Help! Light Cake, Not So Sweet, Yet Can Hold Fondant?!
Baking By mandice Updated 2 Feb 2009 , 4:30pm by FromScratch
Hey all, since you guys are definitely life savers when it comes to things like these and there are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too many recipes on this site to sift through (I've been going through them for the past hour.. my eyes are getting blurry lol 
) I figured my best bet was to ask you guys.
One of my friends is asking for a cake that is light (because they're going to have it after a huge dinner), not too sweet (some of the family members are diabetic, I believe) and that might be able to withstand being covered in fondant. The last part isn't as crucial as the first two because I don't have to use fondant. But i might want to.
The recipe has to be 100% nut free and not chocolate (i agree with this.. a light, not so sweet chocolate cake? no such thing! lol) I would prefer it not to be a white cake either lol (boring?)
Can you guys give me any suggestions of tried and true recipes? I need to make it for this Friday and there's only so many recipes I can try before then.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! TIA!! 
I mean once you start tossing diabetics in the mix then that's a big red flag for anything with sugar in it.
In my signature is how I make Sylvia Weinstock's lovely lovely cake.
I mean angel food is as light as it gets but it's all sugar.
Strawberry shortcake is an idea.
And red velvet is indeed a light chocolate cake.
The Whimsical Bakehouse White cake is good.. not your typical white cake as it has a nice texture. It's light and not overly sweet and great with whipped cream and berries. I haven't made their yellow cake before, but I have done the chocolate and it's not too shabby so I would assume the yellow version would be up to par with the other two.
If she has diabetic family members, be sure to let her know that the cake is not a low sugar cake though. Most diabetics adjust their intake so that they won't spike their blood sugar or just not have cake. If she wants something specific for the diabetics in her family, she should probably order a separate cake.
I love Sylvia's Classic Yellow Cake too, but I wouldn't call it light or not overly sweet.
okay.. so I called my friend to double check.. there arent any diabetics in the family, but he had requested it since most of his family are adults and don't have sweet teeth (plural of sweet tooth? that sounds so wrong.. lol) so they prefer the not-so-sweet cakes..
but since it's for a 50th bday they can't not have cake, right? lol and anything store bought will be too sweet and they like to support this hobby of mine
AND now he tells me they're going to a restaurant at least an hour away.. lol.. so this recipe has to be able to survive an hour long car ride too!
oh man.. in most cases I wouldn't go through all this trouble, but this family has gotten me 90% of my business so I feel like it's worth it, ya know?
I love Sylvia's Classic Yellow Cake too, but I wouldn't call it light or not overly sweet.
True.
But what cake is there that is light and not sweet. One of the main ingredients in cake is sugar--it's hard to get around that. Make a cake with honey and honey is sweeter.
I mean genoise but that stuff is a base for sugar syrups and icing. Angel food is light but it is all sugar.
Sylvia's is light compared to chocolate and it doesn't need icing--it can stand alone. Icing increases the sugar by boat loads
To me if someone wants a dessert that is not so sweet then add almond meal to balance the sweet with some protein. Y'know serve cheesecake with fruit. But a cake that's not so sweet? It's an oxymoron.
Fruit bread? Not exactly light.
Meringue cups--those angel boat, floating clouds I think they're called those things Julia Child always liked to make --but once again pure sugar.
Umm, phyllo dough cups with a yogurt and fruit filling. But that's not cake but it's light and you can control the sweet.
If you want a dessert that is light and not so sweet then don't serve cake--but strawberry shortcake really might work.
Some not so sweet (what? 
) and light musings for you.
lol.. that was what i had first told my friend when he asked.. "not so sweet cake? are you crazy?" but i figured anything's possible right? and who better to ask then my fellow CCers!
i'll run the strawberry shortcake idea by him, see how he feels about that..
Oh I agree Kate... cake is supposed to be at least a little sweet. And the type of icing you put on it makes a huge difference in the sweetness level. Powdered sugar based icing are hopelessly sicky sweet. Maybe try a meringue based icing?? I use SMBC and it really makes a HUGE difference in the sweetness of your cake. I can't eat powdered sugar based icings. They make me gag with all the sugar. Your average batch of PS icing that would cover and fill an 8" cake has 2 pounds (8 cups) of powdered sugar in it. Now I know that there's corn starch in the PS, but that's still a TON of sugar. A batch of SMBC that would cover and fill an 8" cake has about 1.5-2 cups. It's HUGE difference. If you fill it with a light whipped cream and add something acidic like a berry puree it cuts that sweetness even more.
I think I like the term 'gourmet' rather than 'not sweet' in describing a well balanced cake, don't you?
I agree Kate... asking for a non-sweet cake is such an oxymoron. Perhaps a more "adult" cake... for refined palates.
I think when people think birthday cake... they think of the supermarket cakes... with their sicky sweet buttercream all over and inside and they think ICK. I know I do. What most adults prefer are dessert style cakes with lighter fillings and something going on inside but they usually don't think that you can get a cake that looks like a b-day cake yet doesn't have that sugar overload. That's why people like coming to the custom baker. I can give you a cake that looks beautiful and like a birthday cake on the outside and tastes like your favorite dessert style cake on the inside. Something that when you bite into it gives you exactly what you are looking for. Find out what his favorite dessert is and make a cake around that.
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