Healthy Spring Cake Recipes

Find healthy, delicious spring cake recipes, from the food and nutrition experts at EatingWell.

Staff Picks

Blueberry-Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake

Rating: 4.41 stars
30
This healthy pound cake recipe isn't just delicious--it also only requires one bowl to make. For the best cake texture, be sure to beat the sugar and butter together long enough in Step 2 to look creamy--the time it takes to get there varies according to the type of electric mixer you have. Serve with brunch or alongside a cup of coffee in the afternoon.
By Stacy Fraser

Blueberry Lemon Curd Ice Cream Cake

For a sweet and easy diabetes-friendly dessert, enjoy this lemony ice cream cake with blueberries.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Mini Blueberry-Lemon Cheesecakes

This muffin-tin mini cheesecake recipe is an adorable, healthy dessert that's the perfect cute size. If making 2 dozen seems like overkill, the recipe can easily be cut in half. If you avoid gluten, use gluten-free graham crackers to make the crust.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Breakfast Blueberry-Oatmeal Cakes

Rating: 4 stars
20
This oatmeal-meets-muffin-tin cake recipe is perfect for having a healthy breakfast available on busy weekdays. Make a batch on the weekend and keep them in your freezer. For a grab-and-go breakfast, reheat the oatmeal cakes in the microwave for about 40 seconds.
By Hilary Meyer

Flourless Honey-Almond Cake

Rating: 4.07 stars
13
Honey and almonds flavor this simple (and gluten-free) cake. It's lovely for afternoon tea or a spring holiday dessert. Be careful not to overbeat the egg whites--they should be white and very foamy, but not at all stiff or able to hold peaks. If you beat them too much, the cake may sink in the middle as it cools.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Carrot Cake

Rating: 4.3 stars
14
Carrots give carrot cake a health-halo effect--people think it's health food, but it's usually very high in fat and calories. But our version has about 40 percent less calories and 50 percent less fat than most. First, we use less oil in our batter. Then we skip the butter in the frosting (don't worry, it's still light and smooth). To ensure the cake is moist, we add nonfat buttermilk and crushed pineapple.
By Patsy Jamieson

Lemon Cheesecake Bites

These creamy and lemony cheesecake bites are diabetic-friendly and guilt free!
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Strawberry Fro-Yo Cupcakes

Rating: 5 stars
1
Fat-free frozen yogurt and fresh strawberries are blended together to make a healthier cupcake with a bonus cookie crunch in this easy 4-ingredient dessert recipe.
By Carolyn Casner

Mini New York Cheesecakes

Rating: 5 stars
2
These mini cheesecakes aren't just adorable--baked in a muffin tin, they're quicker to make than traditional cheesecake and perfectly portioned.
By Breana Killeen

Quick Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes

Rating: 4.6 stars
5
Here we stir a little melted chocolate into ricotta cheese for a cheesecake-like topping for chocolate wafer cookies.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Rating: 5 stars
2
Strawberries and lemons make for a sweet and citrusy treat in this lightened-up cupcake recipe topped with a cream cheese frosting.
By Carolyn Casner

Lemon Pound Cake

Rating: 4 stars
1
This wonderful rich, sweet lemon pound cake is downright zingy and the candied lemon slices are a beautiful bittersweet topping that's better than frosting. The best part, though: when you taste it you won't miss all the butter we cut out compared with a traditional pound cake recipe.
By Lori Longbotham
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Inspiration and Ideas

EatingWell Flag Cake

EatingWell Flag Cake
Rating: Unrated
1
Though this stunning red, white and blue American flag cake screams “Fourth of July Cake,” it's such a good dessert you'll want to make it for Memorial Day and other summer holidays too. We made this flag cake recipe healthy, with less saturated fat and calories than traditional versions, by replacing some butter in the yellow sheet cake with oil. Plus, for the cream cheese frosting, we replaced some of the cream cheese and butter with low-fat Greek yogurt.
Yellow Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting & Berries

Yellow Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting & Berries
This healthy yellow cake recipe is perfect for making a sheet cake for a birthday, holiday or any celebration and the easy cream cheese frosting recipe is ready in just five minutes. Use fresh berries to decorate the cake with flower designs or get creative and make your own pattern. We made this yellow cake healthier by replacing some butter in the cake with oil, using reduced-fat cream cheese and low-fat Greek yogurt for the frosting instead of full-fat cream cheese and butter, and using fruit instead of colored frosting for decoration.
Lemon Poppy Seed Chiffon Cake

Lemon Poppy Seed Chiffon Cake
Lemon Pudding Cakes

Lemon Pudding Cakes
Rating: Unrated
5
Lemon-Berry Pudding Cake

Lemon-Berry Pudding Cake
Melon Chiffon Cake with Sparkling Fruit

Melon Chiffon Cake with Sparkling Fruit

Orange Swirled Cheesecake

Reduced-fat cream cheese and yogurt help to make this delicious, diabetic-friendly dessert under 130 calories per slice.

