Keto Tuxedo Cake - Costco Copycat Recipe

Easy Keto Tuxedo Cake Recipe - This AMAZING sugar-free and gluten-free cake is packed with flavour and texture. Moist chocolate cake layered with light and fluffy chocolate and white chocolate mousse studded with chunks of dense dark chocolate brownies...what is there not to love! Easier than it looks, this keto version of Costco's Tuxedo Cake is absolutely delicious!

Costco Tuxedo Cake

I am sure that if you are a Costco (or even Sam's club member as I have seen the same cake there as well) you have walked by and admired the Tuxedo cake that they have. If not, here is a picture of the cake.

It is absolutely gorgeous, don't you think?

However, at over $17 as well as 37 grams of carbs per slice, this is a cake that I knew I had to make into a gluten-free and sugar-free version.

Believe it or not, it actually was not hard to do!

By combining a couple of my recipes, like my Keto Mocha Mousse Layered Cake Recipe with some modified recipes from America's Test Kitchen, this layered cake was completed in no time and was ridiculously easy to make!

This keto copycat Tuxedo Cake came in at under 2 grams of sugar and over 10 grams of fiber. That's 35 grams less sugar than the original Costco Tuxedo Cake!!!

Making a Keto Tuxedo Cake

I have already made this cake over 5 times. Why you may ask? Because I had been desperately hoping that if I kept trying, I would eventually magically produce a cake with perfect layers, just like Costco's.

I finally decided that since this cake tastes sooooo good, it really didn't matter that it was nowhere near as pretty as Costco's version.

Now you may think that this cake is extremely time-consuming but I promise you it is not. I made the cake and brownie using only 1 bowl total and they were ready in about 30 minutes. The mousse ingredients took about 5 minutes to put together and then they needed to rest for 4 hours. Finally, the mousse was whipped and the layers assembled in about 15 minutes more time. So, this cake had under 45 minutes of hands-on time and only about 5 dishes that needed to be washed.

As for the ingredients, there are really only 11 main and very common ingredients: almond flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, sweetener, coconut oil, eggs, butter, sugar-free white chocolate and chocolate chips, gelatin, and heavy cream.

Keto Tuxedo Cake Highlights

• No crazy ingredients or techniques
• Both the cake layers and the brownie chunks can be made ahead of time and stored in the freezer until you are ready to assemble the cake
• The mousse layers do not contain any cream cheese (this is a HUGE score for the people in this world that don't like the taste of cream cheese)
• The combination of the light cake with the fluffy mousse and the dense brownie is the perfect blend of all dessert textures
• It can easily be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days
• It can be made ahead of time

Cake Layer Ingredients

This cake actually only has 12 different and easy-to-find ingredients used in different manners.

For the Chocolate Cake:

Butter - I used an unsalted stick of butter. The butter has to be at room temperature before tiring to combine it with the sweetener. If you only have salted butter, you can use it instead but just omit the salt in the recipe.

Sweetener - Any sweetener will work in this recipe. I had some extra erythritol-based sweetener so I used it instead of allulose. If you only have allulose, increase the amount of sweetener by ¼-1/2 cup.

Eggs - This recipe calls for 5 large eggs. When it comes to using almond flour in keto baking, extra eggs are an absolute necessity to help lift the heavy fiber-based flour. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature and incorporate only 1 egg at a time before adding an additional egg

Almond Flour - Superfine almond flour is the only flour used in this recipe. If you do not have super fine almond flour, you can use any almond flour but your cake may not rise as much and the texture may be a little grainier.

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - I used Droste cocoa powder which is in my opinion, the best on the market. You can buy it on Amazon.

Baking Powder, Salt, and Vanilla - Baking soda helps the cake to rise and the salt and vanilla help to round out the flavours of the cake.

*This recipe was adapted from Keto Mojo's Almond Cake recipe

For the Chocolate Brownie

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – I used Droste Dutch-processed as it is my ABSOLUTE favourite. However, regular Hershey's or any other brand will also work.

Coconut Oil - If you don't have coconut oil, simply replace it with canola oil. Make sure that your oil is melted but also make sure that it is not too hot otherwise you could cook the eggs when you add them to the mixture

Eggs - You need 2 large eggs but if you buy farm-fresh eggs, don't worry if they seem smaller as the recipe will turn out just fine. Make sure that the eggs are at room temperature or they will cause the coconut oil to harden when added to the mixture. If this happens, simply place the bowl in the microwave for about 15 seconds to melt the coconut oil again.

Sugar-Free Sweetener - I used an erythritol-based sweeter for this recipe. If you want to use allulose, increase the amount of sweetener by about ¼ cup

Salt and Vanilla - Both of these ingredients help to bring out the flavour of the brownies

For the Chocolate Mousse

Hot water - Hot water is added to the cocoa powder to bloom the chocolate. When cocoa powder is “bloomed”, it is stirred well to break up any lumps, and then the mixture is left to sit for a minute or two. The cocoa powder dissolves, which thickens the liquid and releases flavor particles within the powder. This technique brings out the best in cocoa powder and unleashes its ultra-chocolatey potential.

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - This creates a nice and intense chocolate flavour

Sugar-free chocolate - I used Lily's chocolate bar which is exactly 4 oz. I used a serrated knife to finely chop the chocolate. You can probably use chocolate chips but they will be more difficult to melt.

