The perfect THM low carb chocolate snack cake. A recipe devoted to all of my Trim Healthy Mama readers! It’s easy, too.
I have readers from all walks of life, from all sorts of backgrounds and upbringings and countries. I am truly fascinated by the diversity of my readership. Mind you, the vast majority of you are women from Western countries, between the ages of 25 and 60. I am sure I could make plenty of generalizations about the people who manage to find and follow this blog. But they all come here for their own personal reasons and with their own unique experiences. And I think that speaks volumes about the increasing growth and recognition of low carb living as a healthy alternative to the Standard American Diet.
This recipe is actually written for a particular subset of my readership. That is not to say that it’s not appropriate for anyone on a low carb diet, because it most certainly is. And that is not to say that it is not delicious for anyone, no matter what diet, because it most certainly is. It’s just that this particular recipe was developed for those that follow Trim Healthy Mama and like to use the Trim Healthy Mama products like the Baking Blend, the Sweet Blend, and the Gentle Sweet. I have many wonderful followers from THM and they are often asking me how to use and/or substitute those things in my recipes. So I felt duty-bound to play with these ingredients and see what I could come up with.
I also wanted to make an easy low carb chocolate snack cake that would appeal to kids and adults alike. I had the Sara Lee snack cake in my head as a model. You know the one the one, that single-layer chocolate cake the chocolate frosting piped on in pretty star shapes? It’s typically found in the freezer aisle and is full of all sorts of junk, but people love it. I love the idea of “snack cake”, something that’s simple enough and healthy enough to offer to kids when they come home from school or to any unexpected guests that drop by. But a cake that can also be special enough to double as dessert if necessary. That’s the kind of cake I wanted to make.
And this definitely fit the bill, although I do ask you to not look too closely at my piping of the frosting. I am not particularly talented in that area and although I followed the instructions on Wilton for a “star fill in” decorating technique, I had plenty of little gaps between my stars that needed re-filling in with additional blobs of frosting. I am sure some of you could do much better!
For those of you who have yet to try the THM products, you can check them out here on the THM Store. The baking blend is a useful low carb flour alternative that is meant to measure exactly like flour. And the Sweet Blend is a combination of erythritol and stevia that is typically twice as sweet as sugar. There are many other useful low carb ingredients such as gluccomannan, gelatin, whey protein, peanut flour, stevia, and xylitol. It’s definitely worth a look!
- 1 1/2 cups THM Baking Blend
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup THM Sweet Blend (depending on how sweet you like it)
- 1/4 cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp instant coffee granules (optional, helps boost chocolate flavour)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 3/4 to 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (if your batter is overly thick, add a little more almond milk)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 6 tbsp butter softened
- 1/4 cup THM Sweet Blend powdered, if possible
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
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Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9x9 inch square baking pan (you can also use 8x8 inches, but your cake will take a little longer to bake).
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In a large bowl, whisk together the Baking Blend, cocoa powder, Sweet Blend, protein powder, instant coffee, baking powder, and salt.
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Stir in eggs, melted butter, almond milk, and vanilla until well combined. Spread in prepared baking pan.
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Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until cake is set and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.
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In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to just a simmer. Remove from heat and add chopped chocolate. Let sit 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth. Let cool to lukewarm.
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In a large bowl beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in sweetener, cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Add chocolate mixture and beat until well combined, scraping down beaters and sides of bowl as needed.
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Spread or pipe onto cooled cake.
Serves 16. Each serving has 9.18 g of carbs and 5.96 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 3.22 g.
Food energy: 218kcal
Total fat: 18.50g
Calories from fat: 166
Cholesterol: 80mg
Carbohydrate: 9.18g
Total dietary fiber: 5.96g
Protein: 6.60g
Brenda says
I was so excited to see this recipe that I made it before breakfast and have a couple questions.
Is the batter supposed to be so very thick that you have to spatula it in the pan?
Also, my cake was dry so wondering if that might be from over baking?
Love the flavor and the frosting so trying to figure out how mine was so dry and crumbly?
Carolyn says
Yes, it is on the thicker side but no, it shouldn’t be overly dry. I wonder if your eggs were smaller?
Brenda says
Ok I do use farm fresh eggs and they vary in sizes so will keep that in mind…also I think I might have over baked thanks so much
I was so excited to see this recipe that I made it before breakfast and have a couple questions.
Is the batter supposed to be so very thick that you have to spatula it in the pan?
Also, my cake was dry so wondering if that might be from over baking?
Love the flavor and the frosting so trying to figure out how mine was so dry and crumbly?
Carolyn says
I find that with gluten-free batters like this, I almost always have to spread them into the pan, rather than pour them. Just FYI, same when I use almond flour and/or coconut flour. And yes, I guess it may have over baked. I may try to adjust that in the recipe a bit to take different ovens into account.
Pamela says
This is so timely. I was just salivating over a Sara Lee dessert in the store yesterday while trying to think of what ingredients I might need for a similar but healthier quickie dessert. Thanks also for making this recipe THM friendly as it saves me some time in recalculating the ingredients so I can get to the snacking quicker!
