This unique dessert is light and fluffy and feels like you are eating a cloud. It’s a fun dessert to try. The cake is just 2 ingredients and doesn’t require any flour, eggs, added sugar, butter or oil. It also doesn’t require any baking. It is a low calorie treat you can enjoy for dessert.
This cloud cake isn’t a regular cake but it looks very much like cake. I love that it is also low in sugar and calories. It’s such a fun presentation and I like serving it for a party or just making it for my family.
Ingredients
- Pear Puree or Applesauce
- Gelatin powder
Pear Puree or Applesauce: For this recipe, you will need to use unsweetened pear puree or unsweetened applesauce. It’s important that you use unsweetened because any added sugar will cause the mixture to be too dense and the batter will not work. If you’re looking to use other fruits, see the Flavor Variations section of this post where I discuss other possible flavors.
Gelatin: This recipe uses unflavored gelatin powder which is what creates the cloud cake structure. Make sure to use unflavored powdered gelatin and not gelatin sheets or flavored gelatin. I have not gotten this to work with vegan gelatin alternatives.
How to Make Healthy Cloud Cake
The gelatin powder is first dissolved into the fruit puree. You will need to heat up the mixture so that the gelatin fully dissolves. The mixture is then beaten in a mixer for several minutes until the mixture becomes more than triple in volume. The mixture is then poured into a cake pan and placed into the fridge to set.
Cloud Cake Texture
This cake has an appearance just like a regular cake. It is very light, soft and airy. When you eat it, it will quickly dissolve in your mouth. When the gelatin dissolves in your mouth, you are left with the fruit puree.
This cake is sweetened naturally with fruit. If you prefer something sweeter, you can make a frosting for your cake and add sugar to that. I made a whipped cream frosting with a little sugar added for those in my family who wanted something sweeter, but I like it fine without any frosting. Don’t add sugar directly to the cake mixture. The cake will not turn out with added sugar. You may be able to use a few drops of Stevia. I haven’t tried it but some readers who made my apple version mentioned that they got it to work.
Flavor Variations
I first made an applesauce version of this cake and have been experimenting with other fruits ever since. As I mentioned above, so far I’ve found this recipe works best with either applesauce or pear puree as they have the best consistency to make this dessert work. Other fruits are either too thick or too liquidy. You can add other fruits to the apple or pear to make it more flavorful, like strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries, as long as it doesn’t change the consistency.
Fruits I’ve tried that don’t work: banana puree, strawberry puree, pumpkin puree.
Fruit combinations that have worked: unsweetened applesauce, unsweetened pear puree, unsweetened strawberry applesauce, unsweetened blueberry applesauce, unsweetened mixed berry applesauce. You can use store-bought or you can also make your own. If making your own, remember to only add a small amount of the other fruits so that the consistency of the applesauce doesn’t become too thick or too runny.
More Cloud Recipes to Try
- 2 Ingredient Honey Cloud Cake
- 4 Ingredient Chocolate Cloud Cake
- 2 Ingredient No Bake Berry Cloud Cake
- 3 Ingredient Strawberry Cloud Cake
2 Ingredient Healthy Cloud Cake
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups (410 g) unsweetened pear puree or unsweetened applesauce (400 g)
- 4 1/2 tsp (15 g) unflavored gelatin powder
Instructions
- Use a large sheet of parchment paper to line the sides and bottom of an 8 inch square pan. You want to use a single sheet so that you can lift the cake out of the pan after.
- Add puree to a large heat-proof mixing bowl. Sprinkle gelatin across the surface. Whisk until gelatin is fully incorporated. The gelatin powder should make your puree thick and a little chunky.
- Using the double boiler method on the stove, warm up the mixture, whisking occassionally until the gelatin is fully dissolved. When the gelatin is dissolved, your mixture should become thinner and more liquidy. The puree should feel warm to the touch, but not hot. Be careful to not let the mixture get too hot or boil. Remove bowl from stove and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes to cool to room temperature.
- Pour puree mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the wire whisk attachment, beat on highest speed for about 13-15 minutes. Your mixture should more than triple in volume.
