.
- Bake Ahead: The cake can be baked a day or two in advance and stored in the fridge. Just frost before serving for the freshest texture. Frosting Prep: The cream cheese frosting can be made 2–3 days ahead and kept in the fridge. Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before spreading.
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Ingredients
For Cake Batter
- ¾ cup butter softened and unsalted or coconut oil for dairy-free
- 1.25 cups sugar-free granular sweetener e.g.monk fruit sweetener blend, Natvia or Swerve granular sweetener
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup heavy cream or thickened part of coconut milk from a can for dairy-free
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar
- 2 medium raw beets peeled and finely grated (excess juices squeezed out and reserved, see notes on handling the beets)
- 2 cups almond flour
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda or baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Low-Carb Cream Cheese Frosting
- 17 oz cream cheese softened (500 grams)
- ½ cup butter (8 tablespoons)
- ½ to ⅔ cup sugar-free powdered sweetener such as Swerve or Natvia brand you can use more for sweeter frosting, Monk sweetener can also be used
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2-3 tablespoons reserved beet juice for color
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 335 F / 170 C. Line the bottom of two x 9" round springform pans with parchment paper. If you only have one pan, you can bake this cake in two batches.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar-free sweetener for about a minute until fluffy.
- Using medium speed, add and beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Change the speed to low and mix in the vanilla, cream (or coconut cream) and lemon juice until incorporated.
- Stir in the grated beetroot (make sure to squeeze out the juice first). Don’t beat with a mixer as it might splash the juice all over.
- Change the mixer speed to low and beat in the almond flour – 1/2 cup at a time – followed by coconut flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Beat together until the batter is just smooth but don’t over mix it.
- Divide the batter between the 2 pans and flatten the top with a spatula. Bake for about 30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely in the pans, then run a knife along the sides to loosen the cake. Open to release and flip to remove.
- Note: If you only have one pan and want to bake it as one whole cake rather than the two layers, increase the time by 20-25 more minutes or so. Then once the sponge is cool enough, slice it into two layers.
- In the meantime, make the low-carb cream cheese frosting. Use a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese and butter, until fluffy. Beat in the sweetener and vanilla, until well incorporated.
- Add cream and beat again, until creamy. You can adjust the amount of cream to desired consistency. Finally, fold in a couple of tablespoons of the beet juice we reserved during prep. You can adjust the amount depending on the intensity of the color you want.
- Place one cake onto a cake stand or a plate and frost the top with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the frosting. Place the other cake layer on top and frost the top and the side with the remaining frosting.
- You can decorate the top of the cake with raspberries, strawberries, beetroot chips (you can bake your own beetroot chips even), pecans, rose petals, dried cranberries or chocolate shavings. Anything that's a darker, burgundy or brown color will look great on top of pinkish white frosting.
Notes
Nutrition
More Sweet Treats
Gluten-free Lemon Shortbread Cookies (Low-Carb)
Dairy-Free Panna Cotta (Coconut, Low-Carb)
No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Bars (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)
I tried this recipe last night. It was really gorgeous.!!
Will definitely be making this again.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Elizabeth. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Just didnt work for me. The sugar alternative doesnt beat well, I had to strain the mix and start again. The whole thing was too sweet. You have to beat the sugar replacement and butter for ages, as you would normal sugar and butter not 1 minute. I would make it again
This cake is as beautiful as it is tasty! I was skeptical about the beets at first but it turned out so tasty!
Homemade and natural ingredients sounds healthy. Lovely recipe. Thanks
Very interesting red velvet cake recipe and looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
Just gorgeous! And on Red 40!! Love this!
I love this cake! Knowing that I’m not adding any food coloring to my cake is awesome since I hate feeding my kids with it if I can.