SPLENDA®, Part Deux

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

 

After the great success I had using SPLENDA® Sweetener in the Apple and Squash Bake recipe, I decided to tackle the Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe found on the splenda.com site...and I'm glad I did! OMG, this cake is amazingly moist! I brought it into work and it all disappeared in minutes. Everyone commented about the moistness and I had three people ask me for the recipe. SCORE! Now keep in mind I'm not much of a baker, meaning I make a cake/muffins/cookies about twice a year. And even I nailed this one!
INGREDIENTS
1 cup SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup egg substitute
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
Frosting
1 (8 ounce) package reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 drop imitation maple flavor
1/2 cup SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
1/2 cup powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil or spray a 13X9 inch pan with baking spray. Set aside.
To make the cake: Place SPLENDA® Granulated Sweetener, brown sugar, oil, egg substitute and pumpkin puree in a large mixing bowl. Mix until well blended. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Pour cake batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated 350 F oven 25-30 minutes or until when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake.
To make the frosting: Place frosting ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until well blended. Ice cake when cake is completely cool.
Optional garnishes: Sprinkle finely chopped walnuts or crushed ginger snaps over the top of the cake.
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I love that you mix all the wet and dry cake ingredients in one bowl, unlike most recipes that require two.

After pouring the batter into a 9x13 pan, I mixed up the frosting. I did use more maple extract than called for, probably 4-5 drops or so. The recipe says 1 drop. ONE drop??? Really, nobody is gonna taste that. No need to skimp!

My cake was done after 22 minutes. I'm glad I checked it early! I'm pretty sure I would have cried if I baked it too long. Admit it...that would have been a tragedy. I thought it possibly maaaaybe kinda sorta looked dry when I pulled it out of the oven, but boy was I wrong. The hardest part was letting it cool so I could frost it.

And here we have the final product. Isn't she a beauty? No one at work could tell it was made with SPLENDA® Sweetener. I could taste a bit of a difference, but maybe that's just because I knew what went in it. Either way, this cake is a winner! I was told to bring it in anytime at work!

This cake paired perfectly with a nice warm cup of Chai Latte. I substituted the white sugar in the recipe with SPLENDA® Sweetener with really good results. I also tried this recipe using coconut milk and it was really tasty.

Hope you love this cake as much as I did!

 

* I participated in a campaign on behalf of allrecipes.com for SPLENDA® Sweetener. I received samples to facilitate my unbiased review as well as promotional items as a thank-you for participating.

How Sweet it is...

...or isn't! I'm talking about SPLENDA® Sweetener. Cooking & baking with SPLENDA® Sweeteners means less calories from added sugar. While I don't do a lot of baking, there are times (ahem, Thanksgiving) where sweet sides makes their way into my menus.

I've been trying to live a lower-sugar lifestyle since March, and being able to still enjoy sweet dishes and desserts without depriving myself of the occasional treat makes me happy! I don't use a lot of sugar or artificial sweeteners, but when I do, I much prefer the taste of sucralose (which is what SPLENDA® Sweetener is) to aspartame.

In October, I was lucky enough to try four different SPLENDA® Sweeteners, thanks to their company's generosity. They included SPLENDA® ESSENTIALS™ No Calorie Sweetener with 1 Gram of Fiber, SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener (Granulated), SPLENDA® Sugar Blend and SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend.

The first recipe I made was Apple and Squash Bake from the SPLENDA® Sweetener website and uses the granulated SPLENDA® Sweetener. This recipe is quick, easy, and only has 120 calories per serving! I easily halved the recipe and used a 1.5qt (6"x9") casserole dish. Speaking of casserole dishes, if you're in the market for some new ones, these are the greatest! And here's a recipe tip: if you don't have Mace (the spice, not the weapon!) that's called for in the recipe (considering a lot of people don't keep that in their kitchens), you can easily substitute nutmeg. Mace can be pretty pricey, but since I'm a spice hoarder (over 100 *cough* different spices/herbs *cough*), I just happened to have some in my cupboard.

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
1 teaspoon molasses
1/4 cup light butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
2 pounds butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 large apples - cored, and cut into 1/2 inch slices

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium bowl, stir together SPLENDA® Granulated Sweetener, molasses, butter, flour, salt, and mace.

Peel and chop the butternut squash into 1/2" pieces and place in an ungreased dish.

Top with the apples.

Pour the topping mix on the apples and squash.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 F for 50-60 mins. Seriously, how easy is that? And OMG, does it smell amazing when it's baking. While waiting for this treasure to bake, I made myself some apple cider. The recipe can be found on allrecipes.com. Instead of the full amount of maple syrup that was called for, I subsituted half for SPLENDA® Granulated Sweetener.

Finally the 50 minutes were up and I ran over to the oven to extract the deliciousness, hoping it would taste as good as it smelled.

And the taste? A whole lotta WOW with the perfect hint of molasses and mace, and the salty/sweet thing I love so much. I should clarify that this is NOT a very sweet side, which in my books is a bonus. This recipe is such a welcome change from the marshmallowy, brown sugary, cloying sweetness of those sweet potato casseroles that seem to pop up at every holiday. *shudder* This recipe will become a staple in my home, especially since it's so quick to make. You should consider serving this as part of your Thanksgiving meal this year!

Stay tuned for my second SPLENDA® Sweetener recipe that I'll be making soon, Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. I know, I'm already drooling all over my keyboard.

* I participated in a campaign on behalf of allrecipes.com for SPLENDA® Sweetener. I received samples to facilitate my unbiased review as well as promotional items as a thank-you for participating.