Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Yields: 9 slices
 
This easy cake recipe is a fall classic! Between the tender spiced pumpkin cake and sweet, ever so slightly tangy cream cheese frosting, this dessert never lasts long at all. If you happen to have leftovers, they’ll keep for at least 4 days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  • for the cake
  • 1 ¾ cup (210g) white whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
  • 1 large egg white, room temperature
  • 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (244g) pumpkin purée, room temperature
  • ½ cup (120mL) pure maple syrup
  • for the frosting
  • 4 oz (112g) Greek yogurt cream cheese (half of one 8-oz block)
  • ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
  • ½ tsp (48 drops) vanilla crème stevia
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat an 8”-square pan with nonstick cooking spray. (Optional: Line the pan with foil before spraying for easier removal and clean-up.)
  2. To prepare the cake, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg white, and vanilla. Stir in the pumpkin purée. Stir in the maple syrup. Gradually add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.
  3. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 24-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. Once the cake has cooled, prepare the frosting. Beat the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and stevia in a small bowl until smooth. Spread on top of the cooled cake.
Notes: For the gluten-free flour, I recommend the following: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ½ cup (60g) tapioca flour, ¼ cup (30g) brown rice flour, and 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum. Most store-bought cup-for-cup blends should work, but I cannot guarantee that any other homemade blend will work.

Honey or agave may be substituted for the maple syrup. Alternatively, ½ cup (106g) light brown sugar plus ¼ cup (60mL) milk may be substituted, but the cake will no longer be clean eating friendly.

I’ve found Greek yogurt cream cheese at Safeway and Walmart. If you can’t find Greek yogurt cream cheese, substitute Neufchâtel (⅓-less fat) cream cheese instead.

Most stevia-based sweeteners should work in place of the vanilla crème stevia. Do not substitute any other liquid sweeteners because they will make the frosting too runny.

The frosting can be made ahead of time; simply cover and chill until ready to frost the cake.

To store leftovers, I highly recommend one of these cake carrying containers! I lay a piece of parchment paper into the bottom, place the leftover cake slices on top, and snap the lid onto the pan. They’re the perfect height so that the frosting doesn’t get smooshed!

{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
Recipe by Amy's Healthy Baking at https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2015/10/29/pumpkin-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/