Some members of my family are suckers for everything pumpkin. The occasion called for a cake, so I looked for a pumpkin cake recipe on the internet.

As usual, I found an inspirational recipe and adapted it to make it more diabetic friendly. That is why I used whole grain spelt flour, almond flour and xylitol instead of the original ingredients. It is not entirely guilt-free, because spelt has a comparable amount of carbohydrate to wheat flour, but it is an ancient grain considered healthier and more nutritious than white flour. It is not gluten free but that doesn’t bother us diabetics…

I made a basic calculation of carbs and the amount comes to 18-20 g per 1/16^th of a slice. Portion control is in order because that is roughly one third worth of the carbs allowed for a main meal. Not a cake to indulge in too often, but doable if we adjust the other courses in the meal.

Cake batter ingredients

• 2 cups spelt flour
• 1 cup fine almond flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• Pinch salt
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup melted butter
• 5 large eggs
• 5 tablespoons xylitol
• 2 cups pumpkin puree (pumpkin cubed and cooked in the microwave)
• Vanilla sugar or vanilla paste or vanilla pod

Pumpkin butter cream ingredients

• 2/3 lb butter
• 5 tablespoons xylitol powdered in a coffee grinder
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups pumpkin puree

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius
2. Grease 2 baking pans 9″ diameter each or equivalent
3. Whisk the dry ingredients together
4. Beat the eggs and xylitol together till fluffy, add pumpkin, dry ingredients and butter. Batter will be on the thick side.
5. Pour the batter in the two pans and bake 35-40 minutes. If top or edges are browning too fast, please cover the pans with aluminum foil.
6. When done, allow to cool.
7. Cream the butter with the xylitol and spices. Use a handmixer and beat till the color becomes a bit lighter. Add the pumpkin puree slowly, one spoonful at a time.
8. Assemble the cake as a two layer cake. I decorated mine with stevia chocolate chips (introduced in an earlier post).

Good luck to All and keep your glucose levels down! Enjoy!