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After scouring Amazon for sugar-free cake mixes, we found the Groovy Keto Lemon Cake Baking Mix, boasting 1.7g of carbs per slice. We winced at the £8.99 price tag, especially given the sugar-free Betty Crocker mixes we’ve tried are both considerably cheaper.
So, what does nine quids worth of cake mix taste like? We got our baking equipment out of the cupboard and set to work to make Groovy Keto’s ‘No added sugar’ lemon cake.
For this cake, we enlisted my grandparents as taste testers to give you a variety of opinions on whether it’s worth buying for yourself.
What ingredients are in it?
Almond and organic coconut flour, erythritol, whey protein, lemon powder, and chicory root fibre.
As well as erythritol, an artificial sweetener, the Groovy Keto lemon cake contains stevia extract. The blend of sweeteners prevents the cake from being bitter (a problem with pure stevia extract).
While stevia extract has a glycemic index of 0, erythritol doesn’t. As such, the packet doesn’t specifically say this cake mix is sugar-free, opting for a ‘No Added Sugar’ badge instead – importantly, foods containing sugar alcohols can choose between that, or ‘Sugar-Free’.
It’s because of erythritol’s lofty glycemic index of 1, that the Groovy Keto cake mix has the following measures:
In total, the 260g cake mix consisted of 117g of polyols and 2.08g of sugar. Per 41g slice (the whole cake is 12 servings), you’d be eating 10g of polyols and 0.8g of sugar. Including carbohydrates (11.7g per serving), each slice would net you 1.7g of carbs.
Each slice also contains 11g of fat and 4g of protein.
Preparing
As with the Betty Crocker cakes, the cake mix contains the majority of the ingredients you’ll need. In addition, you’ll need to supply three eggs and 80g of (melted) butter, or oil, if that’s what you’ve got. Add the mix to a bowl, pour in the melted butter and crack in the eggs. Whisk until combined and smooth.
That was easy to do and the mixture came together nicely. While the mixture was smooth, consistency wise, it was a touch gloopy and grainy. As almond flour isn’t milled as finely as white flour, we figured this could’ve been the reason.
After a bit of research, we discovered that erythritol, the sweetener, gives bakes a grainy texture. As we were mixing, we noticed that if we listened, we could hear the sweetener fizzing. Fizzing sweetener was not something we heard with either the Sugar-Free Chocolate Cake Mix or the Sugar-Free Vanilla Betty Crocker mix, both of which use maltitol.
The Groovy Keto Lemon Cake is the first time we’ve made anything containing erythritol; we’ll need to try a cake mix from a different brand to determine whether fizzing is a erythritol characteristic, or whether it’s a Groovy Keto one-off.
Baking
As per the instructions, we lined a loaf tin with baking paper, layered in the sugar-free cake mix, evened it out, and put it into an oven, preheated to 170C, for 30 minutes. (Yes, the instructions say 180C or 160C depending on your oven.)
At 30 minutes, we skewered the middle to check its doneness. Still wet. We placed it back in the oven for another three minutes and 15 seconds (the full length of The Start of Something New from High School Musical if you were wondering why the time was so specific). After 33 minutes and 15 seconds at 170C, the skewer came out clean.
The top of the cake was dark; as sugar alcohol (erythritol) and stevia don’t caramelise like white sugar does, it must’ve been one of the gluten-free flours adding the colour – or, of course, the bake time. Perhaps the lemon powder caramelised. We’ll need to do some more research before drawing a final conclusion. Cutting and eating the lemon cake will be enough to tell whether it was over baked. We’ll find out further down the page.
We left the cake in its tin to cool before hoisting it out with the baking paper onto a nice plate. (We don’t have a wire rack.)
The lemon drizzle
While the cake mix is lemon flavoured, it wouldn’t be a lemon cake, to us, without drizzle. We attempted to use coconut sugar as a direct replacement for white sugar.
We thought by slowly melting coconut sugar in a pan and stirring in lemon juice that job would be a good’un. As you can see from the picture below, that wasn’t the case – turns out, coconut sugar melts incredibly quickly, then solidifies into a lumpy brown paste.
Again, we’ll do some more research before trying any more sugar-free lemon drizzle. This Groovy Keto Lemon Cake Mix review will solely judge the flavour, texture, and bake of the ingredients and method on the back of the packet.
What did we think of the Groovy Keto Lemon Cake Baking Mix?
As it cooled, the middle of the bake sank. When we moved it from the baking tin to the plate, we noticed it was quite dense, hitting the plate with a light thud; once we sliced it, we could see its tight texture.
Now here’s the disappointing bit. The instructions on the back of the packet say you only need to add three eggs and 80g of butter. On Groovy Keto’s website, however, the instructions say you need to add three eggs, 80g of butter, and a tablespoon of water. A tablespoon of water might not sound like much, but in baking, a touch of liquid can make a massive difference.
A thinner, lighter batter would’ve added extra air – the final cake might’ve had that aerated texture we were hoping for.
So what did the taste testers think of it?
The diabetic wasn’t a fan; she found the sweetener flavour too strong, but wasn’t fussed about the texture.
Our Ninja Crispi owner, Nan, thought the lemon flavour ought to be stronger. Her final feedback was: “It’s good for what it is.”
Grandad’s succinct summary? “You can eat it.” Given they both kept the cake to finish it, he definitely did.
Last, but not least, our sugar-free brioche and banana bread baker, who found it dense and a bit flourly. She was the only one to notice the cooling sensation of erythritol, saying the lemon cake tasted cold.
Would we buy the Groovy Keto Lemon Cake Baking Mix again?
Three taste testers said “not for the price”. The diabetic wouldn’t buy it again for any price and would choose the Betty Crocker Sugar-Free Chocolate Cake Mix instead.
But for the lemon cake mix, if you can find it on offer, it’s worth trying. Just remember to add a tablespoon of water to the mix. At £8.99, it’s just not worth it.
