Yellow Pound Cake w/ Rich Chocolate Almond Frosting/Glaze

Last night I made my first grain and sugar free cake.  I made a Yellow Pound Cake w/ Rich Chocolate Almond Frosting/Glaze.  It turned out really good.  I baked it in a 6-cup Bundt pan and it was a little tricky getting it out of the pan because I forgot to flour the pan after greasing it...so next time I will make sure to do that.  I have lots of baking experience using regular wheat flour, but this was my first grain free alternative flour cake.  I basically made the recipe up as I went along and kept my fingers crossed that it would turn out good -- and I'm happy to report that it did.  I intentionally did not make it overly sweet since I don't like things very sweet any more.  I would describe this cake as a yellow cake with a texture very similar to pound cake.  The frosting/glaze is thick and rich with a very deep dark chocolate flavor and not overly sweet, although you could easily sweeten it more if you wanted to.  Hubby and I enjoyed a piece after dinner last night with a cup of strong Italian Roast coffee and it was delicious.  Based on the size of the slices we ate tonight, we should get about 20 slices from the cake -- that is a LOT!  Our slices were about 1-inch thick.

Below is the recipe as well as a number of photos at various stages.  I wanted to make sure the cake wasn't overly heavy or dense since I was using almond flour which tends to be a bit heavier and oilier.  I also wanted to get some rise in the cake -- and I surely got plenty of rise (you will see what I'm talking about in the photos below).  I got so much rise that while it was in the oven baking, I was actually worried that it would rise right out of the pan and all over my oven -- but thankfully, it did not.  Note that I used "extra light" olive oil in this cake recipe which has no discernible olive taste -- do not substitute the stronger tasting extra virgin olive oil (you could substitute melted butter for the oil if you prefer).  If you prefer your cakes a bit sweeter, you can increase the sweetener in both the cake and the frosting/glaze recipes, if desired.  The amount of sweetness was perfect for my taste.  The frosting/glaze recipe makes a very rich, thick, and dark deep chocolate flavored frosting.  You could add additional sweetener if you prefer a sweeter frosting or glaze.  Check out the recipe and photos below.  Enjoy!

Voila!

I put 5 cups of batter in a 6-cup pan thinking it wouldn't rise much...

Guess I was wrong...the cake actually rose a lot!

As you can see, it almost rose right out of my bundt pan...yikes!

This is what it looked like on top after it came out of the oven

BOOM!

 

Yellow Pound Cake w/ Rich Chocolate Frosting/Glaze

Cake Ingredients:

3 cups almond flour (blanched)
1 cup Swerve sweetener (or equivalent to 1 cup sugar sweetness)
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Celtic or sea salt
6 eggs (I used a combination of Egg Beaters and whole eggs)
1/2 cup PLUS 2 tablespoons "extra light" olive oil (do not use strong flavored extra  
      virgin olive oil)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla (I used concentrated double vanilla from Penzey's)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
15 drops NuNaturals alcohol free stevia (or equivalent to 2 teaspoons sugar sweetness)
3/4 cup water

Rich Chocolate Almond Frosting/Glaze Ingredients:

5 - 6 tablespoons coconut oil
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Ghirardelli or Green & Blacks)
Dash of sea salt
6 tablespoons Swerve sweetener
22 drops NuNaturals alcohol free stevia (or equivalent to about 3 teaspoons sugar sweetness)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup PLUS 2 tablespoons unsalted almond butter
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions for Cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease a 6-cup Bundt type pan very well with butter and dust with flour; set aside.  In a large bowl, mix almond flour, Swerve sweetener, protein powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl; using a wire whisk, stir to mix and sift any lumps in the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, mix eggs, oil, vanilla, vinegar, stevia drops and water; beat with a whisk until well blended.  Add liquid mixture into dry ingredients and mix well; beat with a whisk or hand mixer until well blended and smooth (about 2-3 minutes).  Pour batter into well greased AND floured baking pan.  This recipe makes approximately 5 cups of cake batter.  Place bundt cake in oven and bake approximately 50-55 minutes at 325 degrees or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean (begin checking cake for doneness after about 30 minutes or if making 2 layers begin to check after 20 minutes).  Let cool approximately 5 to 10 minutes; invert onto a plate and let cool completely (if necessary, gently use a rubber spatula to loosen the edges of the cake from the pan).  Frost or glaze as desired.  

***Note:  This recipe can also be used to bake two 8-inch round layers or a square or rectangular cake.  If making 2 separate layers, the cooking time would need to be reduced, so check baking times. If using a Bundt pan, make sure to liberally grease pan and flour well so it doesn't stick when removing from pan.  Taste batter for sweetness after mixing and before pouring into pan (add up to an additional 1/2 cup of Swerve or sweetener of choice if a sweeter cake is desired).

Directions for Rich Chocolate Almond Frosting/Glaze

In a medium saucepan on low, melt coconut oil; add cocoa powder and stir until blended and smooth.  Add dash of salt and Swerve sweetener and stir until completely dissolved into the mixture.  Add almond butter, stevia, and butter, stirring or whisking until melted and smooth.  Add cream and whisk in well.  Taste to adjust desired sweetness, adding more sweetener, if necessary.  If a thinner frosting/glaze is desired, add a little additional cream to thin out; if a thicker consistency is desired, add additional almond butter.  Pour warm frosting/glaze on top of bundt cake, allowing it to run down the sides.  If spreading as a frosting on top of a cake layer, allow to cool and thicken a bit first.