Sugar Free Ginger Cake with Toffee Sauce

This.is.it.

If you are trying to convince someone, anyone – family, friends, neighbours, the lady at the cafe, the man on the bus – that a low sugar lifestyle does not mean deprivation and doesn’t mean no more fun or yummy tasting food, this is the cake to make for them. Seriously, do it. I’d be willing to bet that the first words out of their mouths after tasting this will be:

“This is really sugar free? Really??”

That is, if they look up from their plate long enough to talk to you.

I’ve been trying to find a truly great sugar free caramel sauce for a while now. All Day I Dream About Food has a yummy sweet condensed milk recipe that I love, but it’s not got quite the toffee consistency and flavour I’ve been looking for. I’ve been experimenting for a bit, but Maya from Wholesome Yum beat me to it. Other than using xylitol as the sweetener, I simply could not improve on her low carb caramel sauce. It’s too delicious. You can find the recipe here, and it’s also written out (with g/ml measurements as well as cups) in the recipe below for you.

This toffee sauce definitely takes the ginger cake from a treat to a true celebration cake, but the star here is the warming, moist, comforting spiced ginger cake. The only sugar in it is a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses (treacle), which adds a smoky depth and gingerbread taste to the whole thing. Drizzled with toffee sauce and topped with pecans, it comes into its own, balancing the creamy sauce with a warming lightly spiced flavour.

I could not possibly think of a better cake to bring out for Bonfire Night celebrations, but this cake will happily lend its warming tastes to any cold weather celebration: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year.

Honestly, I think it will be making an appearance any chance we get in this house! 😉

In keeping with some of the advice from my Party Survival Course for Low Sugar Families, I like keeping the decoration non-sugar (or in this case, non-food) based as much as possible, and I love the drama of sparklers on a cake – perfect for Bonfire Night or a Night of Light celebration in place of Halloween!

Or, for a more mainstream Halloween, you could fill the centre hole (if using a bundt tin) with a Halloween figurine, or add some natural red food colouring (beetroot powder is great) to the caramel to give the whole thing a blood-coloured drizzle!

However you make or rethink this cake, why not post your results on Instagram and tag me (@raisingsugarfreekids) in it so I can see the result.

And let me know what the sugar free skeptics think – I imagine they will be very pleasantly surprised!

5 from 1 vote

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Sugar Free Ginger Cake with Toffee Sauce

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

1 hr

 

A delicious, lightly spiced, warming ginger cake drizzle in sugar free toffee sauce, perfect for a sugar free Bonfire Night celebration. This cake is complex in flavours but a cinch to make!

Course: Bonfire Night, Celebration, Christmas, Dessert, Halloween, Thanksgiving

Servings: 6 -10 servings

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp (75g) unsalted butter (or coconut oil), softened
• 1/2 cup (100g) xylitol
• 1 tsp blackstrap molasses (treacle)
• 1 medium egg
• 3/4 cup (150g) natural (full-fat) yogurt
• 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, grated
• 1 1/4 cups (180g) plain (all-purpose) flour (or use 1 and 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon/180g of gluten free flour*)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• pinch salt
• 2 heaped tsp ground ginger

For the spiced caramel sauce:

• 1/3 cup (65g) salted butter (or use unsalted and a pinch of salt)
• 3 tbsp xylitol
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) double (heavy) cream
• a little more grated fresh ginger, to taste
• pecans, for decoration

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Grease a 6 inch (15cm) cake tin (I used a 6 1/2 inch bundt tin).

2. Beat butter, xylitol and molasses until paler and fluffy (about 3-4 mins). Slowly add the egg, whisking all the time. Stir in the yogurt and fresh grated ginger.

3. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Fold into wet mixture. Pour into the greased cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 35-45 mins, until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

4. To make the caramel: Heat the butter and xylitol in a small saucepan over low heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture starts to turn a deep golden brown. Carefully, pour in the cream (it should bubble) and whisk constantly, simmering for 5-8 mins, or until the caramel is thick and light golden. Allow to cool to room temperature, then drizzle over the cake. Top with pecans and serve.

Recipe Notes

*you can use a shop-bought gluten free flour blend, but I like to use this one