healthy cake

Healthy Sponge Cake Recipe

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Sponge cake
Baking cake
Cake slice

Hey guys, welcome back to the blog! Today’s recipe is one you won’t want to miss. A gluten, sugar and dairy free sponge cake that is simple and quick. I’ve had my share of gluten free sponge cakes and I’ve tried multiple recipes but this is the best one I have ever made. As hard as gluten free baking can be, this cake is soft and airy and the perfect base layer for any cake. You can easily double the ingredients for a larger cake. I made a small batch when creating the recipe, but I will definitely amp it up for any celebration. The best part is that the cake is guilt free even though it doesn’t taste like it. It is great for those of you who want to enjoy a cake without any refined sugar or dairy. So here’s how you can make it!

Ingredients

  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup gluten free flour
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup xylitol or erythritol (you can also use a stevia mix)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (or any flavor)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
Baking
Cake batter

Instructions

  1. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and place in different bowls.
  2. Beat the egg whites until thick and fluffy. Should take about 3 mins on medium speed.
  3. In the other bowl, add the sugar substitute to your egg yolks and mix well.
  4. Add the flavor extract. I used salted caramel flavoring but you can also use vanilla or almond.
  5. Over a double boiler, quickly whisk the egg yolk mixture for one minute until it becomes fluffy and runny.
  6. Remove from the double boiler and mix in your coconut oil.
  7. Add a spoon of the egg whites to the yolk mixture and fold in.
  8. Incorporate the yolk mixture into the rest of the egg whites.
  9. Sift in the flours and baking powder and fold gently.
  10. Pour the batter into a greased cake mould and bake for 15-20 mins at 180°C.
  11. Allow to cool before removing the cake from the tin and serving.

Tips

  • I find that pure xylitol works best in cakes as it is sweet enough without any bitterness. Avoid using pure stevia as it can be bitter, it’s preferable to use stevia blending with monkfruit sweetener or erythritol.
  • I find that almond flour adds the necessary fat and texture to the cake, it’s best not to substitute it for other flours. However, if you do omit it, increase the coconut oil to add more fat into the cake.

There you have it! This recipe is quick and easy and I hope you give it a try. Thank you for reading and please like and follow for more recipes like this one, xoxo.

Healthy Chocolate Cake Recipe

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You need to make this recipe!

I’ve always been a fan of chocolate cake, I mean who isn’t? But, as much as I love it, I don’t always feel that great after eating it. While there’s nothing wrong with indulging in a traditional chocolate cake without any guilt, I still wanted to enjoy a version that didn’t throw me into a food coma. That’s why I wanted to create a chocolate cake recipe that was rich and decadent yet light and simple. I made this chocolate cake a while back for Christmas and it’s become a personal favourite since then. It is gluten and dairy free, as well as sugar free if you use a sugar substitute like I did. Most importantly it is super quick and easy to make. So here’s what you’ll need…

Ingredients

  • 1 cup oat flour (simply blend some oats in a blender or food processor)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (I used pure chocolate pellets without dairy or sugar). You can also use roughly chopped dairy free chocolate (I like the one from sweet switch)
  • 2 tbsp raw cacao powder
  • 1/3 cup xylitol (or any sugar substitute)
  • 1/3 cup almond milk
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 pinch of salt

Steps

  1. Preheat your oven to 170ºC
  2. Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the almond milk, stirring gently.
  3. While the mixture is melting, separate your egg yolks from the whites.
  4. Whisk the egg whites until they become fluffy and soft peaks form.
  5. Once the chocolate has melted remove from the double boiler, allow to cool slightly and stir in the xylitol.
  6. Now take your yolks and temper them by adding a spoonful of the chocolate mixture and combining.
  7. Add the tempered yolks to the rest of the chocolate.
  8. Sift in 1/3 of the oat flour, the baking powder, salt, and cacao powder into the chocolate. Fold gently until well combined.
  9. Now add a third of the egg whites into the batter and fold gently. Repeat these steps until you’ve added in all your flour and egg whites. It’s important not to over mix, fold in the ingredients with a spatula to achieve the best results.
  10. Once fully incorporated, transfer the batter into a lined cake tin and place in the oven.
  11. Bake for about 30-45 minutes, once the cake is cooked in will be firm all the way through.
  12. Allow it to cool before removing from the tin and slicing.

Tips

  • Double boiler: to use a double boiler simply boil water in a saucepan and place a heatproof bowl over it to melt the chocolate in.
  • Oat flour: when making oat flour it’s useful to make sure your blender is completely dry and pulse the oats. I love using oats for this recipe because it’s light but keeps the cake moist. I wouldn’t suggest changing out the flour.
  • Tempering your yolks is necessary to prevent them from cooking in the hot chocolate.
  • With this type of cake, folding your flours in is better than whisking because you don’t want to over-mix. You want the batter to be airy and not dense.

I hope you try out this recipe and let me know how you find it. I know how ‘guilt-free’ treats are hard to come by which is why I try to find the best alternatives to make my own. If you’d like to see more of these recipes and other tips on healthy baking, please like and follow for more, xoxo.

Healthy Mug Cake Recipe

healthy living

I have become obsessed with this recipe because it’s the quickest cake recipe ever and it definitely satisfies my sweet tooth. If you find yourself binge eating your batch of cupcakes or eating the whole cake, perhaps a one-serving recipe is the best option for you. There are some days where you’re just craving a dessert or cake but you’re worried about your goals, so one thing to remember is it’s okay to have a little treat once in a while.

