Keto Christmas Tree Cakes

Made these twice and the coating cracks both times as it cools. Even got it down to around 90F before dipping. I know some people add coconut oil to thin it out, but not sure if that’s what you do. Is there a consistency to aim for, or is cracking mainly a temperature thing?

My sister is dairy-free and I want to try vegan butter in the Swiss meringue filling before committing to a full batch. Coconut-based buttercreams have gone unstable on me before and I really don’t want that here.

The thing I was most worried about was the actual cake part, because keto cake mixes usually bake up too dense for something like this, and I almost did a scratch base instead, but I followed the recipe and I’m glad. The layers came out soft enough that I got clean tree shapes without crumbling, and they held up under all that Swiss meringue without going gummy. Compared to Little Debbie, this holds its own on the cake itself, which was the part I expected to let it down.

Didn’t think you could get a real set-and-snap coating on a keto dessert. The white chocolate shell actually firms up the way it should (cold, clean break when you bite through), which is where every other keto version I’ve tried falls flat. Swiss meringue is the right call for the filling, not cream cheese, not whipped anything. That bite is what the original is all about. Took me a minute to trust the process during the water bath step but it paid off. Beginner baker, didn’t need to be an expert to pull this off. Three net carbs and it actually snaps. Kind of insane.

I’ve done Italian meringue before but never Swiss, so the water bath is new territory for me. The recipe says 160°F with an instant-read thermometer, but I keep second-guessing whether that target still applies with erythritol. Does it dissolve enough to even get there? I’m worried the finger test would give me a false read since it doesn’t behave like real sugar, and I don’t want to just guess and wreck the egg whites.nnAlso curious how firm the filling actually gets once the butter’s beaten in. Is it stiff enough to pipe cleanly between layers, or more of a soft spreadable consistency? Trying to decide if dragging out the piping bag is worth it or if an offset spatula is the better move.

Used Lily’s white chocolate chips for the coating and melted them with just a splash of coconut cream instead of straight tempering, and the shell set noticeably smoother with less streaking. The Swiss meringue filling looked fussy going in, but with the instant read thermometer it’s actually pretty forgiving once you know to pull it right at 160 and not a degree over. Made these in April because I’ve been thinking about them since December and honestly that was the right call.

Made these on a whim and that Swiss meringue filling took me straight back to unwrapping Little Debbies as a kid.

One thing that made my second batch so much better: chill the cake sheets for at least 20 minutes before cutting out the trees. First time I did this I cut them warm and the cookie cutter just dragged and tore the edges (absolute disaster). Cold cake cuts clean and the shapes come out sharp. Also ran out of egg whites so I made a quick cream cheese filling instead of the Swiss meringue — just softened cream cheese and powdered Swerve — and it held up fine during the white chocolate dip. Meringue is probably richer but the cream cheese swap saved me a thermometer and a double boiler, and honestly I didn’t miss either.

My daughter thought I’d ordered these from somewhere. She kept poking at the filling asking what made the inside so light, and I had to explain the Swiss meringue steps. Never used a double boiler before this and it went fine.

My whole family went dairy-free a couple years back, and I’ve been staring at this recipe wanting to make it but unsure about the swiss meringue filling. Substituting 1.5 cups of butter is a lot to swap out and I’ve had mixed results with dairy-free butters in baked goods. I’ve used Miyoko’s in regular buttercream frostings and it works okay, but I’ve never tried it in something where you’re actually heating the egg whites over a double boiler first. Does the butter affect how stiff the filling gets? I’m mostly worried about it being too soft to hold between the cake layers without everything sliding around, especially since the white chocolate coating is locking it all in. Have you (or anyone else) tried making the filling with a dairy-free butter and had it work out?

Thank you sooo much for this recipe!, my 4 yr old is autistic and doesn’t understand that they are seasonal, so I used this recipe just in case she didn’t want to try them, I didn’t want them to go to waste, but instead of the white chocolate chips, I used sugar free white melting wafers, I definitely didn’t trust myself making the heated swiss meringue so made faux swiss meringue buttercream, they came out so delicious, Christmas all year round now!!! 🙂

Carcinogenic food coloring isn’t very kid friendly. Try to find a natural food source for the coloring in your recipe. Even if it tastes like cranberry or pomegranate, that would be more kid friendly and it would give the little Debbie Christmas cake a full upgrade besides using keto cake mix.

You just made my wife very happy with this recipe. As we were watching my first thought was about cake pops for the scraps. Then I thought I could make fool or trifle to use the egg yolks. Even putting the cake bits in your keto ice cream. Thanks.