Reduced Calorie Berry Bundt Cake

Want to bake your cake and eat it too? You can stick to your healthier eating plan with this reduced calorie berry cake recipe. The calorie reduction comes from very little fat in the cake and the substitution of stevia/monkfruit for much of the sugar. Sounds bland and dry, doesn't it? Well, it's not! It's a moist, dense, flavorful cake that will please even your crazy friends that don't worry about calories!

The directions are a little unusual, so read the instructions before assembling your dry ingredients. We found that the technique of cutting your butter into your dry ingredients did make a difference in the even distribution of fat in the cake. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

This recipe is easily adaptable for any types of berries you have on hand. We used a combination of frozen strawberries and blueberries and fresh blueberries (we're cleaning out the freezer!). We've made it in the summer with fresh blueberries, raspberries and blackberries and it was lovely that way, as well. Softer berries tend to bleed and/or disappear into the batter, but the cake will still look good and taste even better.

Our berry cake was adapted from a recipe by Marlene Koch in Eat More of What You Love. We made the cake in a Nordicware party bundt pan, but any 10-inch bundt or tube pan will do.

Makes 12 servings (1 slice): Calories 210. Carb 28g (Sugars 7g). Total Fat 8g (Sat fat 3g). Protein 5g. Fiber 1g. Cholesterol 25mg. Sodium 140mg. Food exchanges: 2 starch, 1 fat.

Options: The original recipe calls for layering the streusel inside and on the top when made in a tube pan to form a lovely coffee cake. Since we were using a bundt pan, we sprinkled a bit of the streusel onto the pan before adding the batter and mixed the rest into the cake. ​We have included instructions on how to make both the mixed-in bundt and the layered tube cake versions.

INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT CAKE

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup cold butter or butter substitute, cut into tiny diced bits
• 2 cups fresh or frozen berries
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1-1/4 cups granulated no-calorie sweetener (like Stevia, Splenda, Monkfruit)
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup low-fat sour cream or plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
• 10-inch tube or bundt pan

STREUSEL or ADD-INS for bundt cake

• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 1/4 cup sweetener (tube cake only)
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons powdered sugar for dusting baked cake

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350F. Move shelves so that the bundt pan will be in the center of the oven.
2. Lightly coat the 10-inch tube or bundt pan with non-stick spray. We recommend using one with flour already in it. This type of spray is perfect for bundt baking as it releases really easily - even from this sharply ridged pan.
3. Cake batter: Whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut in the tiny bits of butter using a pastry cutter or a sturdy metal balloon whisk. It will take a couple of minutes for the butter to become fully incorporated. It will be ready when the flour looks moist and the little chunks of butter are no longer apparent.
4. In your KitchenAid stand mixer, fitted with a SideSwipe beater or your flat beater, beat the eggs, egg whites, sweetener and brown sugar until the mixture doubles in volume and is light and foamy. Stir in on lowest speed the vanilla and sour cream(yogurt). For a bundt, stir in the chopped nuts and cinnamon. For a tube coffee cake, continue onto step 6.
5. Add dry ingredients all at once to the mixer and mix on lowest speed just until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Do not overmix. The batter will look thick and lumpy - more like a dough than a cake batter. This is fine.
6. Remove bowl from mixer and gently fold in the berries until evenly distributed. For a bundt cake, sprinkle the prepared pan with brown sugar, then spoon in the cake batter and smooth the top. For a tube cake: In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sweetener, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, chopped nuts and cinnamon. Add about 1/3 of the batter to the pan, sprinkle with half the streusel. Add the rest of the batter. Smooth, then add the rest of the streusel to the top of the cake batter.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the cake edges begin to come away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in a couple of places comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan. Bundt pan version will be inverted onto a rack to cool completely. Tube pan version can be cooled and served upright. Cake will keep several days at room temperature and can be well-sealed and frozen for about a month. We like to freeze slices of cake for quick snacks.