Madeline | madeline marie says
This looks so decadent–and i love how it is low carb! I definitely need to eat more of these kinds of desserts in my life.. : )
Sarah G says
Do you need the baking blend and sweet blend to make this?
Carolyn says
If you were going to do a sub here, I’d do 1 1/2 cups almond flour and 3 tbsp coconut flour for the Baking Blend. If you find it overly thick, add a little more liquid. Then I’d do 2 times the amount of Swerve as the Sweet Blend.
Angela Curry says
I dont have thm products. Have you made it with other ingredients?
renee taylor says
I am so excited about this recipe. I LOVE the THM baking blend. And actually, I’m going to use the THM Gentle Sweet instead of Sweet Blend. It’s our preferred sweetner. My husband and children DO NOT like the “stevia” taste or erythritol, whichever one it is that has an after taste, but they can’t detect it in the Gentle Sweet. Thanks so much for this. THM desserts have saved me from many health issues caused by sugar.
Carolyn says
It should work fine with Gentle Sweet too, in twice the amount.
Cari says
Also, you have to keep using the super sweet and pretty soon you don’t taste any after taste at all. I save my gentle sweet for the skinny chocolate and the no bake cookies.
Stacy says
I appreciate your time and recipes. I have looked through your other posts trying to find the baking pans you use because you mentioned them before. I see one in the picture!! What brand? Thank you VERY much!!
Carolyn says
That’s a good USA pan, very non-stick and I love it (you do have to be careful not to scratch it with metal). Here’s the link on Amazon but I’ve seen them at Bed, Bath And Beyond too for about the same price. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UNMZO4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002UNMZO4&linkCode=as2&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20&linkId=JUIYM7E5IFCPA4LF
Stacy says
Oh my goodness. Thank you for answering my question about fave pans
a FULL MONTH ago! Sorry I just noticed!! ?
kelly says
I’d like to know if there’s a sub for the baking blend too? I haven’t tried the THM bakng blend, but I do use their sugar sub blend. My daughter was recently diagnosed with T1D and your blog has literally been a life-saver. I love to bake and we just had two family birthdays and used your recipes. You KNOW a recipe is amazing when you’d eat it regardless of health issues or not. That’s a win-win situation for us. =) (loving you almond joy muffins as well as your coconut cheesecake!) Now on a mission to find the “perfect” low carb brownie!!
Carolyn says
If you were going to do a sub here, I’d do 1 1/2 cups almond flour and 3 tbsp coconut flour for the Baking Blend. If you find it overly thick, add a little more liquid. It shouldn’t be pourable but it should be spreadable in the pan.
Brandy says
Can’t wait to try this! Btw, I love the metal pan pictured here. Do you mind sharing the brand and where you found it? TIA!
Carolyn says
Yup, that’s a USA pan, the best non-stick pan, IMO. I got mine on Amazon but I’ve seen them in Bed, Bath & Beyond for about the same price. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UNMZO4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002UNMZO4&linkCode=as2&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20&linkId=JUIYM7E5IFCPA4LF
Catie says
Hi! This looks so beautiful and yummy! One question: do you use the gentle sweet or super sweet?
Thanks!
Carolyn says
The “Sweet Blend” which is the original one, which I believe would be Super Sweet (because it’s 2x as sweet as sugar).
Alex says
I live overseas and can’t get the baking blend nor can I get the oat fiber and xanthan gum to make the copycat baking blend recipes. If I wanted to substitute almond flour and/or coconut flour for the baking blend, do you know how much I would use?
Carolyn says
If you were going to do a sub here, I’d do 1 1/2 cups almond flour and 3 tbsp coconut flour for the Baking Blend. If you find it overly thick, add a little more liquid. It shouldn’t be pourable but it should be spreadable in the pan.
Amy says
Do you think I could substitute collagen for whey protein powder?
Carolyn says
You could, but I don’t think that would help the consistency at all. Protein powder helps baked goods rise and hold their shape, in the absence of gluten. I’ve found that collagen makes things a little on the heavier side.
Karen says
Awww… Love your piping – it’s beautiful. IF I had the patience to pipe anything, pretty sure it wouldn’t look as nice. Thanks for another drool-inducing recipe.
Keri B says
This recipe looks divine and I will be giving it a try this weekend! I love your blog and all your recipes so thanks for sharing and thinking of us on THM!
Joan Hayes says
Mmmmm I love the looks of this! And the frosting looks so beautiful!
Maureen says
This looks wonderful. Cannot wait to try it. And your post is so timely. I just became aware of the THM products and decided to try the baking blend.And I wanted to try the bread recipe that everyone was raving about so I bought the cookbook. So disappointing. I did not really like the baking blend. Did not care for the bread. I have never used oat fiber and that is probably the taste I do not like. So along comes your recipe and I thought: great! maybe the chocolate taste will mask the oat fiber taste! Thanks Carolyn!
rachel @ athletic avocado says
i can’t believe that this is low carb! I would have never guessed! It looks amazing 🙂
Janet says
Where can I find the THM Recipes called for in the Chocolate Snack Cake above?
