Sugar free cakes are good for you, especially if you are a diabetic or have been detected with high blood sugar. In fact, sugar free carrot cake recipe are more nutritious because you add other ingredients such as coconut, orange juice, apple sauce etc. to compensate for the sweetness, which adds to the nutritious value of the cake. These cakes are also easy to make and don’t take much time. Here is a simple sugar free carrot cake recipe.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon all spice powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
- 4 egg whites
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar substitute
- 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup frozen orange juice (thawed)
- 5 chopped dried figs
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 2 cups fresh grated carrots
- 1/4 cup raisins and walnuts, chopped finely

Instructions:

- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Spray a 13×9 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a clean and dry bowl, beat the egg whites to form soft peaks.
- Add the apple sauce and buttermilk to the mix.
- Whisk some more to get a frothy mix.
- In a clean bowl, take the flours, nutmeg powder, cinnamon powder, all spice powder, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk to mix.
- Add the dry ingredients to the egg–buttermilk mix, taking 1/4 cup of mix each time and mixing well after each addition to get a smooth batter.
- Now gently stir the orange juice in the mix.
- Add the chopped figs, poppy seeds, walnuts and raisins to the batter and blend some more.
- Spoon the batter in the prepared cake pan. You can use a square, round or rectangular cake pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 350F for 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the pan for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack before frosting.

Substitutions and variations:

- You can use 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder instead of all-purpose flour for a chocolaty flavor in the cake.
- You can also add freshly grated lemon juice and orange zest to the cake for a more tangy taste.
- Use as many fresh ingredients as possible.
- Add some grated dried ginger for enhanced flavor.
- If you want, you can substitute all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour.

Every parent wants to have a special birthday chocolate cake recipe for his or her child on his or her 1st birthday. I recommend baking a cake at home so that you can be sure that it consists of all fresh ingredients. Here is one of the simplest 1st birthday cake recipes that you can easily make at home and does not contain much sugar.

Ingredients:

- 16 large egg whites (about 480 ml)
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup boiling water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups white sugar
- 1 cup cake flour (you can use gluten-free cake flour)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 2 liter vanilla or flavored frozen yogurt
- 1 kg mix of sliced fruits, such as blueberries, peaches, strawberries

Instructions:

- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- This recipe is for angel food cake, therefore I always use an angel food cake tube pan. Have the cake pan ready.
- In a small pan, combine the cocoa powder and boiling water. Stir until smooth.
- Add the vanilla extract and let the mix cool.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup of sugar, flour and salt.
- Take the egg whites in a large bowl and use a whisk attachment to beat the egg whites until foamy.
- Add the cream of tartar and beat until the egg whites form soft peaks.
- Add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and keep on whisking until you get stiff peaks.
- Take 1 cup of the beaten egg white mix and add it to the cocoa mix.
- Gently fold to lighten the mix.
- Now use a large wire whisk to gently fold the dry ingredients in the remaining egg white mix. Do not over mix.
- Add the cocoa mix to the above mix. Do not over beat otherwise the cake will deflate.
- Pour the cake batter in the angel food cake pan.
- Gently run a spatula through the cake batter to take any excess air out.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 350F for 40-45 minutes. The cake should spring back if touched.
- Invert the cake pan immediately. This will prevent the cake from shrinking and deflating.
- Let the cake cool completely before removing from the pan.

You can easily store this cake in the fridge for about a week without spoiling.

To assemble the cake:

- Slice the cake in half horizontally.
- Slice the bottom half of the cake in 12-14 thin slices.
- Tear the top half in small pieces.
- Line a 13×9 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
- Place the slices in the baking dish to cover the whole bottom.
- Spread the yogurt on the cake slices and smooth out as you go. Press lightly.
- Press the small pieces of the cake on the top.
- Cover and freeze.
- Before serving, add the sliced fruits on the top.
- Cut in squares to serve.

