Search Results for: frosting

Low Sugar Carrot Cake With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

May 8, 2015 by Laura 11 Comments

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This Carrot Cake might be my family’s favorite low sugar treat so far!

I cut the sugar from the original recipe from 5 1/2 cups to just under 3/4 cups total. Not too shabby, eh? And just look at this plate of deliciousness!

Low Sugar Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

I personally like the Stevia Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting recipe you’ll find with this Super Moist Chocolate Cake recipe. But my boys were asking if maybe I could make the frosting just a little bit sweeter this time. Why not? I simply added 3 Tablespoons of real maple syrup to the frosting and they LOVED it. How’s that for a healthier alternative to 4 cups of powdered sugar? Oh yes.

Low Sugar Carrot CakeYum

Low Sugar Carrot Cake With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

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Author: Laura

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup sucanat
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups finely shredded carrot (about 6 carrots)
1 cup melted coconut oil
4 eggs

Instructions

Stir together flour, sucanat, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
Mix in shredded carrots, melted oil, and eggs.
Pour batter into a buttered 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bake in a 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool completely before spreading on frosting.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces softened cream cheese
¼ cup softened butter
3-4 Tablespoons real maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

With a hand mixer (or in your blender), whip together all ingredients until smooth. Spread over cooled cake.

Go forth and pin this recipe. Or print it and pin it to your shirt so you can make it this weekend. This is an order, or at the very least, it is a very sweet suggestion.

Looking for more Low Sugar Recipes?

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So You Wanted a Low Sugar Chocolate Frosting for your Low Sugar Chocolate Cake?

April 30, 2015 by Laura 3 Comments

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When I shared this Low Sugar Super Moist Chocolate Cake recipe and told you that I’d adapted it from a Texas Sheet Cake recipe, several asked if I could come up with a low sugar chocolate frosting to go with it. I mean, the Cream Cheese Frosting is great, but sometimes we just need some chocolate with our chocolate, yes?

Creating a chocolate frosting for this cake was a little bit tricky. See, low sugar chocolate can turn out quite bitter if you’re not a dark chocolate fan (um, or even if you are). Plus, powdered sugar is typically what gives frosting its bulk. That’s why I’ve been using cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese and whipped cream provided the bulk, then the stevia provided the sweetness and we were good to go. (More about stevia here.)

Here’s what I learned through this trial and error process: Making chocolate frosting with stevia is not so good. Spread on top of the cake it was so-so, but wow, the bitterness had too much of a bite, even for me – the one who loves dark-dark chocolate.

So here’s the solution I came up with: I used honey. This frosting is really more of a glaze, because there’s not much in it to make it thick and creamy. But a thin chocolate glaze on a chocolate cake like this? Just right.

Find the Super Moist Chocolate Cake recipe here.

Low Sugar Chocolate FrostingYum

1/2 cup butter
4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons milk
2-4 Tablespoons honey (sweeten this to your taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan combine butter, cocoa, milk, and honey. Cook and stir over low heat until ingredients are well combined and mixture begins to thicken slightly. Removed from heat. Stir in vanilla. Spread over cooled cake.

Honey Sweetened Chocolate Frosting

We really liked this cake with whipped cream on top. I simply whipped the cream, then added a few drops of stevia.

Low Sugar Chocolate Cake with Honey Sweetened Frosting

I continue to be fascinated by the fact that we can take so much of the sugar out of recipes and still turn out a delicious treat.

And guess what??!! Coming up next week…Low Sugar Carrot Cake with Maple Frosting recipe. YES!! I played with a recipe and my family loved it! I’ll get it typed up to share with you soon.

Do you have any low sugar treat requests for me to play with? I won’t make any promises on being able to create what you want, but I bet I’ll have fun trying. :)

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Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

January 9, 2015 by Laura 23 Comments

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Hallelujah, this peanut butter cake has less sugar than most breakfast muffins! This isn’t difficult, of course, because who decided it was a good idea to stir a bunch of sugar, corn syrup, and white flour together and call it “breakfast?” My apologies to all the donuts, poptarts, and poofy-puffs out there who just got their feelings hurt. It’s really not your fault.

Peanut Butter Cake

Indeed, not only do I serve this for desserts or snacks, I have been known to serve it for breakfast.

Now I know what you’re thinking. “This girl makes cake for breakfast all the time!” Okay fine. You caught me. (Other breakfast cake recipes: My Original Breakfast Cake and Pumpkin Breakfast Cake)

We do quite a few breakfast cakes around here, and I keep inventing more ideas. This is because breakfast cakes are easy and filling. My current favorite way to make breakfast is to bake a cake the night before, frost it with stevia sweetened frosting, then wake up to a ready-made meal. Pull out applesauce and fresh berries, and breakfast is served.

