A few months ago, I wanted to learn more about layer cakes, including how to assemble and decorate them, so I decided to start with one that looked really fun and interesting called a checkerboard cake. I found a recipe, pulled out my mixing bowls, and began measuring ingredients.
I divided the batter in half to dye one part pink, and I stirred rainbow sprinkles into the other. Then I split each batter between two cake pans, for a total of four layers, and popped those in the oven to bake. Once they reached room temperature on the wire cooling racks, I pulled out a knife.
To make a round checkerboard cake, you cut a small circle out of the center of each layer (the “inner circle”), followed by a second wider circle (the “middle circle”). Then you swap those middle circles with the different color layer, so each layer ends up looking like a target… Kind like this: ( ( O ) ) and ( ( O ) ) .
Finally, when stacking the layers, you alternate them as well… So after you frost the cake and when you cut a slice, it looks like a checkerboard! (If you’re a visual person like me, check out this picture!)
After cutting each of those circles into the layers, I tried to remove the middle circle from the first layer… And it broke into a dozen pieces in my hands. I looked at the crumbs covering my cutting board and paused for a moment. I’ll just make a three-layer cake instead! I thought to myself.
But when I reached for the second middle circle, the same thing happened, scattering crumbs all over the cutting board again and my countertop. I threw up my hands in defeat and laughed. I definitely need more practice! I thought.
So for now, I’m sticking with much simpler cakes… Like this Healthy Orange Bundt Cake! One batter, one cake pan, no layers to assemble. Much more manageable! Even so, it still looks beautiful in its own right and tastes even better, despite containing no refined flour or sugar and just 123 calories!
That’s my kind of cake! ?
Let’s talk about how to make this healthy orange bundt cake—entirely from scratch!
You’ll start with white whole wheat flour (like this!). White whole wheat flour is not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and whole wheat flour. It’s made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This means white whole wheat flour has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour, but it also has a lighter taste and texture… Which lets the bright orange flavor in this moist bundt cake really shine!
Along with the standard baking powder, baking soda, and salt, you’ll also mix freshly grated orange zest into that white whole wheat flour. The zest actually provides the majority of the sweet citrus flavor, so don’t skip it—and make sure you add the full amount! I tested this recipe with various amounts of orange zest, and it didn’t taste orangey enough until I added a full 4 tablespoons.
You’ll round out the rest of the fruit flavor with freshly squeezed orange juice. It doesn’t add as strong of a taste as the zest, but it’s still necessary for both flavor and texture! The acid in the orange juice reacts with the baking soda, which helps your healthy bundt cake rise and helps with the tender texture.
And yes—even with just 1 tablespoon of butter, this healthy bundt cake is still extremely moist and tender! Can you guess why? If you’ve been around my blog before, I’m sure you can… It’s because you’ll stir Greek yogurt into the batter! Greek yogurt adds the same moisture as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your orange bundt cake a protein boost too!
You’ll use another one of my favorite ingredients to sweeten this healthy bundt cake: vanilla stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean eating friendly!). It’s highly concentrated, so you just need 5 teaspoons to sweeten this entire cake! This is the kind I use because I love its warm flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertaste. While you can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, I buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Before spreading your batter into your bundt pan (I use this one!), remember to generously coat your bundt pan with cooking spray. Because bundt pans have lots of nooks and crannies, until traditional round cake pans, it’s easier for the batter to stick… So you want to be generous with that cooking spray to ensure your cake slides right out when you invert the pan. If you have cooking spray with flour, that’s even better!
Once your healthy bundt cake is at room temperature, it’s time to drizzle and serve! The glaze is super simple: just confectioners’ style erythritol (like this!) and a bit of orange juice. Stir those together, transfer them to a zip-topped bag, cut off a tiny piece of one corner, and drizzle away!
Then all that’s left to do is to cut a slice and enjoy! And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your orange bundt cake!
| Healthy Orange Bundt Cake | | Print |
- for the cake
- 3 ¾ cups (450g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp (32g) orange zest (about 2 gigantic or 3-4 medium)
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 tsp vanilla stevia
- ¾ cup (180g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¾ cup (210mL) freshly squeezed orange juice (about 2 gigantic or 3-4 medium))
- 1 cup (240mL) nonfat milk
- for the drizzle
- 3 tbsp (45g) confectioners’ style erythritol
- 2 ½ - 2 ¾ tsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and generously coat a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray or nonstick cooking spray with flour.
- To prepare the cake, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Once thoroughly combined, whisk in the orange zest. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla extract, and stevia. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the orange juice. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.)
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes or until the top feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cake has completely cooled to room temperature and just before serving, prepare the drizzle. Stir together the erythritol and orange juice in a small bowl. Transfer the mixture to a zip-topped plastic bag, cut off a tiny piece of one corner, and drizzle over the cooled cake.
Whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted in place of the white whole wheat flour. Regular whole wheat flour may be substituted in a pinch, although the cake will be less tender and have a distinct wheat-y flavor.
Use oranges that are purely orange without any green spots. Make sure to use the full amount of zest because that’s what provides the majority of the orange flavor.