The key to having a healthy relationship with food is by eating mindfully, this means if you want something sweet, have a healthy alternative with intention rather than mindlessly binge eating a batch of processed cookies. This way if you set out to indulge, you won’t feel the guilt, you only feel guilty when it’s an impulse.

This mug cake is the perfect indulgence, it’s soft, rich and tastes exactly like a regular chocolate cake, even though it’s gluten and dairy free. You can also make a vanilla version if you’d like. So here’s how to make it…

INGREDIENTS

  • 2tbsp corn flour (or any gf flour)
  • 2tbsp almond flour
  • 1-2tbsp cacao powder
  • 1/2tsp baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1tbsp coconut sugar (or any alternative)
  • 3tbsp almond milk
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1tbsp cacao nips (optional)

STEPS

  1. In a large mug, mix the flours, baking powder, sugar and cacao powder.
  2. Mix in the egg, vanilla and plant-based milk until well incorporated.
  3. Lastly mix in the cacao nibs (you can also use dairy free chocolate chips).
  4. Place it in the microwave and cook for 1-3 mins (depending on your microwave). Mine usually takes 2 mins and if the top is cooked, then it’s done but you can always double check with a skewer.
  5. Now you eat your cake straight from the mug!

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you try out this recipe and follow and like for more like this one xoxo.

Healthy Brownie Recipe

healthy living

I recently came up with this recipe on the spot with basic ingredients, but it makes the softest brownies ever! The ingredients are clean and completely gluten, dairy and guilt-free! If you’ve tried baking with oats before, you’d notice that they aren’t the most forgiving and tend to become dry, but this recipe is a must try.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4-5 medium bananas (ripe)
  • 1 cup oats
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 almond milk (or any plant-based milk)
  • 2-3 tbsp erythritol/ coconut sugar
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2-3tbsp raw cacao powder

Optional

  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp cacao nibs

STEPS:

  1. Mash the bananas in a bowl, mix in the eggs, sugar and vanilla (above)
  2. Blend the finely oats to make oat flour and mix into the batter.
  3. Add in the almond milk and the melted coconut oil.
  4. Sift in the cacao powder into the batter to prevent any clumps and fold in until well incorporated.
  5. Pour the batter into a square pan and sprinkle the cacao nibs on top, bake in an oven at 180ºC for 40-45mins.
  6. Let it cool and slice it evenly.

The best part about this recipe is that you can barely taste the banana and it has a great texture. I hope you try it out and let me know what you think. Thank you for reading, please follow and like for more xoxo.

Vanilla Almond Birthday Cake…

healthy living

This year, I celebrated my 20th birthday… in lockdown and it’s safe to say that it was one of the best and because buying a birthday cake was definitely not an option, it was left to me to bake a cake worthy of 20yrs. This one did not disappoint. It took me time to perfect the birthday cake recipe; I wanted one which was not too sweet but sweet enough and it had to be dairy and gluten free.

The issue with a gluten free cake is making it moist and soft enough without a whole lot of butter, as gluten free cakes tend to be dense and dry. The secret is having enough fat, but I needed healthy fat so I turned to almond flour. If you look at finely grounded almond flour, it has a very cakey texture and is perfect to balance dense flours. Although I have seen a few people add mixtures of buckwheat and tapioca flour, I felt like these ingredients weren’t available to everyone and the ratios were never harder to get right.

However, with this combination it’s always a 1:1 ration; half almond flour and half of any gluten free flour blend. Gluten Free flour blends are pretty constant with a mixture of tapioca, chickpea, potato starch and anthem gum. I’ve used multiple brands such as neofoods, Bob’s red mill… and any all purpose blend should work fine.

The recipe below makes four layers of cake and the donuts, but I’ve also provided measurements for only one layer in bold to simplify it.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 1/2 cups Almond flour / 1 cup
  • 4 1/2 cups GF flour/ 1 cup
  • 9 eggs / 2 eggs
  • 3 tsp baking powder / 1/2 tsp
  • 5 cups almond milk (or any plant-based milk) / 3/4 cup
  • 1 1/2 cup coconut sugar / 1/2 cup
  • 2tbsp vanilla extract / 1tsp
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil/ 1 tbsp

Filling & Glaze (for 4 layers)

  • 350g dark chocolate (I used Sweet switch’s 70% vegan chocolate)
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup almond milk

STEPS

  1. Combine the flours and baking powder together in a large bowl.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, coconut sugar or any sweetener of choice, coconut oil and almond milk together.
  3. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients or use a hand mixer on low speed to incorporate properly.
  4. Spray your baking pan with coconut oil and add baking paper to the bottom. Pour your batter to fill in 3/4 of the pan.
  5. Bake for 30- 40 mins at 170ºC, let the cake cool before levelling it.

Filling & Glaze

  1. For the filling, melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Let the layers cool completely before spreading the ganache between them.
  2. For the drizzle on top, add almond milk to the melted chocolate and pour over your cake, spreading it with a cake spatula or spoon.
  3. To make donuts to decorate the cake, I simply baked the leftover batter in donut moulds. Optional: add cacao nibs or chocolate chips.

TIPS

  • Make sure all your ingredients are at room temp.
  • If the oven is too hot, your cake is more likely to form cracks.
  • Only level your cake when it has cooled.
  • Levelling a cake is harder without the right tools, but not impossible; using a ruler and a sharp knife, mark your cake all around at the same height. Then start cutting the dome off by angling your knife at right angles to the cake, keep rotating it and cutting slightly deeper each time. This is to avoid cutting a hole in your cake.
  • Keep in the fridge to harden the chocolate, and honestly cake tastes better cold.