Whole Wheat Cake Recipe
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This whole wheat cake is perfect for special occasions such as birthdays, graduations or other celebrations.
I’ve been trying to find a way to make a good birthday cake for a long time. I’ve tried many recipes and I’ve had to throw several of them right into the trash.
But I finally did it!
I should warn you, this cake is addictive. But if it’s your birthday, at least eating a lot of cake won’t be so bad if the cake you’re eating is clean!
I’m still trying to develop a good frosting recipe. That white frosting that makes any cake look like a birthday celebration. You know what I’m talking about… that stuff you can’t help but dip your finger into a few times while decorating the cake. Ya, that one. I need a clean version of that. And I’ll get it! Yes I will!
But in the mean time, I don’t want to leave you high and dry either. So if you don’t mind putting some chocolate pumpkin frosting on your cake, you can try the frosting I did for my Halloween cupcakes. It’s yummy stuff! A second option would be to try my Homemade Nutella, and lastly, here is a Nut Butter Frosting.
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HEALTHY CAKE RECIPES:
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Spice Cake
- Instant Pot Chocolate Cake
- Cranberry Upside Down Cake
- Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Crazy Cake
WHOLE WHEAT CAKE RECIPE
Whole Wheat Cake
Equipment
- 9 inch cake pan (2 pans if you want a layered cake)
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (affiliate link)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 tbsp. grapeseed oil (or any light flavored oil)
- ¾ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Then spray the inside of the pan, including the parchment with a light coat of oil from an oil sprayer.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder until well combined.
- Whisk in all other ingredients.
- Pour batter in to cake pan and bake for 26-30 minutes. A knife or cake tester should pull our clean.
- Allow to cool. Run a plastic knife around the edge to separate cake from pan and then remove.
- If you made a second layer, cover one cake with filling or frosting and place the second cake on top.
Notes
Nutrition
The cupcakes were great! They were a little more dense than a traditional cake, but definitely worth it to avoid refined sugar! They tasted like honey. I used a whipped cream frosting (also made with a bit of honey) and topped them with fresh berries. Mmmm…
Melissa – Fantastic!!! So glad you enjoyed them! 😀
How dense is this cake. My sister is going to decorate with fondant (not clean, I know) but she says the cake needs to be kind of dense to do more than one layer.
Britnee – It should hold up fine. It’s not terribly dense, but it will stand up.
Tofutti cream cheese is supposed to be a good frosting replacement to use.
Maddie – Is it clean?
hey! possible to replace the eggwhites with something else?
Nav – To get rid of them completely or because you don’t want to throw out the yolk?
to get rid of them completely? anything you can substitute them with?
Nav – You could try unsweetened apple sauce, but I’m not sure you’d get the same result.
What extract do you use? Most of the natural extracts I find have Propylene glycol in them…is that considered clean? I’d like to try it with a caramel extract…
Amanda – Most health food stores will have extracts without that. I get mine at whole foods or a local health food store.
Suggestions for replacing the honey? I would like to make this for my baby’s 1st b-day but I know she’s not supposed to eat honey yet…
Alaina – I would try maple syrup. It may not taste quite as sweet, but for a 1 year old, that’s not a big deal. They have overly sensitive taste buds anyway. 🙂
Hello! Thank you very much for this wonderful blog. I never use soda or baking powder, so I wonder if I can do without either of those in this recipe; will the cake bake well? I also tend not to use vinegar substituting it with lemon juice.
I will be grateful for your reply!
Thank you!
Alla – No, the cake would not turn out the same without soda or powder. It would not rise very well. The vinegar/lemon juice is up to you. 🙂