All Healthy Spring Cake Recipes

Mocha Coffee Cake

A sweet topping of cocoa powder and cinnamon is baked right into this delicious mocha coffee cake.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Lemon Poppy-Seed Cake

Rating: 4 stars
3
We love that Bundt cakes don't demand frosting--just let a sweet lemon glaze run over the poppy-seed cake and you've got perfection.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Sunshine Cake

This light, low-calorie cake is frosted with lemon-flavored whipped topping. It's a sweet yet refreshing dessert after any meal.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Muffin-Tin Strawberry Shortcakes

Skip rolling and cutting dough and use your muffin tin in this healthy strawberry shortcake recipe. Look for lemon curd in the store near jams and jellies or skip it and combine the berries with 2 tablespoons sugar in Step 4.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Pecan-Berry Coffee Cake

Rating: 4.33 stars
2
This scrumptious coffee cake recipe has a crumbly pecan topping and is speckled with blueberries or raspberries. You'll never guess there's apple in the berry coffee cake: it replaces some of the butter found in most coffee cakes and adds a decidedly sweet taste and moist crumb. This is a great recipe to serve at brunch and can be made the day before.
By Julee Rosso

No-Bake Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust and Mango Puree

This diabetic-friendly cheesecake could not be easier to make! The gingersnap crust and mango puree topping complement each other for a refreshing zing.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Berry Ginger Shortcakes

For this ginger-flavored berry dessert recipe, sweet biscuits are split in half, filled with sweetened berries and topped with sour cream-flavored whipped topping. Heavenly!
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Cheesecake Chai-Spiced Banana Bread

Classic banana bread gets a delicious twist with chai spices and a cheesecake layer.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Frozen Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Rating: 4.2 stars
1
Retro, creamy and delicious, this cake is the frozen version of the beloved classic. This takes a bit of extra time to make--but it's worth it.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Linzer Cake

Rating: 4.67 stars
2
Linzer Tart (or Linzer Torte) is an Austrian specialty: an almond pastry topped with raspberry jam. Here it is reinvented as an American cake: almond-rich layers divided by raspberry jam. It's even better when prepared a day in advance, giving the jam time to soak into the cake. If you like, buck tradition by using strawberry jam and garnishing with fresh strawberries.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Raspberry-Peach Trifle Cake

Lightly poached peaches, fresh raspberries and creamy vanilla custard fill the layers in this trifle-inspired healthy cake recipe. Impressively tall and luscious, this four-layer cake can be tricky to cut. For neater slices, you can assemble two shorter (two-layer) cakes instead.
By Nick Malgieri

Crackle-Topped Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Rating: 5 stars
1
Chunks of rhubarb accent this moist, tender cake. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the batter before baking to create a crisp top.
By Lisa Cherkasky

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Rating: 3.86 stars
3
Rosy-pink rhubarb makes a particularly pretty upside-down cake. We balanced the fruit's tang with a crunchy nut-and-brown-sugar topping.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Lemon Cake

Rating: 5 stars
2
This luscious lemon cake is soaked with an equally luscious lemon syrup. Serve with Mango-Raspberry Compote.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Blueberry-Ginger Bundt Cake

In this healthy Bundt cake, you get double the berry goodness with a center layer of blueberries and ginger plus whole blueberries tossed into the batter. Serve with coffee at brunch, bring to a potluck or top with vanilla frozen yogurt for a healthy dessert.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Cupcake-Topped Sprinkle Cones

These adorable ice-cream cone cupcakes are perfect for birthday parties and other celebrations.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Carrot Cake Cheese Ball

Rating: 5 stars
3
This sweet carrot-shaped cheese ball recipe is a clever take on an Easter dessert favorite: carrot cake. Serve with graham crackers, vanilla wafers, gingersnaps or apple slices for dipping fun that both kids and adults will love.
By Breana Killeen

Blueberry Torte

Rating: 5 stars
1
During August in Maine, one could happily survive on a diet of lobster, corn-on-the-cob and wild blueberries. Add blueberries to salads, cornmeal muffin mix, pancake batter or use them in simple desserts, such as this cheesecake-like torte.
By Patsy Jamieson

Berry-Ricotta Cheesecake

Here, low-fat ricotta blended with reduced-fat Neufchâtel cheese gives this lighter, Italian-inspired cheesecake a great texture and all of the good cheese flavor you would want. We garnish the cake with mixed berries brushed with a red currant jelly glaze. With only 258 calories per slice, this dessert really is a worthwhile indulgence.
By Marie Piraino

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Stuff each tender cupcake with a whole fresh strawberry for a fun surprise inside these healthier cupcakes--a perfectly portioned take on a classic strawberry shortcake.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Raspberry-Swirl Cupcakes

Rating: 3.86 stars
3
These raspberry-lemon cupcakes are topped with an easy cream cheese frosting tinted pink with a little raspberry puree. For those unaccustomed to the mildly nutty flavor of whole-wheat flour (used in these cupcakes), the flavor of the raspberry puree swirled into the lemony cake makes the wheat flavor undetectable.
By Stacy Fraser

Poppy-Seed Cake with Lemon Curd

Rating: 4.67 stars
2
Just like your favorite morning muffin made into an elegant cake. Unlike that bakery muffin, though, you can help yourself to seconds: each serving has just 1 gram saturated fat.
By Beth-Ann Bove

Chocolate Walnut Cake

Rating: 4 stars
1
This decadent, omega-3-rich cake was inspired by flourless Passover nut cakes. It's better if it sits overnight so the marmalade or jam can mellow with the chocolate and soak into the cake.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Strawberry Shortcake

Rating: 2.67 stars
2
Besides succulent fresh, ripe strawberries, the key to a great strawberry shortcake lies in the quality of the biscuit. And this one is top-notch. These tender, sweet buttermilk biscuits are made with a blend of cake flour and whole-wheat flour and lightened by substituting reduced-fat cream cheese for some of the butter. As a delicately tangy alternative to whipped cream, we use a blend of cream and reduced-fat sour cream.
By Katie Webster
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