This is the best little low carb pumpkin cake you will ever make. A fun sugar-free keto treat that packs big pumpkin spice flavor into one mini package. Perfect for automatic portion control!
Here I have this cute little low carb pumpkin layer cake with cream cheese frosting and I have nothing to say about it. Typically, I start all of my blog posts with a fun little anecdote about life that then leads into how I created the recipe. It all ties together nicely and wraps up neatly at the end. But this delightful little keto pumpkin cake recipe does not have a cute little anecdote to go with it, I’m afraid. Beyond telling you that my mini cakes are some of the most popular desserts I’ve ever done and I doubt this pumpkin version will be any different, I have nothing more to say about it. I am mentally exhausted.
And why am I so exhausted? Well let me tell you a fun little story about how I spent my day yesterday. It was without question one of the days that showcases the joys of parenting. I mean, you all are going to be wild with jealousy at how I spent the day, because it is clearly one of the most enviable days in mother’s life. It. Was. Awesome.
The short version is that I drove 3 hours in one direction and 3 hours back for absolutely no purpose whatsoever. None. Nada. Zilch. Zip. How do you say “nothing” in Russian? Nyet? Or maybe that just means no. Who cares. The point is that I spent 6 hours of my precious time driving, with nothing to show for it.
Now, aren’t you just wild with jealousy now? I knew you would be. The long version of the story is even more fun. My son, my sweet, intense, first-born child, loves soccer. And when I say loves, I mean with the sort of fierce passion that only a 12 year old boy can have for a game. Other mothers out there can tell you that this is a seriously fierce passion. He has dreams of becoming a professional soccer player and he knows the players on every team in every corner of the world. He’s not a big reader by any stretch but will voraciously devour any biography of any player he cares for. And he harbours dreams of becoming a professional himself one day.
He now plays for a competitive league here in Portland and he loves it. He is committed, and let me tell you that it’s a big commitment, both for the kids and the parents. Two practices a week, even through the summer, in a far-flung corner of the city. Games and tournaments and all sorts of expensive gear and equipment. I can’t say I am all that enthusiastic about it myself but when your kid has a dream, you support it, regardless of the slim chances that such a dream will come true.
And this past weekend, they had a game down near Bend, Oregon. Which happens to be a 3 hour drive, up and over Mt. Hood and into the high desert plain in the central part of the state. I was really hesitant to say yes to this, especially as my husband was away and I had to ask friends to look after the girls for the day. But he wanted it so badly and I made him promise I would get some serious Mom Points for this (i.e. he had to be super pleasant and helpful from now until…the end of time! Or at least a few weeks).
So we got up early, packed up some delicious low carb food (leftover pork belly!) and made the trip up and over that mountain and the minute we came into the high plains, I knew we had a problem. It was really smoky, so much so that the mountains on the horizons were all obscured. You may have heard we’ve had some wildfires here in Oregon. One or two or about 18 million and they are pretty serious this year. Depending on the direction of the wind, the air quality in various locales can be badly affected, and many outdoor activities, including soccer, have been cancelled.
But I kept checking my email, looking for an alert from the Youth Soccer Association and not seeing anything so I kept hoping it would clear as we approached our destination. And it only got smokier. We arrived at the field and all the parents looked at each other and said “This can’t be good”. The coaches were also stymied, they hadn’t heard anything from the association but no one smelling that acrid, campfire smell thought it was a good idea. The air quality website was on red, with UNHEALTHY in big letters on the current status.
So much to kids’ chagrin, the parents of both teams, along with the coaches, and the referee, decided it was not safe to play. And we piled back onto our cars and drove back up the plains and over the mountain, and into the city. And then we stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings and I ordered $75 dollars worth of delicious, guilty pleasure wings. We brought them home, I poured myself a big glass of wine and I wrote this post. And I laughed and joked and made fun of the whole crazy situation…because if I can’t laugh about it, what else do I have?
I knew you’d be jealous. Best. Day. Ever. Now pass me some mini pumpkin cake, dammit!
Mini Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cake:
- 5 tbsp almond flour
- 2 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tbsp unflavored whey protein powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- Pinch salt
- 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Frosting
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tbsp powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 to 4 tbsp heavy whipping cream, room temperature
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325F and grease 2 4-inch diameter ramekins well. (You can easily bake this recipe in a countertop convection oven too...just remember to reduce the temperature by 25F).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, coconut flour, protein powder, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
- Whisk in the pumpkin puree, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract until well combined. Divide the batter between the two ramekins and smooth the tops.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the center is set. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes, then run a sharp knife around the edges of the ramekins and turn out the layers onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting:
- In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sweetener, and vanilla extract until well combined and smooth. Beat in a few tablespoons of cream, and add more as necessary for a spreadable consistency.
To Assemble:
- Place one layer of cake on a serving plate and spread with frosting. Place the second layer on top and spread the remaining frosting all over the top and the sides of the cake. Chill 1 hour to help set the frosting.
- Garnish with a few chopped, toasted pecans, if desired.
Nutrition
Low Carb Mini Cake Recipes
Mini Low Carb Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Hi, I found the vanilla flavored protein powder of the brand you recommended. Do you think the flavor will be overwhelming?
No, it should be okay. Just leave out any additional vanilla.
Do you have a good substitute for the coconut flour? I’m severely allergic.
Yes, no problem. Do 2 to 3 more tbsp of almond flour in place of the 1 tbsp coconut flour. Feel it out a bit. If that batter is runny with just 2 tbsp, add another at the end. It should be spreadable but not pourable.
I’m using exact ingredients for the frosting and it gets gritty the next day. Is his normal or is there a way to fix this?
Hmmmm. That can happen a little with erythritol but I didn’t have any issue with this cake. You used Swerve?
Would you know how many times to increase recipe to make in a 8×8 dish. I don’t have the other dishes.
4 times everything should do it.