This low carb Raspberry Swirl Pound Cake is a much, much healthier grain-free copycat of the Starbucks treat. Enjoy with your morning coffee or afternoon tea.
If you pay any attention to food trends, you have probably noticed that juicing is quite a hot thing these days. Particularly during the January “diet season”, when everyone is all about detoxing from the excesses of the holidays. Heretofore, I haven’t paid much attention to this trend, in part because I didn’t have a juicer and in part because juice isn’t often consumed on a low carb diet. When you think of juice, you typically think of high carb fruits squeezed of all their liquids, thereby concentrating their natural sugars even more. I’ve been bypassing the juice aisle in the grocery store for quite some time now. It may be a healthier choice for some people but it’s not as easy for this pre-diabetic mama.
But KitchenAid recently asked if I would review the juicer attachment to the stand mixer. You know how much I love (worship?) my KitchenAid mixer and I love the wide range of innovative attachments that turn it into something so much more than just a mixer. Well the juicer attachment follows suit, being so much more than a juicer. The multiple screens and adjustable pulp valve allow you to create thicker sauces and purees in addition to juices. You really control how much pulp and fiber you want, depending on your purpose. It also happens to be a lot of fun to use. No need to peel your fruits and veggies first, unless you really want to. Just coarsely chop them and start running them through.
Once I realized I could use it for more than just juice, I instantly knew what I wanted to make. I’ve been eyeing the Raspberry Swirl Pound Cake at Starbucks for quite some time, thinking it would be great to make a healthier low carb version. It really isn’t hard to beat in terms of health, when the original comes in at a whopping 69 g of carbs, 47 g of which are sugars. Talk about setting the bar low! The KitchenAid juicer attachment made my task much easier. Previously, I would have had to boil my raspberries to release the juice, then press them by hand through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of all the seeds. This time, I simply ran them through the juicer and got a thick seedless raspberry sauce that I could swirl into my batter.
I wanted to give the juicer a little more of a test than simply running some soft berries through it. I was intrigued by a “Cucumber Refresher” recipe that came with the juicer, which included cucumber, lemon and spinach leaves. I wanted something a little more colourful, something my kids might like a little better, so I swapped out the spinach for a few strawberries. I put everything in with the skins and hulls and got a lovely fresh, relatively low carb, juice (about 7 g per serving). It did have the littlest bit of green cucumber skin that managed to get through, but it wasn’t enough to keep anyone from drinking it. And I couldn’t help but think how it might make some pretty fine cocktails in the summer.
I may not ever fall headlong into the juicing trend but I think this is a great attachment for your KitchenAid mixer. It mashes and strains the fruits and veggies quickly and easily, and is easy to clean with the included brush. I am looking forward to getting more creative with it for sauces and purees. I also foresee some easy fresh lemonade and gazpacho come summertime. And maybe a fresh cucumber cocktail or two…why not?
Disclosure: KitchenAid provided me with a new stand mixer and a juicer attachment for me to review. All opinions are my own.
Iced Raspberry Swirl Loaf
This low carb Raspberry Swirl Pound Cake is a much, much healthier grain-free copycat of the Starbucks treat. Enjoy with your morning coffee or afternoon tea.
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1/3 cup whey protein powder
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup raspberry juice or puree
- 1/2 tsp raspberry extract
Icing (optional)
- 1/3 cup confectioner's Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease a loaf pan well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, whey protein, coconut flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with sweetener until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Beat in the almond flour mixture until well combined. Scoop half of this mixture into another bowl.
- To one half, add almond milk and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. To the other half, add raspberry juice and extract and beat until well combined.
- Spoon dollops of the vanilla batter and dollops of the raspberry batter into the prepared loaf pan, swirl with a knife as you layer them together. Smooth the top.
- Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together sweetener, almond milk and vanilla extract. Drizzle over cooled loaf and let set 20 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Serves 15. Each serving has 6.35 g of carbs and 2.71 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 3.64 g.
