The Great Cake Debate: Whole Wheat Flour vs. White Flour

Jodi’s dad is one of the hardest people to win over to the whole wheat camp. He hates everything that Grandma Lori makes with whole wheat which makes her a little hesitant to keep cooking with it. He’s typically not even willing to try something if he catches on that there might be whole wheat in it.

So this Thanksgiving we concocted a sneaky plan …

Two Innocent-Looking Pumpkin Cake Batters

One is made with 100% fresh ground whole wheat flour, the other is made with store-bought white flour. (Hint, white flour is on the left)

Can You Tell the Difference?

The whole wheat cake (right) was a little darker. The white flour cake (left) rose a little higher. We are thinking we could probably add a little more leavening to the recipe to get the whole wheat to rise equally.

The Finished Products!

Our beautiful cakes were a hit at our Thanksgiving party at our Aunt Irene’s house, even though we somehow ended up with about 8 different desserts there. Gotta love Thanksgiving!

The Results???

Jodi made sure to serve up a slice of the WHOLE WHEAT CAKE to her dad. He commented that the cake was really delicious. We asked him if it tasted different and he said no. He wasn’t too happy when we gleefully told him it was made with whole wheat flour. Everyone else in the family raved over it too. This is a family favorite recipe so they would have known if something was off. We both tested a small piece of each of the cakes and felt like we could MAYBE taste a slight difference but if we weren’t eating them side by side you would NEVER know. Yay!

The Pumpkin Cake Recipe

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 2/3 c. sugar
1 c. cooking oil
1 large can pumpkin
2 c. flour (whole wheat works GREAT)
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp. soda

Frosting:
6 oz. cream cheese
3/4 c. butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Beat eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Stir in dry ingredients. Mix well. Bake for 30-35 minutes in a 9×13 ungreased pan. Mix together frosting ingredients and pour on top. EAT AND ENJOY!

p.s. Just for fun, check out the disaster that occurred at Jodi’s house during the event. Gotta love little “helpers”!