The cake requires 4 full egg whites. The whites contain the majority of the protein in eggs, and that protein is required to ensure the cake maintains its shape and texture while cooling. Without all 4 egg whites, the cake will collapse while cooling and turn out much denser.
I do not recommend substituting for the vanilla stevia, if at all possible. (It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!) I buy mine online here because that's the best price I've found. However, if you really prefer to omit the vanilla stevia from the cake, substitute 2 cups (384g) granulated sugar and omit the milk, but the cake will no longer be clean-eating friendly. You may substitute 2 cups (384g) coconut sugar and omit the milk to keep the cake clean eating friendly, but it will be much darker in color. The baking time may vary with either of those substitutions as well. Do not substitute honey, maple syrup, or agave because the cake batter will be much too liquidy with any of those.
Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
Do not use an electric mixer to mix up the batter. This will result in a dense or tough cake. Use a whisk where instructed, and use a fork for everything else.
This is the bundt pan that I use. Make sure you coat your bundt pan really well with cooking spray! With so many nooks and crannies, compared to traditional round or rectangular cake pans, the batter has more chances to stick to the sides, so a generous coating of cooking spray will ensure your bundt cake slides right out of the pan.
This is the confectioners' style erythritol that I use. Regular confectioners’ style (powdered) sugar may be substituted for the confectioners’ style erythritol in the drizzle. Regular powdered sugar is much more absorbent, so start with just 1 teaspoon of orange juice.
For more drizzle (and a sweeter cake!), double the drizzle.
If you have a 6-cup bundt pan, you can make a half-recipe and bake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes instead.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low sugar}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Simple Orange Poppy Seed Cake
♡ Healthy Cranberry Orange Pound Cake
♡ Healthier Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
♡ Healthy Dark Chocolate Orange Truffles
♡ Healthy Fudgy Dark Chocolate Orange Brownies
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Cranberry Orange Muffins
Hi there. Had a go at this in the UK. Made a great looking cake with the right crumb and orangey taste but it was so bland I’ve not used Struvia before and I wonder if you meant 5 tablespoons or perhaps ours isn’t as strong as in the US.
I’ll have another go sometime because it is very nearly right – I just need to work on the sweetness
I’m honored that you tried making my recipe, Mark! I’m glad that the crumb and orange flavor turned out well. Thank you for taking the time to share that with me!
Unfortunately, most stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so it’s rarely a 1-for-1 substitution. The one I use is incredibly concentrated, and 5 teaspoons is the sweetness equivalent of more than 2 cups of granulated sugar! It sounds like the one you substituted isn’t nearly as strong. What’s the exact stevia (brand + product name!) that you used? If you’re able to share that information, I’ll do some sleuthing to figure out how much of it you’ll need — and if you’ll need to make any other tweaks to the recipe too! 🙂
Hi. Thanks for prompting me to look into this. The product is from a supermarket called Tesco and is 2% mix of Steviol Glucoside/98% maltodextrin as a bulking agent. Reading the label it’s formulated to be equivalent by volume to sugar i.e. one teaspoon by volume of sweetener is equivalent to one teaspoon of sugar which makes sense as it’s marketed as a sweetener for drinks.
That’ll teach me to look at labels more closely.
When I make this again I’ll likely use sugar.
As an aside I made orange drizzle using icing sugar and Cointreau which added back that missing sweetness.
It’s my pleasure, Mark! I’m happy to help. 🙂 No wonder your cake tasted so off — the sweetness equivalent of 5 teaspoons of sugar is definitely different than the sweetness equivalent of 2 cups!
We have a very similar product here in the US (just with a different brand name!), which I’ve used and substituted in my recipes before. If you’d like to use that stevia product that sweetens 1-for-1 like granulated sugar, then you’ll need 2 cups for this orange bundt cake (maybe a touch more, if you like really sweet cakes!). Since maltodextrin absorbs and dissolves in liquids differently than granulated sugar, you shouldn’t need to reduce the milk to compensate for the added volume (because maltodextrin basically turns into next to nothing when it comes in contact with liquids!), but I’d still recommend starting with ¾ cup of milk, just to be safe. It’s always easier to add more milk to your mixing bowl than it is to remove it!
Does all of that make sense?
I’m so glad that the drizzle made with icing sugar help save the sweetness of your original cake too. Thanks for taking the time to share!
Hi Amy,
I can’t wait to do your recipe during the weekend!
I can’t seem to find the brand that you’re using for the vanilla stevia. However, I’ve already got granulated stevia. Would you be able to advise if it’s 1-1 replacement with the granulated sugar that you’ve provided in your substitutions/ alternatives?
Thank you for sharing.
If I do not have a bundt pan , what other vessel can I use?
Thank You
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Eileen! Unfortunately, this recipe won’t work in most other cake pans (ie regular 8″-round, 9″-round, 8″-square, 9″-square, or 9×13″ pans). The center collapses and the cake turns out overly dense!
So if you don’t have a bundt pan, then I’d recommend making cupcakes instead of a cake. You should get around 18 cupcakes. Generously coat your muffin cups (or cupcake liners, if using them!) with nonstick cooking spray, and bake the cupcakes at 350°F. I’d recommend checking on them after about 18 minutes. They may take a bit longer to finish baking, but they’ll be done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached.
I’d love to hear what you think if you make this recipe!
thank you