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| When you can't wait to decorate the whole cake, you just grab a spoon and dig in! |
I did, ultimately, frost the whole cake.... after I ate a portion of it with a spoon first!
The past couple days have been 100 degrees outside and not at all 'Fall' like, but my body must know it's almost Fall because I've been craving a good old fashioned spice cake like crazy!
I'm not a fan of raisins in any food dishes (if you are a regular reader you already know how I feel about people who put raisins in Thanksgiving stuffing, homemade cinnamon swirl bread or bagels!) but oddly enough, spice cake is the one baked good that I don't hate them for being there. I may pick them out and leave them on the side of my plate more often than not, but then again, I rarely EAT spice cake so it's neither here nor there.
Deciding to give in to my craving, I decided to make a regular, traditional spice cake and even gave myself permission to use flour and sugar if I wished... since we got off the habit of healthy low carb over the past two weeks due to being in beach vacation mode and cooking/sharing meals for a large group of people, none of which are low carb/sugar free except us.
But I had no raisins on hand and the bag of prunes that also could have sufficed went home with a family member after vacation as well so (luckily) I had neither to work with. And that is when I decided I really wanted to make it a healthier low carb version anyway.... time to get back on the keto bandwagon and admit that vacation is over.
So the cake was made... which I'll include the traditional recipe and then the ways I changed it to make it low carb, flour free and sugar free. I also opted to bake it in my solar oven since it was 100 degrees out anyway.
Old Fashioned Spice Cake
1/2 c real butter (1 stick)
1/4 c shortening
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 c raisins
2 c flour
1 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t all spice
1 t cinnamon
1 c sour milk (use a tablespoon of vinegar into a cup of milk and let it sit for a few minutes)
Grease 2 rounds or one oblong (7X12). Beat the butter and shortening with the sugar, add the egg. Mix the flour with the spices, and add alternately with the sour milk. Stir in the raisins and pour into your pans. Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes until the center is set and the cake is done. Cool completely before icing it with your favorite frosting. Cream Cheese Frosting is excellent on this one!
Lower Carb and Sugar Free Version
Old Fashioned Spice Cake
1/2 c real butter (1 stick)
1/4 c shortening
1 c brown sugar style sweetener
1 egg
1 t vanilla
2 1/4 c almond flour
1 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1 T good quality coconut flour
1/2 c whey protein powder
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t all spice
1 t cinnamon
1 c soured cream (use a tablespoon of vinegar into a cup of cream and let it sit for a few minutes)
Grease 2 rounds or one oblong (7X12). Beat the butter and shortening with the brown sweetener, add the egg and vanilla. Mix the almond flour with the whey protein powder, coconut flour and spices, and add alternately with the soured cream. Pour into your pans. Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes until the center is set and the cake is done. Cool completely before icing it with your favorite frosting. Cream Cheese Frosting is excellent on this one!
*For the cream cheese frosting in the photos in this post I used an 8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened and added a splash of vanilla extract and about 1/2 c natural sweetener (I used Erythritol with Monk Fruit and a bit of Pyure - always mix 2-3 brands for best flavor) and added enough to cream to get it the consistency I wanted (maybe a quarter cup? I just poured and mixed until it was spread the way frosting should).
Baking in my solar oven as it was a hot, sunny day. Just bake it until the center is completely set.
I couldn't frost it yet as it was still too warm (and I had been cooling it in the freezer to hasten the process...) but when you can't wait, you just grab a spoon and dig in!! I would put a smear of frosting on each bite - and yes, I enjoyed it immensely.
