Although I've made a number of cakes that are sugar free and low carb, I really really love the taste and texture of the Cinnamon Coffee Cake I've posted on An American Housewife previously. It's one that always turns out and everyone loves it - even those who have no idea it's sugar free, gluten free and low carb.
Last night I started craving cake; birthday cake, wedding cake... any kind of white or yellow cake (not chocolate). And I started to think about a basic birthday cake with white frosting and sprinkles. Rather than dig out one of my previous recipes, I grabbed the Cinnamon Coffee Cake recipe and decided to adapt it to make it a birthday cake.
It was then bed time, so I wrapped in plastic wrap, popped it into the freezer and this morning whipped up a simple buttercream frosting to go over it. I did break my 'completely sugar free' rule by using some tiny multicolored sprinkles. The sugar is so minimal it isn't even countable per slice and it was perfect for what I craving!
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| Trimming the edges of the cake |
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| Whipped up a simple sugar free buttercream frosting using Swerve and Lakanto Sweeteners |
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| It smelled soooo 'birthday' cake-ish, I couldn't wait to dig in |
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| It had to have sprinkles... it just had to! |
Sugar Free, Low Carb Birthday Cake
3 c good quality, blanched, fine grained almond flour
1/3 c whey protein powder - vanilla or unflavored (I only use IsoPure - not any other brand)
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/3 sticks real butter
3/4 c mixture of granulated natural sweeteners of your choice (Lakanto, Xylitol, SoNourished, etc)
1/2 t liquid sweetener drops like Sucrarose, etc. (optional but it helps to use 2-3 sweeteners)
3 eggs
1 T cake batter flavoring
1 1/2 t vanilla
1/2 c unsweetened almond milk
Grease or line a 9" pan with parchment. Preheat the oven to 350. Put the dry ingredients into a large bowl; almond flour, whey protein powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
Mix butter and sweeteners until fluffy, add eggs. Beat in cake batter flavoring and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients alternating with the almond milk.
Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes. At this point your cake might be done, but I find almond flour baked goods need a little longer and the cake may start to be too brown on top. If your cake is still a bit too wet in the center or jiggles, yet the top is getting browned, cover with foil and bake about 5 minutes more; turn off the oven and let it for about 5-10 minutes more, checking to see if the center of your cake is set and done. My oven bakes this cake in a good quality (Rachael Ray) 9" pan for 35 minutes at 350, cover with foil, turn off the oven and leave for another 10-12 minutes and it's perfectly done. Cool completely or freeze before frosting.
Frosting: Do a taste test on this one....
Approximately: 1 stick butter
2 c Swerve Confectioner's Style sweetener (Swerve Confection Style)
about 1 teaspoon liquid sweetener drops
1/4 - 1/2 c Lakanto or other sweetener to bring out the best 'sugar like' flavor. (If you use something like SoNourished Sweetener, I find I only need about 1 cup! So TASTE TEST because the sweeteners you use make a huge difference in the amount needed to flavor your frosting).
1/4 t xanthan gum (optional, but it makes a nice thickener/texture)
1/2 - 3/4 c heavy whipping cream
1 T vanilla extract
1/2 - 1 t LorAnn liquid emulsion "princess" cake flavoring.
In an electric mixing bowl, beat the butter, then add the rest. Add more cream to make it a bit thinner, or more sweetener to make it thicker. Taste test to get the right amount of sweetness and flavorings that you like.
I was going to post a photo of my slice of cake, but it wasn't until just now I realized I ate it before I remembered to take a photo! My dirty fork and plate are in the sink and sorry... no photo. Ha ha.