Here’s a little known secret about muffin and quick bread recipes: The batter can usually be spread into a 9×13 inch pan and baked into a cake. If you sub out white flour with whole wheat, replace the large amount of white sugar for a smaller amount of sucanat or honey, you have yourself a delicious and fun breakfast.

Serve meat or eggs with your cake if you need additional protein to start your day. Always serve fruit with your breakfast. (Sometimes I’m bossy.)

Low Sugar Peanut Butter CakeYum

Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

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Author: Laura

Ingredients

¼ cup butter
¼ cup peanut butter
½ cup sucanat
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups whole wheat flour

Instructions

In a small saucepan, melt together the butter and peanut butter.
Stir melted mixture into the sucanat.
Add eggs, buttermilk, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla.
Mix well, then stir in flour and mix until smooth.
Pour batter into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bake in a 350° oven for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool before frosting.

Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup natural peanut butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Liquid stevia

Whip together all ingredients until thick and smooth, sweetening with stevia to taste. Spread over cooled cake.

Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

Before anyone else can say it, I’m going to. “Did you see how much fat is in that frosting?!?!”

Mm-hmm. If it isn’t obvious to you by now by reading posts from this butter and coconut oil loving girl, it should be very clear to you how important I believe it is to eat plenty of healthy, real fats. Our brains need fat to thrive! (Why yes I have researched this for hours and hours.) It just so happens I’m nourishing my brain by eating this cake with a thick layer of frosting.

The low amount of sugar in this cake (which I cut into 24 pieces, by the way) combined with whole grains and healthy fats makes for a very nourishing treat. In case you’re wondering, the reason I use cream cheese and cream in my stevia sweetened frosting recipes is because when whipped together, those cream products provide bulk (taking the place of three cups of powdered sugar). Also – it’s cream cheese and cream! Does life get any yummier?

So there you go. If you haven’t served cake for breakfast yet, do this. Tell your kids I said, “You’re welcome.”

What’s your breakfast cake status? Tried it yet?

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Pumpkin Breakfast Cake with Stevia Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

November 11, 2014 by Laura 14 Comments

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If it’s made with whole grain, is low in sugar, includes an entire cup of healthy fat, has 4 eggs, and one of its main ingredients is a vegetable – you can use the words “cake” and “breakfast” in the same title. Of course, nothing is stopping you from using the word “birthday” and “cake” in the same title for this very recipe. After all, who says birthday treats have to be loaded with sugar? I just love that this recipe is healthy and filling enough to be a great breakfast option. I serve this with a side of applesauce and my family loves it!

You might look at this recipe and think that it is surprisingly similar to my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe. That’s because it is. ;) I took the recipe, and made it into a cake with a stevia sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting. See? It’s not so hard to be creative in the kitchen.

Pumpkin Breakfast Cake2

Pumpkin Breakfast CakeYum

3 cups whole wheat flour (I used freshly ground hard white wheat)
1/2 cup sucanat
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
2 cups pureed pumpkin (or one 16 ounce can)
1 cup melted coconut oil (or butter)

Stir together flour, sucanat, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add eggs, pumpkin, and melted coconut oil. Spread batter into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow cake to cool before frosting.

Stevia Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Liquid stevia to taste (I use 2 droppers full)

Whip ingredients together until smooth. Spread over cooled Pumpkin Cake. Store in the refrigerator.

As you can imagine, I will be adding some pureed spinach to this cake next time I make it. Why not, right?

Here’s another Breakfast Cake recipe our family loves. Now tell me: What will your family say when you tell them you’re having cake for breakfast?!

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Banana Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting ~ Share Your Story

September 24, 2014 by Laura 2 Comments

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Stories of how you are using the recipes you find here have been coming in rapidly, making my day every time I get one! Do you have a story to share? Take a picture or two, then email me with the details of how you use your favorite Heavenly Homemaker recipe. Share your story!

Today’s story comes from a gal who loves cream cheese as much as I do. Check it out:

Laura,

We use your recipes A LOT! And LOVE them…especially the ones with cream cheese as an ingredient. :) Recently I made your Banana Cake for my littlest girl’s first birthday. You can tell it went over well by the photo.

Thank you for sharing,
Charla

I declare this baby to be sweeter than the cake she’s eating.

You’ll find our Cream Cheese Frosting recipe on the same page as our Banana Cake recipe. :)

Now your turn! Use our recipes, take a picture or three, send them to me along with your story. I love this!

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Sucanat Powdered Sugar Frosting

December 20, 2010 by Laura 106 Comments

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Let’s first do a quick sucanat/sugar review for those of you who are new to these ingredients:

Sucanat: Organic dehydrated cane sugar juice – my favorite form of natural, unrefined sugar to use in cookies and cakes. Recently I learned that you can use sucanat to make your own powdered sugar. It’s very cool! You can substitute sucanat one for one when a recipe calls for brown or white sugar. Rapadura is the same thing as sucanat…just with a fancier name. Rapadura is usually a little more expensive.

