Spelt Raspberry Sponge Cake (reduced sugar, low fat)

This spelt raspberry sponge cake is filled with fresh berries and perfect for the summer. It has a slightly dense sponge and is made with reduced sugar and less fat. The recipe can be made with either all-purpose or spelt flour.

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It’s been a tough week in our house and so this spelt raspberry sponge cake was a welcome event. It’s the first of a ten week school holiday but that’s not why it’s been hard. No, it’s been difficult because I decided that we’d slipped back into bad eating habits and we needed to do something to address that. The addressing came in the form of a sugar, dairy, salt, gluten and caffeine detox.

I also found myself starting to buy hot dog rolls. I have my own fabulous recipe and make my hot dog buns from scratch, so when I skip the homemade bread, it’s a sure sign that I am becoming a little lax with my diet.

But you know, it’s been rough last couple of months for one reason or another. It’s so easy to let things slide without you even being aware of it. Thankfully I was able to give my head a shake and realise that if I’d sunk to the depths of buying crappy, highly processed bread, drastic measures were called for.

That being said, I really want to point out that it is perfectly okay, truly, to eat what your body wants.

Easy ways to make your spelt cakes healthier

For this spelt raspberry sponge cake, I used a touch of butter and oil, with Greek yoghurt as a substitute for the lack of fat. The end result was a slightly denser, but tasty sponge cake, and I was over the moon with it. I hope you will be, too.

It’s easy to use alternatives to lighten up cakes. However, it’s important not to forget that it’s the butter and sugar that give cakes their great taste and texture. If you reduce the fat and sugar in cakes, the end result will still taste great, but it will be different.

Use Greek yoghurt

Greek yoghurt is a fantastic ingredient to add to baked goods. You can easily reduce the amount of butter and add Greek yoghurt instead. However, I wouldn’t replace all the fat with Greek yoghurt, unless you want more of a very firm cheesecake-like consistency than a light crumb. Still divine, but something to be aware of.

I often use Greek yoghurt in my cakes for several reasons. Firstly, it takes the place of buttermilk (because I can’t buy it here in Sweden). If a recipe calls for buttermilk, but I have Greek yoghurt on hand, I will mix it with some regular milk.

The Greek yoghurt gives cakes a very slight tang, which helps cut through any overt sweetness (especially if you’ve used lots of sugar). However, it’s the yoghurt’s acidity that helps most in baking (in the same way that buttermilk does). When it reacts with a leavening agent (like baking soda) it promotes the rise of the cake. This produces a lighter, fluffier cake, even without using tonnes amounts of butter.

Add some apple sauce

Apple sauce in cakes can help you reduce both fat and sugar. You can swap up to 50% of the fat (butter or oil) for apple sauce. However, as mentioned above, the texture (and the cake’s rise when baking) when using no fat at all would be greatly affected. The apple sauce adds moisture to cakes, and behaves the same way fat would: it stops baked goods from becoming rubbery (that’s a word we never want to hear in association with cakes). Apples also provide a huge amount of natural, unrefined sweetness to cakes.

It is so easy to make your own apple sauce. Just peel and chop up an apple (or two), and with a tablespoon of water, cook it until it reduces down. Alternatively, you can buy ready made apple sauce. Don’t forget you can use chunks of apple in the cake itself, like I did for my apple streusel cake (which also has less fat and sugar).

Throw in some dates

Dates are also a fantastic way to add natural sweetness to baked goods. Not only that, but dates provide additional moisture and texture. Something we definitely need to think about if reducing the fat in cakes. I have a gorgeous chocolate cake with date frosting (you would never know it wasn’t packed with sugar).

Can I make this gluten free?

This cake can be made with a gluten free blend, all purpose or spelt flour. I originally made it long before I started The Spelt Kitchen and used gluten free flour. Obviously, the texture may be affected very slightly, depending on what flour used, but the amount of flour doesn’t need to be amended.

Other lighter spelt cake recipes

If you are looking for more lighter cake or dessert recipes, you might enjoy these:

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