Thanks. J. Jacob
Carolyn says
The recipes? do you mean the products? I’ve linked to them so you can purchase them if you wish.
JoAnne says
My family has embraced a low carb diet since a diabetes diagnosis for both my husband and son. I am inspired by your amazing recipes and thank you for this wonderful blog. My question is relative to the oat fiber in the THM Baking Blend. I realize that all the carbs in oat fiber are dietary fiber, but am hesitant to feed my family something that may raise blood sugar. Has anyone tested their blood sugar after eating something with this baking blend, or more specifically, oat fiber?
Carolyn says
Well, I certainly have and don’t find it to raise my blood sugar but I can’t speak for all. You can try making this with just a combo of almond flour and coconut flour. I suggested to people already how to do so, it’s in the comments somewhere here!
Rins says
Have you tried making this recipe into cupcakes? Any tips on how I might be able to do that?
Susanne says
New to THM…. Excited to try this! I do not have any protein powder. Can I sub something else? I do have 0% plain Greek yogurt if it is used just for added protein. Would that work?
Carolyn says
The dry protein powder helps things rise and hold their shape in the absence of gluten (which is a protein). So the yogurt won’t work. You can skip it, but your cake may be more dense.
Kelli says
Is there a sweet blend and just out of stock? I see gentle sweet and super sweet blend. Is it a mix of the two?
Thank you for your time in putting this together.
Carolyn says
I believe that the sweet blend is the “super sweet”.
Amanda says
Is this considered a FP snack?
Carolyn says
No, i think it’s an S recipe.
Anna says
Can this be made the day before and put in the refrigerator until the next day? Just wondering if it would alter the texture at all…?
Carolyn says
Absolutely!
Rita says
I just started following you, so I don’t want to be a buzz kill here, but you aren’t figuring the net carbs correctly. Your recipe calls for some sugar alcohols, which are also subtracted from total carbs.
Carolyn says
Yes, actually I am. I’ve already subtracted the erythritol. I make that statement in my nutritional disclosure. But thanks for trying to be so vigilant! 🙂
Rhonda says
Hi, I have THM super sweet and THM gentle sweet. Any suggestions since the recipe calls for THM sweet blend? Thanks in advance
Carolyn says
Before they created Gentle Sweet, the Super Sweet was called Sweet Blend. So that’s the one!
Nicole says
Can you substitute coconut oil for the butter? My sister is lactose intolerant, and I would like to include her when making these.
Carolyn says
You should be able to. Not sure what you will do about the frosting, though.
Stephanie Deal says
I made this over the weekend and my cake was dry. 🙁 It’s my first time using the THM blend and I was a little bummed. The chocolate frosting however is AWESOME. I piped my frosting onto the cake like you did and mine doesn’t look as pretty as yours, but the taste and texture is dynamite. 😉 I’m hoping to try it again cause the taste is yummy and I’m going to cook it 5 min less this next time. Thanks again for sharing this recipe Carolyn.
Carolyn says
Good call, it may be your oven temp. Also, try adding another tbsp or so of butter if you want a more moist cake. THM Blend does tend to be drier than using all almond flour or an almond/coconut combo.
Iva says
What can you substitute the whey protein with?
Carolyn says
Egg white protein.
Angie says
This is by far my new favourite THM chocolate cake recipe! It’s soooooooo good! Thanks for another amazing recipe!
Carolyn says
Delighted to hear it!
Shirley Hammond says
I just made the snack cake. I tasted a little corner of it and it tastes quite bitter to me. I also mixed up the icing and found it to be terribly bitter. I used Pyure stevia blend. I tried to make it into “powdered” by putting it in the blender first but it really didn’t get very powdery. I kept adding more of the sweetner but it still tastes a bit bitter. Perhaps after it sits the sweetness will be absorbed more into the frosting. Hope so.
Carolyn says
It’s probably the Pyure, as stevia can taste very bitter in chocolate.
Ashley says
I was so excited to try this. The cake (and few cupcakes I made) turned out good. A little dry, but that was my own fault (overcooked).
However, the frosting was a different story. Three attempts, and all three went in the trash. So much wasted ingredients. I think it was the butter. The only other time I’ve seen a texture that nasty in icing is when I made buttercream with butter instead of shortening. 🙁
Either way, cake is great. I just have to figure out how to top it!
Carolyn says
I honestly don’t know what the problem could be but I’ve always made frosting with butter and think it should ONLY be made with butter, especially since shortening is a chemical horror show. I know my frosting very well and I used a similar method in THIS recipe. https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-chocolate-frosting/
I stand by my butter based frosting, as do many of my readers.
Laura says
Can this be frozen?
Carolyn says
I don’t know, I’ve never tried. Unfrosted, it certainly can.
Robin says
FANTASTIC!!! I thought it was better the second day and left out of the frig. I used almond & coconut flours and flaxmeal in equal parts for the cake mix. Just a delicious cake and frosting. I LOVE a great frosting and this makes it! I make up my own THM sweetener from a recipe. I added extra to the cake as it tasted like it needed it. Everyone is different. Thank you!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!