Coffee cakes became very popular in America in the late 1800s. It was not invented but has evolved as a combination of various styles of baking and native ingredients. Banana cake recipe are served with coffee, breakfast and even as desserts. Here is a simple banana coffee cake recipe with chocolate chip streusel that takes only 1 hour and 5 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I like to roast them a little before using)
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/3 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 large)
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk

Instructions:

- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Grease an 8×8 inch cake pan and lightly dust the insides with a little flour.
- In a clean bowl, take the dark brown sugar, chocolate chips, chopped walnuts and ground cinnamon and mix well. Your streusel is ready.
- In a separate bowl, take the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix well.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and add the sugar to it. Blend well.
- Add the eggs and bananas to the mix and beat well using an electric mixer.
- Add the buttermilk and combine well.
- Stir in the vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture to the egg-buttermilk mixture, one spoon at a time, and mix well after each addition.
- Take the greased cake pan and pour half of the cake batter in the pan.
- Sprinkle half of the streusel over the batter.
- Add another layer of cake batter and sprinkle the remaining streusel over it.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 350F for about 45-50 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Cut the cake in little bars to serve.

Variation

The traditional streusel cake has only two layers but I make my own version with multiple layers. To do so, I use a silicone cake pan because they do not require any greasing.

Instructions:

- Layer a thin layer of cake batter at the bottom of the cake pan.
- Sprinkle some of the prepared streusel over it and then add another thin layer of cake batter.
- Repeat the steps until you get a nice layered cake.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

The dark and rich color of red velvet cake recipe gives a simple chocolate cake a very exotic look and taste. There are many versions of red velvet cake recipes but one thing is the same: they all taste great. Here is my version of one of the best chocolate red velvet cake recipes from scratch.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup dark cocoa
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 15 ml red food coloring

Instructions:

- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Grease and flour three round cake pans.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the butter using an electric mixer on medium speed.
- Add the sugars to the butter beating well after each addition.
- Add the eggs, one by one, to the butter and sugar mix and beat the mix well to incorporate the eggs.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder.
- Add 1 cup of flour mix to the egg mix alternating with 1/3 cup of sour cream and blend well after each addition.
- Now add the flour-sour cream mix to the egg-butter mix, one cup at a time, and blend well.
- Add the food coloring and beat well.
- Pour the cake batter in the greased cake pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until the cake layers look done.
- Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks before using frosting. Make sure that the cakes are cooled completely before you start icing or frosting.

Chocolate Hazelnut Frosting for the cakes

Ingredients:

- 500 grams cream cheese
- 2 cups roughly chopped dark chocolate
- 2 squares baking chocolate
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped

Instructions:

- Melt the chocolates on a double boiler or in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Mix well.
- Remove from the heat and cool completely.
- Add the softened cream cheese and vanilla to the chocolate mix and mix well.
- Stir in the chopped hazelnuts.
- Place one cake layer on a serving stand and spread a thin layer of frosting over it.
- Place another layer on top and press lightly.
- Spread another thin layer of frosting on the top.
- Press another layer on the top.
- Cover the top and sides with the remaining frosting.
- Chill before serving.

A carrot cake recipe is a great source of fiber, vitamins, nuts and other nutrients and also delicious at the same time. If your kids are giving your trouble when it comes to eating their veggies you must try this simple homemade carrot cake recipe that uses coconut, pineapple, fresh carrots and nuts to provide a whole lot of nutrients.

Ingredients:

- Oil and flour to grease the cake pan
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (you can use a mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground all spice
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup sour milk
- 2 cups fresh grated carrots
- 1 1/2 cups of crushed pineapple
- 1 cup grated coconut
- 1 cup crushed nuts

Instructions:

- Grease and flour a 10-inch cake pan.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In the meantime, take the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vegetable oil in a bowl and whisk well to combine.
- Add the sour milk and crushed pineapple to the mix and combine all the ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, take the flour, nuts, grated coconut, baking powder, ground cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and sift all the ingredients well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine well. Make sure there are no lumps in the mix.
- Add the grated carrots and crushed nuts in last and gently fold the mix and your batter is ready to be baked.
- Pour the batter in the prepared cake pan and smooth the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Once the cake is done a toothpick inserted in the middle will come out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan for about 10 minutes.
- Slide a knife along the sides of the cake to separate the cake from the pan and cool on a wire rack before applying icing.

Serving suggestions:

- You can serve the carrot cake as it is or apply a thick layer of icing before serving. Cream cheese icing is most popular with carrot cake, but a simple sugar glaze or a maple sugar icing also gives it a great taste.
- Decorate the top of the cake with sliced walnuts and shredded dates and chill for a little white before serving.
- Some roasted coconut on top of the cream cheese or butter cream frosting will double the taste of the yummy carrot cake.