White Sugar and Brown Sugar: Refined sugars that have been stripped of most their nutrients.

You can read more about natural sugars and sweeteners I recommend (and don’t recommend) here!

Well…I wish this frosting was a little less…tan. But, what can we expect when we make frosting from our homemade sucanat powdered sugar? The darkness of the sucanat is easily disguised in this Chocolate Fudge Frosting, but there’s no way to make “white frosting” unless you use regular powdered sugar.

Oh, except that Baking Mama mentioned in my Cream Cheese Frosting post that you use honey granules to make powdered sugar, which makes an unrefined, but whiter frosting. I’ll have to look into honey granules.

I did find that this Sucanat Powdered Sugar Frosting worked great for Gingerbread Men. I’ll share a recipe for those fellas later! I think this frosting would also be good on just about any cake you make…it has a very rich flavor.

Sucanat Powdered Sugar FrostingYum

1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4-4 1/2 cups sucanat powdered sugar

Blend all ingredients together with beaters, adding your sucanat powdered sugar a bit at a time until your frosting is the consistency you would like it to be.

Be sure to check out our other recipes using Sucanat Powdered Sugar:

I hope you’re having a lovely time at our brunch. If you haven’t had a piece of Easy Breakfast Casserole, go ahead and help yourself. Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win one of our Christmas Brunch Presents! Coming up next on the menu: It’s Gratituesday time…which will hopefully offer you a little Christmas Brunch encouragment during this busy time of the year!

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Cream Cheese Frosting

December 13, 2010 by Laura 18 Comments

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healthy_celebrations_med

I’ve had several requests for a good frosting to use for decorating sugar cookies. I’ve worked on a “sucanat powdered sugar frosting” and will share the recipe in a few days. Obviously that frosting is going to be a bit on the brown side and is probably not quite what you’re looking for in a Christmas cookie frosting (unless you’re frosting Gingerbread Men).

Today I have two Cream Cheese Frosting recipes to share with you. One uses unbleached organic powdered sugar, which has no nutritional value, but at least it’s not bleached or filled with pesticides. It is very much a compromise food, but we’re talking about Cream Cheese Frosting here. At Christmas time. Don’t go crazy, but if you’re gonna frost some sugar cookies anyway, you’ve gotta make sure you really enjoy the taste of the splurge!

The second recipe I’ll share uses honey or real maple syrup for sweetener. This frosting doesn’t work as well on cookies…it’s fluffier and better on cakes. BUT, since it uses honey or maple syrup, it’s one step healthier than the unbleached organic powdered sugar variety.

Powdered Sugar Cream Cheese FrostingYum

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 1/2 cups unbleached organic powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip butter and cream cheese with beaters until fluffy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until mixed thoroughly.

Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4- 1/3 cup honey or real grade B maple syrup (depending on your taste) OR 30 drops liquid stevia
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip cream with a mixer until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese, honey and vanilla until creamy. Fold cream cheese mixture into whipped cream.

You can make your own cream cheese very easily! I do prefer store bought cream cheese in these recipes however as the homemade cream cheese is cultured and therefore a little too sour for my taste in these frosting recipes.

I will admit right here and now that if something has cream cheese in it, I have a hard time staying out of it. I CAN NOT make either of these frostings very often because I love them too much. Are you a cream cheese lover like I am?

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Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

December 9, 2010 by Laura 6 Comments

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Here’s a very delicious guest post by Allyson at A Heart For Home. WOW, these look good!!

In case you’re like me and still looking for an excuse to eat more pumpkin goodies even after Thanksgiving, here’s a pumpkin cookie recipe we’ve really enjoyed this fall. So far, everyone loves the results. One family we shared these with even said they seemed healthy enough that they enjoyed them for breakfast!

We adapted the recipe a little to use healthier ingredients. Here’s our version:

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese FrostingYum
Makes approximately 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Cookies
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sucanat
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted and slightly cooled)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree

Frosting
4 ounces room temperature cream cheese
2 Tablespoon coconut oil (melted and slightly cooled)
1/2 cup powdered sucanat
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To Prepare Cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.
2. Mix first set of cookie ingredients (flour through salt) in a medium bowl.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sucanat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.
4. Add in the oil, vanilla extract and pumpkin. Beat until mixed.
5. Add flour mixture and beat until just combined.
6. Spoon batter onto parchment paper in heaping Tablespoon portions spaced 2 inches apart.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until bottoms begin to brown slightly and tops do not appear wet. You can check by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean you’re good to go.
8. Remove cookies from cookie sheet and place on a wire rack to cool.

