Delicious low carb pumpkin spice cake cooked in a slow cooker. Made with pecan meal for a wonderful fall treat.
You had to know this was coming, right? I mean, surely you had to know. After the wild success of my low carb slow cooker chocolate cake, you just had to know that I was going to experiment and try to come up with other low carb slow cooker cake recipes. And given that it’s September and slowly, perhaps imperceptibly, there is just a bit more of chill in the air every morning, you had to know that the next attempt at a slow cooker cake was going to be pumpkin. It HAD to be pumpkin! Please tell me you knew this. Or at least suspected it very strongly.
Even while it was still mid-August, I was scheming on this one. Actually, I believe I began thinking about almost from the moment I tasted my slow cooker chocolate cake. I just knew that this way of cooking cake had some serious possibilities and I’d better make the most of it. There’s just something about the way the slow cooker holds in moisture while gently heating everything through. You would think that the moisture content would overwhelm and you’d end up with a goopy mess but you don’t. Somehow I got the proportions right with the chocolate cake and I was determined to see if I could do it again with something like pumpkin. Since pumpkin contains moisture itself, I had to consider how to adjust the other ingredients.
One reader who tried the chocolate cake said that she messed it up twice and left her slow cooker on too long and it still turned out well. It would appear to be a very forgiving recipe, as long as you have a decent slow cooker. I was fortunate enough to receive a Hamilton Beach Set & Forget 6 Quart Programmable Slow Cooker recently to review and it has been a dream to work with. And in a few days, I am delighted to say that I will be hosting a giveaway for this same slow cooker for my readers. I was asked to contribute a recipe for a slow cooker cookbook in benefit of The Second Harvest Food Bank and Hamilton Beach kindly signed on as one of our sponsors. I will be giving away a few copies of that gorgeous book as well, so stay tuned.
I will say that this slow cooker pumpkin cake recipe is as good as I hoped it would be, but I can’t quite decide if it’s cake or if it’s bread. It could be either, really, depending on how you treat it after it’s baked. A dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream and you’ve got yourself a lovely low carb pumpkin dessert. But warm it up and spread a pat of butter on it in the morning and you’ve got yourself a wonderful fall breakfast. Either way, it’s delicious and you know there will be other low carb slow cooker recipes coming!
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pecan Spice Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raw pecans
- 3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 4 large eggs
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Grease the ceramic liner of 6 quart slow cooker or line with parchment paper.
- In a food processor or high-powered blender, grind pecans until they resemble coarse meal (careful not to turn them into butter). Transfer to a bowl and whisk in sweetener, coconut flour, whey protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.
- Stir in pumpkin puree, eggs, butter and vanilla until well combined. Spread into prepared slow cooker and set to low. Cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until set and top is just barely firm to the touch.
Notes
Polyunsaturated fatty acids: 8.02g
Total fat: 30.38g
Calories from fat: 273
Cholesterol: 87mg
Carbohydrate: 10.03g
Total dietary fiber: 5.61g
Protein: 8.26g
RELATED POSTS
Pumpkin Spice Cake with Brown Butter Frosting
Christy says
Now that pecan flour is available, how much would replace grinding it myself from raw pecans? Thanks.
Carolyn says
Sorry, I don’t know. I made this one with home-ground pecans quite a few years ago. I guess you could measure your whole pecans and then do that weight in pecan flour.
Sam says
Made this recipe today and it was amazing! My slow cooker was busy making dinner, so I used an 8×8 pan in the oven at 325F and kept an eye on it. Ended up taking about 28 min in my oven. I also used less swerve than suggested because we ran out and used vanilla whey powder (which has some sweetness of its own) and it turned out perfect. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
Carolyn says
Good to know about the oven! Thanks!
Nicole Foster says
This is amazing and is now my favorite low carb dessert/breakfast! I followed the recipe as is except for the swerve. I can’t eat very much swerve 🙁 so I subbed some of it with liquid stevia, and it turned out great! The amount of spices is perfect and tasted wonderful with the pecans. Thank you!!!
Carolyn says
Glad you found a way to make it work for you!
Marilyn says
Made it and Love it! I enjoyed spreading a light cream cheese on mine. Perfect Fall flavors and the convenience of my slow cooker!!
Kapu says
How much almond flour?
Ash says
Can I substitute Almond Flour?
Carolyn says
For the pecans? Sure.
Alexis says
Just a quick question — when I entered the ingredients into a recipe nutrition calculator, I came up with a significantly higher carb count. Since the whey protein I used had only 2g carbs for the entire 1/4 cup, it wasn’t from that. I’m wondering if it’s from the Swerve. Do you count the carbs from swerve in the final total? I’m new to low carb baking and not sure if I should or not.
Thanks!!
Carolyn says
Nope, I don’t count the Swerve and you can see that on my nutritional disclaimer. It doesn’t affect my blood glucose at all, a fact which I have tested over and over again.
Alexis says
And if it doesn’t affect your blood sugar, then your body isn’t utilizing it as something you’ve ingested, so you don’t need to count it nutritionally. Makes sense. I’m pretty new to all this. I try and count total carbs, as opposed to net, in regards to things like fiber, to err on the side of caution since I’ve read there are some who don’t believe in the whole net carbs argument. But it makes sense with the swerve. Do you count the carbs in granular Splenda or other sweeteners? Thanks for helping out a newbie!
Carolyn says
The carbs in granular splenda come from bulking agents like maltodextrin. For many, they do raise blood sugar a little so I would count them (I don’t use Splenda at all). Xylitol raises my sugar a little so I count half the carbs for that.
Alexis says
Thanks so much for the replies and all the info!
Vickie L says
I followed these directions to the letter, and it didn’t cook properly. The outer edges were burned and the inner area was uncooked. I recooked that area in the regular oven, and that worked. This was not worth all afternoon either. Not that tasty. Sorry to be Debbie Downer…
Carolyn says
Wondering if your slow cooker is to blame here.
Annie says
I made this yesterday with three substitutions: Nutiva hemp protein powder, Earth Balance vegan spread (not butter), and Bob’s Almond meal. It has great flavor! But, it’s a little bit grainy in texture. Also, the outer part got more done and was kind of crumbly, the inner part was more moist and almost like pound cake. Hmmmm… But, I still loved the flavor. 🙂
Jennifer says
Hi Carolyn, I was wondering how many ounces are in the can of pumpkin puree? Thanks!
Carolyn says
Typically about 15 ounces.
Becky says
I made this today and used 1 1/4 cup Trader Joe’s cashew flour in place of the ground pecans. I have a slow cooker that heats rather hot, so after just under 2 hours it was done! Beautifully moist and oh, so good! It’s like a blend of cake and pumpkin pie. Thanks so much for all the work that must go into creating these recipes. I’ve never been disappointed with any of yours that I’ve made.
Arleen says
Thats really good to know. My cp runs hot as well and I was wondering the time. Ty.
Olga says
Hi Carolyn, this recipe sounds really yummy. Do you think I put all the batter into paper muffin cups and just make cupcakes (easier portion control) ?? Would you suggest 325 or 350 degrees. Thanks .
Margaret says
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for this delicious recipe, it turned out great! It was so moist and flavorful it almost melts in your mouth when it is warm. Also tastes great cold, I felt like I was eating a piece of pumpkin pie. I so look forward to each new recipe that you post and always feel confident when I try them that they will always turn out great.
Carolyn says
Thanks so much, Margaret!