1. I’ve been competing in the sport of Powerlifting for 3 years now (I’m led to my next USA Powerlifting Nationals contest in October), and since I am an athlete (and an older athlete at 47), I pay pretty close attention to the way I eat so that I can optimize my strength in relation to my body weight. While of course this blog always had a strong focus on nutrition you’ll see that I follow a nutrition plan that is focused on macronutrients. A number of you may be familiar with counting macronutrients (“macros”, for short), while some of you may have no idea what I am taking about. If you do not know what I’m talking about, for now all that really matters is that from here on out, I’ll be adding nutrition info in my recipes: i.e. how many calories and how much protein, carbohydrates, and fat are in what I create (should you follow the recipe exactly as written). Additionally, it means you’ll find a lot of protein-rich recipes here (hey I am a strength athlete…I eat lots of protein!) .
Well now that the “housekeeping” is out of the way, on to the high protein pumpkin cake!
The time really flew: I found lots and lots of things to do. I got certified as a nutrition coach a strength trainer, and I’ve been working with clients in both capacities for some time now. Also: I’ve been running an Airbnb at a family-owned property in partnership with my dad, and I just packed my oldest child up to go to school.
Serving size: 1/9th of an cake
Dense and not too sweet: leftovers keep well in the refrigerator, or cut cake wrap tightly, and freeze for later.
Readers of this blog: I really cannot thank you enough for sticking around. That said, I do want to give you a heads up that things will be somewhat different this time around (I’ve listed 3 new things you may notice below). Two years is a long time: I’m not the same and the way I cook and plan to run this blog isn’t going to be exactly the same.
Optional additions:
2. Ingredients will be listed with measurements by weight in addition to volume from now on. Why? Well, if you are are counting macros, then you likely already know that it’s important to get precision, and measuring by weight (I generally use g) is the best way to accomplish this for many ingredients. My reasons for using weight dimensions: hopefully it will help my readers out and it’s the best way to get results. I will retain the practice of giving volume measurements in cups as I did previously for anybody who does not have a food scale, but understand that I do suggest you get a scale (I have that 1 in black) for the best results.
It’s been more than two years since I last wrote anything here at Healthy Green Kitchen. (If you did not notice I was gone, I’m not the least bit offended lol.)
For reference, I compared the calories and macros in this cake to this Maple Glazed Pumpkin Cake I wrote about 6 years back. That cake has 6 grams 413 calories, 9 g fat, 81 grams carbohydrates, and protein .
Published at Wed, 27 Sep 2017 19:00:57 +0000
For the frosting:
Serving size: 1/9th of an 8×8 inch cake
*1 scoop Chocolate protein powder (I like UMP)
*2 tablespoons Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa (I enjoy the flavor and color that this imparts, but you can use regular cocoa powder if you prefer)
*4 tablespoons chocolate milk (I use Fairlife chocolate milk)
*water as needed
Directions:
1. Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor.
2. Process or blend until the ingredients are incorporated and the batter is smooth.
3. When adding nuts or chocolate chips, then fold them in with a rubber spatula
4. Spray baking pan or muffin tins with a very light spritz of buttery spray (I like Emeril’s), or grease with a little bit of butter if you are ok with adding a bit more fat, or use paper muffin cups to prevent any extra fat
5. Use spatula to spread batter into pan, or scoop batter into muffin tins. Do not lick the spatula if you are counting macros (unless you plan to “log your lick”) and do your best not to leave any batter/macros supporting ☺
6. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35-40 minutes if baking in an 8×8 pan (or approximately 20 minutes for muffins), or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
*100 g/1 cup oat flour (I take rolled oats and grind them into oat flour in my blender)
Per serving:
Calories: 188
Protein: 13.6 g
Carbohydrates: 16.2 g
Fat: 7.8 g
*1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or chocolate chips (recall that using any of them or making any other modifications to the recipe will change the macros so be sure to input your own recipe to MyFitnessPal (or another service) for accurate macros.
*3 g/2 tablespoons sugar (I’ve used organic coconut oil; you can use a sugar substitute instead but I can not vouch for the amount to use as have not baked with them)
I found a few forgotten jars of pumpkin and butternut squash puree when I was cleaning out my pantry this summer. Though fall was not even close to being in the air at the time, I started experimenting with cake and muffin recipes that would fit my macros, and I settled on the one you see here. I’ve made this cake about a dozen times now (and once or twice with cooked, mashed sweet potatoes), and believe this recipe is delicious no matter which starchy, orange veggie you opt to include.
Vanilla Powdered Peanut Butter however there are quite a few other brands you may use)
*1 tablespoon baking powder
*1/4 tsp salt
*244 g/1 cup pumpkin puree (I’ve used both Libby’s and Farmer’s Market brand organic) or butternut squash puree or peeled mashed sweet potato (these all have slightly different tastes but I tried them all and enjoyed all of them in this recipe)
*4 tablespoons all-natural, unsweetened applesauce
*2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*240 ml/8 oz. /1 cup cultured, low-fat buttermilk (you may also use non-fat Greek or Icelandic yogurt, both of which will add more protein than the buttermilk); if you do not eat milk, then you can try almond milk or another non-dairy milk or yogurt)
*1 large egg
*66 g/4 tablespoons Nuts ‘n More Pumpkin Spice peanut spread or some other all-natural peanut butter or almond butter (or a combination of the two), warmed in the microwave, then stirred, so It’s very smooth
*2 tablespoons butter
This cake is significantly higher in protein, and much lower in carbs and fat, than a typical cake. It’s
My decision to stop blogging wasn’t a spur of the moment thing: I’d thought hard and long about it. And I remained sure I’d make the decision that was perfect about until lately, when I realized that I miss sharing recipes here and creating. I’d never gotten around to taking the site down…so I’ve decided to give it another go.
A dense, moist, higher protein pumpkin cake with an optional high protein chocolate frosting.
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