To Prepare Frosting:
1. Whip all ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
2. Spread or pipe on to cooled (or slightly cooled) cookies.

Or you can do what I did and pipe that frosting onto the cookies right out of the oven, grab a glass of cold milk and call it a day.

You could leave the frosting off entirely, especially if you are trying to limit your sugar intake, but this frosting is Oh! So! Good!

Enjoy!

Allyson is the wife to an amazing husband and the mama to three energetic children ages 3 1/2, 2 and 9 months. She spends her days scrubbing counters and faces, washing dishes and bad attitudes and learning to lean on God’s grace. Allyson blogs about her family and their strivings to be good stewards of their relationships, home, time, finances, health and environment at A Heart for Home.

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Healthy Caramel Frosting – with Homemade Sucanat Powdered Sugar

November 3, 2010 by Laura 17 Comments

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Click here to see all of the recipes in the
Healthy Celebrations section of Heavenly Homemakers!

This Caramel Frosting recipe is very exciting because you can make it with your very own homemade powdered sugar!!! If you don’t have sucanat or you don’t feel like making powdered sugar, DO NOT substitute regular pre-made powdered sugar. This recipe won’t taste very caramelly if you use the white stuff. (I made up that word. It is pronounced: care-uh-mellleeeeee. I like it.) If you do need to make a substitution, use regular ol’ brown sugar.

You do need to know that this recipe takes several minutes to make. It isn’t hard to make, you just have to beat it (and beat it and beat it…) for several minutes to turn it into frosting. I had my kids take turns holding the beaters while I made the donuts to go with the frosting. They were making frosting…they did not mind holding the beaters.

Oh look, only four ingredients!!!

Caramel FrostingYum

2 cups homemade sucanat powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Place sucanat powdered sugar, butter and cream in a pan on the stove. Cook until butter is melted. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for one minute, stirring allthewhile (I made up that word too. It is pronounced ahll-thuh-wyle. It means – keep stirring for the whole minute and whatever you do, don’t stop). Remove this from the heat and pour it into a mixing bowl. Beat mixture with electric beaters for 15 minutes or until it thickens and becomes spreading consistency. Add vanilla and beat for a little bit longer, because you just love beating your frosting and you know it.

Here is the mixture as it is beginning to boil…

Now, we have poured it into our favorite stainless steel bowl and we are beginning to beat it…

Hello there. We are still beating our mixture.
It has been only a few minutes but already it is getting thicker…

Wow, will you look at that? It’s been about eight minutes and not only is the frosting getting thicker, it is turning a nice shade of…what shade of brown would you call that? Caramelly?

Eleven minutes and counting. Thicker and thicker it becomes allthewhile we have been beating it. We have switched beater holders a few times. Life is getting more and more exciting as we see that this really might become frosting after all…

Almost done. I think we’ve been beating for longer than fifteen minutes. What is that about?

Okay, we are going to pronounce that the Caramel Frosting is now finished. It’s not as thick as we may have expected, but we can certainly spread it on our donuts. (Or on a cake if that’s what we were making this for.)

Sure enough, we were able to spread this Caramel Frosting on our donuts.

The moral of the story is this: Just when you think you can’t possibly keep beating your frosting, stick those beaters back in the bowl and KEEP BEATING. Hey, if you’re alone in your kitchen, it’ll be good prayer time. Who says you can’t pray over your bowl and beaters?

The other moral of the story is this: Good things come to those who beat. For a long time. When you eat this frosting on a cake or on donuts or on cookies…you will recognize that the beating was all worth it.

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Chocolate Fudge Frosting – the Healthier Way!

October 28, 2010 by Laura 112 Comments

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I won’t take up space talking about the loveliness of this recipe because well…it’s CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING. Even if I thought of some cute words to write, you would likely be saying, “Yada, yada…show us the recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” And so…without further ado or ANY ado…here is the fudge frosting recipe made with homemade powdered sugar from sucanat I’ve been promising you…

Chocolate Fudge FrostingYum

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 (+) cups of powdered sugar (I suggest either making your own powdered sugar from sucanat, or using an unbleached powdered sugar)

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add water to the butter and bring it to a boil. Pour the boiling butter/water into a bowl with the cocoa and powdered sugar. Add vanilla and mix with beaters until thoroughly combined. Add a little more powdered sugar if the frosting is too runny, but keep in mind that it does thicken up just a little bit as it cools.

This recipe makes enough frosting for a two-layer cake or for a big sheet cake or for a nice thick layer of frosting on brownies or a 9×13 inch cake. Actually, it’s almost too much frosting for the brownies and 9×13 inch cake, so save some of it in your fridge and put the leftovers on homemade donuts another time. :)

Here’s our Buttermilk Chocolate Cake recipe! :)

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