Food energy: 219kcal Saturated fatty acids: 5.19g Total fat: 18.26g Calories from fat: 164 Cholesterol: 66mg Carbohydrate: 6.35g Total dietary fiber: 2.71g Protein: 8.23g Sodium: 228mg
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I have a KitchenAid mixer and never think to use it because I always associate it with bread dough or super thick flour-filled batter. What do you mostly use it to do?
This loaf looks so good. Why do you call for room temperature eggs? I assume it helps the batter somehow.
Sarah, Sarah, Sarah! Get out that mixer and make your life a whole lot easier! It mixes batters and cookie doughs (the low carb kind) in a flash! I love it. I always call for room temperature eggs because if you add cold eggs to creamed butter, the butter hardens up again and you get little bits of butter throughout your baked good that melt when baking and leave funny pockets.
LOL, ok, ok!
I am soooo excited that you made a low carb version of this Starbucks’ treat! I have indulged in the original (sweet poison) far too many times. I’m excited to have a healthy version. I am allergic to coconut flour. For a previous recipe you told me to sub almond flour, but it would take 3x the amount, so 3/4 cup almond flour for this recipe. Would you recommend that here? Or increase the protein powder? Or add in another ingredient? Thanks in advance! –Susan =)
Yes, 3/4 cup almond flour would be a good sub.
Love the raspberry sauce you swirled into this batter! I love juicing, but I’m hypergylcemic so have to keep my sugar intake really low. This pound cake looks marvelous.
Thanks, Laura.
This looks awesome Carolyn!! I hate not being able to use my work computer to comment on your blog anymore I just happened to be on my home one today and saw this. YUM
Thank you so much Susan for asking the amount to sub-out Coconut flour! I too have an allergy to coconut. I’m excited to make this, it looks. Wonderful!
Thank you,
Christine
I need to make a something dairy-free for a friend. Would this be considered dairy-free?
I too have not paid much attention to the juicing trend. I rarely drink anything beyond milk or water on a normal day, other than the occasional smoothie. Besides the idea of buying another contraption to take up space in my kitchen is not appealing. But I love the idea of having it as a attachment for my stand mixer! Also love this pound cake, the swirl is gorgeous!
My family was not a fan of the raspberries, so instead I added 1/2 cup chocolate almond milk and 2 ounces of melted dark chocolate and swirled it together for a chocolate/vanilla marble poundcake. Nobody believed it was low carb, sugar free, gluten free. Thanks for all the creative cooking ideas!
Omg, Omg, Omg…this. looks . AMAZING! I love your site!
Question: is it absolutely necessary to add the whey protein powder? Can i sub in more of the flour at all? If I do this, would it bring down the carb count at all?
Thanks for all of your incredible recipies, you’re a true gem!
No, it wouldn’t bring the carb count down and might actually make it go up a fraction of a carb. It’s not entirely necessary to add the whey protein but it does help baked goods rise and hold their shape.
I’m a bit lost, sorry. When do you add the almond flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mix? A little bit after each egg addition? or all at once after all the eggs? I’m assuming you add the flour to the egg before you divide in half and stir in the almond milk or raspberry puree. Thanks for the extra tutelage.
Goodness! Several people have made this recipe and didn’t point out my error. I just fixed it. You add the almond flour to the batter after the eggs and just before you divide it in half.
OMG, This is sooooo tasty! I used left over Raspberry Chia Seed Jam from your Peanut Butter and Jam Bars (and a little water). Turned out great!
Thanks very much for all your efforts constantly turning out terrific Low Carb goodies.
So glad you liked it!
I can’t figure out what I did wrong. It’s been in the oven for like an hour and a half now but the center is still practically liquid.
Can you tell me if you used almond meal instead of almond flour? Really not sure what happened but that can make a difference.
I use the Honeyville flour. I did an oven thermometer and it said my temp was right on. I used a regular sized loaf pan and double checked my ingredient amounts. Dang it. I’ll try it again cuz it smelled amazing.
Then I really don’t know what happened because this should not be an issue.