Cake recipes come in many forms, sizes, shapes, textures and colors. One of the classics is the Red Velvet Cake Recipe. This particular one is made from scratch because it doesn’t have any specialty ingredients, just the regular ones found in regular pantries. The first time I made this red velvet cake recipes from scratch, I was about 11 or 12 years old and I didn’t know then that this was called red velvet cake. My mother had a set of tiny bottles of food coloring (red, blue, green and yellow) and I was planning to use all four on separate cakes. It so happened that I chose the color red first. Subsequently, I also tried the remaining three food dyes and they didn’t quite take as nicely as the first red one. Although the creamy, velvety texture of the cake persists, red does enhance the palatability of the cake.

The traditional frosting or icing is white to better magnify the redness of the cake. Of course, baking is such a creative art that you can substitute many other icings or frosting as your heart may desire. For Valentine’s Day, this cake is most splendid, especially topped with syrupy cherries or strawberries.

Ingredients:

- 3 tablespoons red food coloring
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1/2 cup palm oil
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup whole cow’s milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

- Prepare a round baking pan by greasing it lightly and sprinkling lightly with flour.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Combine the food coloring and cocoa; set aside.
- Cream the oil and the sugar in a mixing bowl.
- Add the eggs and cocoa and beat until fluffy.
- Add the milk, flour, salt, baking powder and vanilla.
- Mix well with a hand mixer on medium speed.
- Pour into the baking pan.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until the cake is done.

The Red Velvet Cake Icing

Ingredients:

- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 stick butter (softened)
- 3 tablespoons palm oil
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon cherry or strawberry flavor extract

Directions:

- Cook flour and milk until thickened.
- Set aside to cool.
- Cream butter and oil until fluffy.
- Add sugar and beat again.
- Add either cherry flavor or strawberry extract and beat well.
- Add the cooled flour mixture.
- Continue to beat into a creamy consistency.
- Spread evenly on the cooled cake.

Every once in a while you want to satiate your sweet tooth with something that is easy to make and tastes absolutely out of this world. And Banana Cake recipe is perfect for all occasions. Especially in the summers when cold, sweet and refreshing are the magical words, the following banana split cake recipe will fulfill your every need.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 32 crackers)
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/4 cup sugar

Filling ingredients:

- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large bananas
- 2 cans pineapple
- 2 kg strawberries

Topping ingredients:

- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Instructions:

- To prepare the crumbs, break the crackers in small pieces and run them in a mixer at high speed. Remove from the jar into a mixing bowl.
- Add the butter and sugar to the crumbs and mix well using a spoon.
- Take a 13 x 9 inch glass dish and press the prepared crumbs onto the dish and push it around the edges. Press to get a smooth and even layer. Be careful around the edges; they should not be thick or thin.
- Preheat the oven to 350F and bake the dish for about 5-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
- Slice the bananas into 1/4 inch round discs.
- Remove the pineapple from the can, drain them to remove any water and crush them.
- Slice the strawberries in thin slices.
- In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla and milk and beat some more. Use an electric blender as it will remove the lumps easily.
- Spread the filling on top of the cooled crumb base.
- Smooth the top using a spatula.
- Chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
- Remove and decorate with crushed pineapple.
- Arrange the slices of banana on the top in a circular manner.
- Top with sliced strawberries.
- In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream to get soft peaks.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar to the cream and beat some more to get stiff peaks.
- Spread this on top of the fruits and liberally sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
- Refrigerate for 4-5 hours before serving.
- If graham crackers are not available at your home, you can also use crushed Oreo cookies or vanilla wafers or any other of your favorite crackers.
- If fresh strawberries are not available then you can also use strawberry glaze on top of the bananas for the same yummy taste.

A chocolate cake recipe is one of the easiest and yummiest desserts to prepare at home. You can serve it plain, with cream, with various kinds of frosting, with ice cream, jelly, coffee, tea etc. You can eat the cake warm or cold and never go wrong with it. Here is a plain chocolate cake recipe for easy baking with scrumptious frosting.

