Healthy Pumpkin Bundt Cake
This pumpkin bundt cake is perfect for fall! It’s really moist and tender with lots of sweet pumpkin and cozy spice flavor. The cake is best if served the same day it’s drizzled, but it’ll keep for at least three days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 3 ¾ cups (450g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 5 tsp homemade pumpkin spice (see Notes!)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla extract
- 5 ½ tsp liquid stevia (see Notes!)
- ¼ cup (60g) granulated erythritol (see Notes!)
- 1 ¼ cups (305g) pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie mix!)
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup (60mL) distilled white vinegar
- 1 ¼ cups (300mL) nonfat milk, divided
FOR THE DRIZZLE
- 3 tbsp (45g) confectioners’ style erythritol (see Notes!)
- 2 ½ - 3 tsp nonfat milk
Instructions
- 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, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla extract, and liquid stevia. Stir in the granulated erythritol. Add in the pumpkin purée and Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain. Stir in the vinegar and ½ cup of milk. 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 4 equal parts.)
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 60-70 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 confectioner’s style erythritol and milk 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.
Notes
IMPORTANT MEASURING NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: It’s extremely important to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much flour will dry out your cake and give it a crumbly texture, instead of having it turn out moist and tender. Too much flour can also make your cake taste bland.
IMPORTANT MIXING NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: Do not use a stand mixer or hand-held mixer to make the batter. This will result in a dense, tough, rubbery, or gummy cake. Use a whisk where instructed, and use a fork for everything else.
IMPORTANT BUNDT PAN NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: Make sure you coat your bundt pan really well with cooking spray! (This is the bundt pan that I use!) 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.
IMPORTANT DRIZZLE NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: I prefer a minimalistic drizzle, but it's easy to add more! For more drizzle (and a sweeter cake!), double the drizzle. You can even triple or quadruple it, if you'd like!
FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: 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.
HOMEMADE PUMPKIN SPICE: For the homemade pumpkin spice, use as follows: 3 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground allspice, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves. (Store-bought pumpkin spice may be substituted, but I much prefer the flavor of this homemade blend!)
EGG WHITES NOTE + ALTERNATIVE: 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. If you prefer to use whole eggs, then use 4 large eggs AND reduce the milk by 2 tablespoons to compensate for the added volume from the yolks.
STEVIA NOTES + ALTERNATIVES: Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so they're not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for each other. For the best results, I recommend using the same one I do. I buy mine online here because that's the best price I've found. (It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine too!)
However, if you strongly prefer to omit the liquid stevia from the cake, substitute 2 ¼ cups (432g) granulated sugar AND reduce the milk to ½ cup (60mL), but the cake will no longer be clean-eating friendly. You may substitute 2 ¼ cups (432g) coconut sugar AND reduce the milk to ½ cup (60mL) to keep the cake clean eating friendly, but it will be much darker in color. The baking time may vary slightly with either of those substitutions as well.
Do not substitute honey, pure maple syrup, or agave because the cake batter will be much too liquidy with any of those.
ERYTHRITOL ALTERNATIVES: Coconut sugar, granulated sugar, or brown sugar may be substituted in place of the granulated erythritol in the cake batter. Granulated sucralose will also work in place of the granulated erythritol, if you prefer a different no-calorie granulated sweetener.
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 ½ teaspoon of milk and add more as necessary.
PUMPKIN PURÉE NOTE: Pumpkin purée is also called “100% pure pumpkin” or “canned pumpkin.” For the best results, the only ingredient on the label should be “pumpkin.” I don’t recommend substituting pumpkin pie mix because it contains other ingredients, which affects the way it behaves in baking recipes.
VINEGAR NOTE + ALTERNATIVES: The vinegar reacts with the baking soda to help the cake rise and give it a better texture. Don't skip it! (You can’t taste it in the finished cake — I promise!)
If you don’t have or can’t find distilled white vinegar, try to find another vinegar with a similar pH level of around 2.5 to maintain the same texture. Lemon juice has a pH level around 2-3, so it should also work.
MILK ALTERNATIVES: Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
GLUTEN-FREE VERSION: For the gluten-free flour, use the following: 2 cups (240g) millet flour, 1 cup (120g) tapioca flour, ¾ cup (90g) brown rice flour, and 3 teaspoons xanthan gum. Many store-bought gluten-free flour blends (I like this one from Bob's Red Mill) will work as well, if measured like this.
HALF-BATCH OPTION: If you have a 6-cup bundt pan, you can make a half-recipe and bake at 350°F for 55-65 minutes instead.
HOW TO STORE: This cake is best if eaten the same day it’s drizzled, but leftover cake will keep for at least three days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
When refrigerating leftover slices of already drizzled bundt cake, the drizzle will turn brittle and crack if made with erythritol, or it will dissolve into the cake if made with powdered sugar. Neither will affect the flavor — only the appearance!
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, sugar-free}
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amys.healthy.baking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.