Healthy Pumpkin Cake with Spiced Butterscotch Frosting
Do you believe me when I say that this Pumpkin Cake with Butterscotch Frosting is actually healthy? Well, you should, because it is!
This healthy gluten-free Pumpkin Cake with Butterscotch Frosting is whole grain, refined sugar free, and contains ZERO butter (I think Paula Deen just shuttered there for a moment). This cake may be good for you, but trust me, you’d never know it.
See that wonderful texture? The fork just sinks right through.
This cake is soft and moist, you’d never guess that it’s made without a copious amount of butter and oil. The entire recipe only calls for one tablespoon of oil!
The cake and frosting together are sweet and packed with flavor, you’d never know that the slice in front of you is refined sugar free and all natural.
This cake is unbelievably delicious, everyone who tried it loved it. Especially the frosting, my friend and I ate the extra bit leftover straight out of the mixing bowl… don’t judge us, you will too. It’s the holidays people, celebrate and relax. Drink a little vino and eat some of this (secretly healthy) cake 😉
Healthy Pumpkin Cake with Spiced Butterscotch Frosting
Ingredients
Cake:
- 136g (1 cup) Sweet White Sorghum Flour
- 120g (¾ cup) Brown Rice Flour
- 40g (¼ cup) Organic Corn Starch
- 1 tbs Double-Acting Baking Powder
- Ground Cinnamon **
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 250g (1 cup) 100% Pure Pumpkin Puree (canned)
- 1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Soy Milk
- ¾ cup Egg Whites (fresh, not cartoned)
- 96g (½ cup) Homemade Vanilla Sugar (or dry sweetener of choice)
- 14g (1 tbs) Hazelnut Oil (or any other neutral oil)
- 2 tsp Liquid Stevia Extract
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbs White Vinegar
Frosting:**
- 111g (~3.5 scoops) Vanilla Vega Performance Protein Powder
- 31g (1.5 scoops) Vanilla Brown Rice Protein Powder
- 14g (2 tbs) Coconut Flour
- 1¼ cups Unsweetened Vanilla Soy Milk
- 2 tsp Liquid Stevia Extract
- 2 tsp Natural Butterscotch Flavor
- 1 tsp Natural Butter Flavor
- 1¾ tsp Apple Pie Spice
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray three 6" cake pans with cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sorghum flour, brown rice flour, starch, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- In a stand mixer bowl with whisk attachment, add the pumpkin, soy milk, egg whites, vanilla sugar, oil and extracts. Whisk on medium/low speed.
- Add the vinegar to the mixing stand mixer, then slowly add in the dry ingredients. When all is incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Whip batter on medium/high speed for 20-30 seconds.
- Pour batter into the three prepared pans and bake for 28-33 minutes, or until the surface of the cakes spring back when tapped.
For the Frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together both protein powders and the coconut flour.
- Whisk in the soy milk, then whisk in the extracts, spices and natural food coloring. Frosting should be thick (add coconut flour or protein powder if you want it thicker, added teaspoon by teaspoon).
- Frost the cake, refrigerate for 30+ minutes to set, then slice, serve, and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
I know the frosting recipe here is a little wacky, I made it on a whim. Some other frostings include:
Healthy Maple Cinnamon Frosting
Look at all that frosting! I wish I could scoop some off the cake and hand it to you through the screen, but technology hasn’t caught up with Wonkavision yet 😉
Enjoy!
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
Have all ingredients out before you start!
Prep all you can before the big event. Lots of things you can make in advance and just reheat later on.
Do prep work and have all your ingredients out and ready to use.
I make most of my cookie doughs at the end of Nov and freeze them so they are good to go when the time is right 🙂
I start shopping at my favorite stores and for favorite foods weeks ahead of time
I always keep brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in the pantry. I use this in all of my holiday desserts.
use pam and make sure you check too see you have everything give yourself plenty of time
I have others in the household help out in the kitchen to reduce the stress from cooking and baking. It’s all about teamwork. 🙂
My best tip is honestly to get a hand in the kitchen for food prep.
We usually have close to 30 people for dinner on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. To help me keep up with everything, I’ve started asking for everyone to bring a side dish, appetizer or dessert. Everyone is happy to bring a dish or two and it really cuts down on all the cooking falling on my husband & I.
Thanks so much.
My biggest time saving tip is cleaning as things are cooking (or I am waiting for the oven to preheat) that way I have less to clean later on.
My tip is to shop early in the season.
I prepare as much as I can the night before such as chopping and some precooking too.
I’m going to cook this!
I always need more healthy recipes!
With so much going on during the holidays, I make it a point to make a list of what I need for meals a week n advance and go shopping. That takes away the stress of trying to put something together last minute without all the ingredients!!
Prepare as much as possible the day before
One of my favorite holiday shortcuts actually came from my husband. Santa does not wrap gifts. This is such a brilliant time saver. All I have to do is wrap gifts for friends and a gift or two from mom and dad.
Dessert is my favorite part of any meal and I hate feeling rushed when I’m baking – I always do it ahead of time – to give it the attention it deserves!
I watched my sister preparing the holiday meal at her house. She had written down the starting time when she needed to start all of the dishes so the meal would be ready all at once. Thank you
Have someone available that can help you cook the holiday meals.
My tip is too bake ahead of time
My holiday shortcut is to freeze as much in advance as possible.
I make quick and easy recipes
I split the cooking with the in laws which makes our holidays a TON easier! I also do as much prep work as I can the night before!
Prepare as much as possible ahead of time.
I like using microwaved broccoli with cheese as a side dish and it’s quick and easy to make and use
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
I like buying pre-chopped onions to make cooking easier
Make cookie dough ahead of time and freeze it.
I try to plan ahead as much as possible. First I make out a menu and then go shopping and then prepare and freeze as much as possible ahead of time. Thanks for having this contest.
I prep all I can the day before. I cut up vegetables and make sure I have everything I need.
My tip is to plan and prepare your meals/desserts ahead of time. Make sure you have all your ingredients and that they are fresh.For example this holiday I noticed my lemon extract had expired.
I make sure to read through the recipes to make sure I have everything on hand before starting to bake
my holiday tip is to make what you can ahead of time.
I try to do all my baking a couple of days in advance.
I do some of my baking the night before.
to save time during the holidays i like to bake the same recipes so i can just get it done.
Baking 15 kinds of cookies/candy is not a chore if you make it a PARTY and do it with friends.
Always do your prep work first!!
My shortcut is getting everything everything ready and plan a day out to start all my baking. I want to thank you for this awesome sweep and have a Happy New Year 🙂
My tip is to chop up onions in the food processor and then freeze them on a baking tray before putting in a bag.
Do as much as you can beforehand to make it easy on yourself.
Thanks for the contest.
I use parchment paper for baking cookies
I absolutely love ginger snap cookies during the holidays!
Several years ago I found a basic recipe that can be adapted for many different dishes. It makes it so much easier to have different foods available when we entertain.
always bring a dish so you know there will be something good to eat.
Enlist the help of your family/friends. No reason you should be all stressed out over holiday planning. Even little kids like to help!
I try to do as much as I can ahead of time, get shopping done early, make my food list ahead and make sure I have every thing bought ahead of time and make up things ahead that I can
I make the desserts a day before the event.
One of my favorite shortcuts is to let the kids help! it sames a lot of time on prep in the kitchen, and it’s a lot of fun showing the kids the ropes 🙂