- Pour puree mixture into your prepared pan. Use a spatula to spread it evenly across and smooth the surface. Place into fridge for at least 1 hour to set.
- Keep the cake in the fridge until ready to serve. Before serving, you can first decorate the cake with whipped cream or other frosting. Slice cake with a very large and sharp knife. The cake is best served chilled or at room temperature. If you are serving it at room temperature, keep cake in fridge until shortly before serving. When cake is at room temperature for too long, it will lose some of its fluffiness. Store any uneaten cake in the fridge.
Notes
- This recipe must be made with unsweetened pear puree or applesauce. If you are using store bought pear sauce, make sure there is no added water (like with puree pouches). It will not work with sweetened pear puree or applesauce. See post for a detailed list of variations and other flavors you can use.
- You can use store-bought applesauce or pear puree or make your own. To make your own, cook slices of peeled pears or apples in boiling water until soft. Drain them from the water and add to blender and puree.
- This dessert must be made with unflavored gelatin powder. I have not found a vegan substitute that can work. It also will not work with flavored gelatin powder because flavored gelatin powder has added sugar and flavoring.
- I used Knox unflavored gelatin powder.*
- *This product link is an affiliate link. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
- This dessert is not super sweet. If you want to add more sugar, you can do it with frosting. You can also try adding a few drops of Stevia to your batter but I have not tested it out.
- I recommend using a stand mixer if you have one to mix this. You do need to whip the batter for about 15 minutes on highest speed and it’s just easier to do with a stand mixer. There is also less splatter because a stand mixer bowl is generally deeper.
- For the whipped cream frosting I used, add 1 cup of cold heavy cream and 3 tbsp of sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat on highest speed until stiff peaks form. You can add more or less sugar to taste. You can substitute the sugar with stevia or other sugar substitutes. You can also use Cool Whip instead.
- Estimated nutrition is calculated using unsweetened pear puree.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Does it have the texture of a real cake? Or more like a thick whipped cream texture….
No it’s different – it’s very light, airy, and melts in your mouth. You can read more about the texture in the post under the Cloud Cake Texture section. Hope that helps!
Hi there,
Do you think you could use pineapple, either fresh with some water or pineapple juice added, or canned pineapple minus the juice or maybe a small amount added? I don’t know if there is pureed pineapple but I would do it myself if I knew the particulars. I used to make a pineapple cheesecake that used gelatin and I hope there is a way I can make it using your healthy recipe. I love your e-mails and certainly appreciate the effort you go to in making the recipes. Thank you!
We recommend sticking to apple or pear puree because it has the right consistency for the recipe to work. Juice or water with juice added won’t get the same result. In addition, pineapple has an enzyme that prevents it from gelling when combined with gelatin, so I don’t think pineapple in any form will work.
I followed the instructions exactly. Used unsweetened applesauce and unsweetened gelatin powder. It didn’t puff up at all. And is pretty much a pan of applesauce. ?
I reread the recipe to see if I missed something. I noticed in the notes to check applesauce ingredients for water. Wish that had been in the actual recipe or accentuated more. It’s obviously very important! I’ll try again and rate again.
I’m sorry if there was some confusion with my recipe notes. I meant to specify that the pear sauce should not have water added to it. Applesauce with water listed in the ingredient is fine if it’s regular applesauce and not something like a pouch which is diluted to make more liquidy and drinkable. But most likely if you are having issues it is either because you are using sweetened applesauce or you didn’t warm up the applesauce mixture to let the gelatin fully dissolve
Did you dissolve the gelatin in the applesauce first by warming it up? Because that is an important step
Can I use an 8” glass dish instead? I don’t have an 8” square pan. I have a 9” round pan. Bit that won’t be easy to line with parchment!
Is it an 8″ glass square pan? If so, that will work fine. You can use the 9″ round pan, but your cake won’t be as tall.
Fun cake to make
Yes it is!
So yummy
I’m glad you like it
I will love better baked goods heath food for my daughter
There is a vegan gelatin. Agar aka agar agar, derived from seaweed, Kirby. Available at healthfood and Asian grocery stores.
I am aware of agar. It does not work for this recipe
Very nice. Thanks!
You’re welcome!