Ingredients:

- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 2/3 cups sugar (I like to use demerara sugar, but you can use plain sugar)
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons plain water
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 5 large eggs
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Frosting:

- 5 large egg whites
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt

Instructions:

- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Grease and flour three 10-inch cake pans.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the salt, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Make sure that there are no lumps in the mix.
- In a separate bowl, take 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of water and 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of canola oil and mix them together to get an emulsion.
- Take the eggs, 3/4 cup of water and vanilla and whisk them using an electric blender for 2 minutes.
- Add the oil and water mix and blend well.
- Now add the dry ingredients to the above mix and combine all the ingredients well to get a smooth mix.
- Pour the prepared mix in the greased cake pans, filling each cake pan up to 3/4 level.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes. Check after 25 minutes by inserting a toothpick in the center.
- Remove from the oven and cool for about 15 minutes before removing the cakes from the pans.
- Wrap the cakes in foil and freeze for 2 hours before using.

Frosting instructions:

- In a double boiler, take the egg whites and sugar and whisk continuously until the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are hot.
- Remove from the heat and whisk some more to get a glassy mix. Let it cool.
- Cut the butter in small cubes.
- Add the butter to the egg mix and use a paddle attachment to incorporate the butter in the eggs and get a smooth mix.
- Add the vanilla and salt and mix well.
- You can add various flavors and color to this frosting.

To assemble the cake:

- Place the cakes on top of each other with a thick layer of frosting in between each of them.
- Cover with remaining frosting on all sides.
- Chill in the fridge before serving.

Great to have another guest recipe blogger this week. This is Damian’s brilliant Strawberry Cake recipe;

The secret to making excellent strawberry cake is, of course, the strawberries. They must be the plumpest, juiciest and tastiest strawberries that can be found. They should not be like most strawberries bought in supermarkets, hothouse grown, and tasting like water. The cook should ideally go to their nearest farmers’ market and spend some money on good quality strawberries, or, if they’re inclined, find a strawberry farm, pick a peck of them, rush home and start cooking the strawberry cake right away. Strawberries, like other fruits and vegetables, deteriorate and lose their flavor and nutrients the longer they’re allowed to sit.

The peak season for strawberries is May and June. If the cook is picking their own, they should choose fruit that pulls away easily from the stem.

About Cakes

Unlike other forms of cooking where the cook can use their intuition, baking really requires accuracy. Baking, after all, is a species of chemistry. A level cup of flour really does mean a level cup of flour. To skimp on ingredients will result in a cake that’s less than it should be. A recipe should be followed closely and measurements should be accurate. The oven must be the right temperature, the pans should be properly greased and floured and they should be of the right size.

Here’s the recipe for an excellent strawberry cake.

1/4 lb. of butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup of strawberries, diced

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups of cake flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and lightly flour a 9 inch square cake pan. Cream the butter, then slowly add the sugar and beat until light. Add the strawberries, eggs and vanilla and beat well. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt and add to the flour strawberry mix and blend. Slowly add the sour cream and beat until well blended.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the cake’s center comes out clean or with only a few crumbs. Cool in the pan for five minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Allow to cool completely and frost.

Here are some frosting recipes.

Frosting I

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup cream

1 tsp. vanilla or light rum

3 cups confectioner’s sugar

Mix the butter, cream and rum in a bowl. Slowly beat in the sugar till thick and creamy, then frost the cake.

Frosting II (Vanilla Fudge)

1 tbs. butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix the butter, sugar, milk and salt in a medium pan. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, then boil without stirring till the mixture achieves the “soft-ball” stage, or about 234 degrees F. Let it cool, then beat till it’s thick enough to spread. Add the vanilla.

Author’s Bio

Author of this post usually gets sweet inspiration by visiting cake decorating classes Brisbane website.

Our guest blog chef this week is Keli with this fantastic Mug Chocolate Cake recipe. Enjoy!

Easily the most deadly recipe on the web as it allows you to create a chocolate cake at any time of the day, in just 5 minutes, this delicious cake is the perfect late night snack.

Ingredients

4tbsp flour

4tbsp sugar

2tbsp unsweetened cocoa

2tbsp whisked egg

3tbsp milk

3tbsp Olive oil

3tbsp chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Mix your flour, sugar and cocoa together in your mug, then introduce your egg. Mix well until it becomes pasty.
2. Stir in your milk and oil, then finish by adding your chocolate chips (for extra flavour add a dash of vanilla)
3. Pop into your microwave for 3 minutes (if you have got a 1000w oven) or 4 minutes (if you have got a 700w oven).
4. Check it is set and serve warm.

As you can see this recipe is VERY quick and VERY easy.

My name is Keli and I love to bake, I love to get my kids involved and I love finding quick and easy recipes. Not everyone has the time so visiting an online bakery would be the perfect alternate solution.