Heavy cream - Make sure that your heavy cream is well chilled before trying to whip it into a mousse. I actually like to place my mixing bowl and mixer whisks in the freezer for about 20 minutes to help to keep the cream cold while whisking.

Sweetener and salt - The sweetener is incorporated into the cream along with the salt. I used allulose for this part as I did not want my mousse to have any grainy texture once it cooled.

For the White Chocolate Mousse:

Gelatin and Water - Gelatin is first sprinkled over the water to allow the gelatin to .... Gelatin is added to the white chocolate to give the mouse the body and staying power to light and fluffy mousses. By adding water, you are blooming the gelatin which hydrates the gelatin and ensures that your final product will have a smooth texture.

Sugar-free white chocolate - I have made this recipe using both Lily's white chocolate baking bar as well as Bake Believe's White chocolate melting wafers.

Heavy cream - Make sure that your heavy cream is well chilled before trying to whip it into the mousse. I actually like to place my mixing bowl and mixer whisks in the freezer for about 20 minutes to help to keep the cream cold while whisking.

Making a Keto Tuxedo Cake

Prepare the Cake Layer:

• In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sweetener.
• Beat on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until the mixture is pale yellow, light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated into a curdled-looking thin batter.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, and teaspoon salt.
• With the mixer at medium speed, add the flour mixture a little at a time to the egg mixture until combined - add the vanilla extract
• Pour the batter into a 8 x 8-inch square baking pan that has been lined with parchment paper.
• Bake, rotating once during cooking, until the top springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
• Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
• Slide a small knife around the edges to release and invert the cake and place it on a wire rack set over a baking sheet to cool completely
• Slice the cake in half

Make-Ahead Tip: At this point, you can place a piece of parchment paper between the stacked slices and place them in the freezer wrapped in aluminum foil until you are ready to assemble the cake

Prepare the Brownie Bites:

• Whisk together the oil and the eggs
• Add all the remaining ingredients and stir to incorporate
• Spread the mixture into a loaf pan that has been greased
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes
• Allow to cool and dice into small cubes

Make-Ahead Tip: You can use the same bowl (you don't need to wash it!) as you used for making the cake. Once the brownies have cooled completely, you can either freeze them as a whole or dice them up and place them in an airtight container in the freezer until you are ready to assemble the cake.

Make the Chocolate Mousse:

• Bloom the chocolate by combining hot water and the cocoa powder - set it aside
• Melt the chocolate in microwave (30 second interval, stir and repeat for 15 second intervals until the chocolate melts)
• In a clean bowl, whisk the heavy cream, sweetener and salt at medium speed for about 1 minute (or until it just begins to thicken)
• Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form
• Whisk the bloomed cocoa powder with the melted chocolate
• Using a whisk, whisk ⅓ rd of the whipped cream mixture into the chocolate mixture to lighten the mixture
• Using a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining whipped cream until no white remains
• Place the mousse in the fridge

Make the Vanilla Mousse:

• In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water - let sit for 5 minutes
• Place the white chocolate in a small bowl
• Heat ½ cup of heavy cream to simmer (either in a saucepan or in the microwave) and add in the gelatin mixture and stir until fully dissolved
• Pour the cream mixture over the white chocolate and whisk until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth
• Cool to room temperature stirring occassionally (about 5-8 minutes)
• In a clean bowl, whisk the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream at medium speed for 1 minute and then increase to high speed until soft peaks form.
• Using a whisk, whisk ⅓ rd of the whipped cream mixture into the white chocolate mixture to lighten the mixture
• Using a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining whipped cream until no white remains
• Place the mousse in the fridge

Assemble the Keto Tuxedo Cake:

• Take a high-rimmed loaf pan (or line a pan with acetate or aluminum foil to form a collar above the top rim) and line it with a parchment paper sling (this will allow for easy removal of the cake)
• Place one of the cake layers on the bottom of the pan
• Spread the chocolate mousse over the cake and sprinkle the brownies over the mousse
• Next, spread the white chocolate mousse over the brownies followed with the remaining cake layer
• Place in the fridge to set (at LEAST 3 hours but perferably overnight)

Optional Costco Copycat Tuxedo Cake Topping

As you can tell from my pictures, decorating cakes is not my specialty. To keep things simple, I simply warmed 1 tablespoon of heavy cream and add in ¼ cup of sugar-free chocolate chips. I proceeded to stir the chips until they had melted and then spread the sugar-free ganache over the top of the cake. Finally, for a little more "pizzazz", I sprinkled sugar-free chocolate chips over the top!

Super Simple Keto Tuxedo Cake

PLEASE do not be intimidated by the steps in this cake. I can honestly say that the cake and brownie layers took a total of 30 minutes (start to finish). The mousse was probably another 30 minutes for a grand total of hands-on time of about 1 hour.

The BEST thing about this cake was how easy it was to do it in stages. I made the cake and brownie layers a week ahead and kept them in the freezer. Then, it was simply a matter of making the mousse and layering the cake.

Plus, since this cake is best the next day (or even the day after that!) you can make it ahead of time so all you have to do is remove it from the loaf pan and serve!

More Easy Keto Layered Cake Recipes

• Keto Mocha Mousse Layered Cake Recipe
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Nutella Layered Cake
• Carrot Cream Cheese Layered Cake (Gluten-Free, Keto)
• Keto Vegan Strawberry Layered Cheesecake
• Easy Keto Opera Coffee Cake Recipe
• Easy Gluten-Free Keto Tiramisu

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