High Protein Caramel Cake Recipe With a Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling

WARNING! This cake is addictive and can easily become a single serving cake!

Christmas is approaching and dessert season is officially upon us. Holiday parties and Christmas dinners provide excellent opportunities for everyone to show off their culinary skills with delicious treats that are difficult to fit into our daily caloric goals. Healthy dessert options often sacrifice taste and texture to achieve friendly macro numbers. This is not one of those desserts and it is perfect for any occasion.

This cake utilizes coconut flour, protein powders, yogurt, Truvia, egg whites and fat-free cream cheese to keep the macros friendly while keeping the taste and texture delicious enough to be eaten as fast as those high-calorie desserts it will sit next to at your holiday parties and dinners.

The chocolate cream cheese filling goes perfectly with the caramel cake and the coconut flour supplies excellent macros without inserting coconut flavor to the cake. Yogurts with toppings included such as the "flip in" styles can add an extra layer of flavor with a little crunch if you prefer but they are not necessary.

Caramel Cake Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

• ½ cup Coconut Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 scoop MTS Protein Powder
• 2 TBSP Truvia

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 container Caramel Yogurt,  5.3 ounces
• 2 Eggs
• ½ cup Cashew/Almond/Cow Milk
• 1 ½ cups Egg Whites (from a carton, don't waste yolks)
• ½ tsp. Caramel Extract

Cheesecake Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

• 1.5 scoops MTS Chocolate Protein Powder
• 2 TBSP Cocoa Powder
• ¼ cup Truvia

Wet Ingredients:

• 3oz Fat-Free Cream Cheese
• 1 Egg
• 1 5.3oz Container Chocolate Yogurt
• 1 TBSP Chocolate Milk

Cake Pan

9 inch round cake pan that allows the cake to rise to approximately 1.75 inches high.

Baking Instructions

This is an easy cake to prepare and the process has been simplified as much as possible. Preparing your "wet" ingredient and "dry" ingredient bowls in advance will speed things up and make the process easier. You will prepare three bowls to pour into the mixer and use your mixing bowl for the cake "wet" ingredients. A stand mixer will be extremely helpful to properly combine the ingredients.

1. Set 3 ounces (6 TBSP) fat-free cream cheese on a plate and allow it to warm to room temp while the oven is heating up and you prepare the remaining ingredients.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3. Coat cake pan with non-stick spray or butter; make sure it is well coated.
4. Combine the dry ingredients for the cake (coconut flour, baking powder, protein powder, and Truvia) in a bowl and mix well. Ensure there are no clumps in the coconut flour. Set bowl aside.
5. In the second bowl, combine dry ingredients for the cheesecake filling (protein powder, cocoa powder, Truvia) and set aside.
6. Prepare a third bowl for the cream cheese filling by mixing the wet ingredients (egg, chocolate yogurt, and chocolate milk) and set aside. Do not add the cream cheese at this time.
7. Add the wet ingredients for the cake (caramel yogurt, eggs, egg whites, milk of choice and extract) in the mixing bowl and mix completely.
8. Pour the bowl containing the wet ingredients for the cake into the "wet" ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix completely. Over mix it if need be, you want to make sure there are no visual clumping. The mixture will not be as thick as a standard cake batter; you are wanting it to be thin and runny.
9. Pour the cake batter into the cake bowl.
10. Wash mixing bowl and mixing attachment to mix cheesecake filling.
11. Put cream cheese in mixing bowl and beat it smooth.
12. Pour the "wet" ingredient bowl over the cream cheese in the mixing bowl and beat it as smooth as possible.
13. Pour the "dry" ingredient bowl into the mixing bowl and mix completely.
14. Pour/spoon the cream cheese filling on top of the cake batter but not completely to the edges. Do not push the filling into the batter and leave about some room between the outside of the pan and the filling. It is important to allow room between the filling and the pan to allow the filling to sink into the cake.

If you have "flip toppings" from the yogurts you can toss them on top at this point.

Place cake pan in a preheated oven. Cook for 50-55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before storing in the refrigerator.

The cake batter will surround the majority of the cream cheesecake filling as it cooks, providing visual enjoyment as you wait to eat. This is a delicious cake that anyone can easily prepare. The calories and macros will make you smile as much as the taste. Salted Caramel frozen yogurt or no-calorie caramel syrup make an excellent addition but the cake is outstanding by itself.

Calories and Macros

Per 5 ounce serving (makes 8 servings):

• Calories - 367
• Fat - 5.6g (3g sat)
• Carbohydrates - 13g (7g sugars)
• Protein - 21g

Feel free to steal this recipe and claim it as your own. Experiment and make substitutions you believe will improve the taste or customize it to your personal preferences. don't work if your yogurt container isn't the standard 5.3oz (150g) size. Vanilla extract will be fine if you don't have caramel extract or if you are looking for a different flavor profile.

Additional Suggestions

Experiment with various MTS Protein Powders. Red Velvet Cake would be a great substitution for the Caramel Sutra, providing a chocolate filled red velvet treat. Mint Cookies and Cream could also be substituted for the Caramel Sutra, making a mint chocolate cake with a chocolate filling. Vanilla could be substituted for the Caramel Sutra, you get the idea.

Be sure to adjust the yogurts and remember that Vanilla Yogurt will work if you can't find one to match your protein. The texture and flavor profile of Machine Whey makes it the perfect line to utilize for this dessert.