Cheeky little cake to share confession
Serves: 6
Cals: 422
Sat Fat:
14.9g
Ready in:
40mins
The sweet hit in this baked treat comes
from low-fructose maple syrup, which will stave off blood- sugar crashes and
stop you reaching for the biscuit tin come 4pm. Genius.
Cheeky
little cake to share
·
160g softened unsalted butter
·
160g sifted white spelt flour
·
2 large free-range eggs
·
2 teaspoons baking powder
·
160g maple syrup
·
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
·
Small squeeze of lemon juice
squeeze
of lemon juice
For the filling
·
3 tablespoons of your favorite sugar-free jam
·
150m1 low-fat crème fraîche, whipped to ribbon
consistency
To decorate
·
Unrefined icing sugar
·
Fresh flowers
Unrefined
icing sugar
1.
Okay then... Preheat the oven to 180°C before
greasing and lining two 16cm loose-bottomed sandwich tins.
2.
Time to get stuck in. In a large mixing bowl,
cream the butter until pale and fluffy. Add 2-3 tablespoons of flour and beat
in the eggs until you have a light, fluffy mixture (if it's curdling, add
another tablespoon of flour.) Add the remaining flour and baking powder, then
the maple syrup and vanilla extract and fold it all together. Add a squeeze of
lemon juice and fold again. Got that?
3.
Divide the mixture between the tins, level the
tops and bake for 25 minutes. Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before
turning out on to a wire rack to finish cooling. No nibbling yet.
4.
When the cakes are cool, spread the bottom layer
with jam, then crème fraîche. Put on the top cake, dust with icing sugar and
scatter with flowers. Share with your favorite person. Or scoff the lot alone.
We won't judge.
For Better Digestion
Caramelized pear & buckwheat pudding
cake
Caramelized
pear & buckwheat pudding cake
Serves: 10
Cals: 285
Sat Fat:
9.8g
Ready in: 60mins
If your digestion needs a kick up the
proverbial, cardamom is the spice for the job. As well as being a famous
digestion booster, it's loaded with calcium and iron. Plus its sky-high
antioxidant levels help protect your cells against toxins. Perfect with a glass
of wine then...
·
3 conference pears
·
2 cardamom pods (optional)
·
25g softened unsalted butter
3
conference pears
·
2 tablespoons maple syrup
·
150g softened unsalted butter
·
75g buckwheat flour, sifted
·
2 large free-range eggs
·
75g finely ground almonds
·
Pinch of ground cinnamon
·
125g maple syrup
Pinch
of ground cinnamon
1.
Apron on? Peel, quarter and core the pears. Tip
the seeds from the cardamom pods into a mortar and grind with the pestle to a
powder. Heat a frying pan and add the butter, cardamom and maple syrup. Once
the mixture starts to melt, arrange the quartered pears flat-side down in a
circle with the thin ends in the center (so the pears color evenly and stay in
good shape). Cook for 5-6 minutes on each side. Smells good, huh?
2.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until
pale and fluffy. Add 2-3 tablespoons of the flour and beat in the eggs.
Continue to beat until you have a light, fluffy mixture. Fold in the remaining
flour, the ground almonds, cinnamon and maple syrup. OK, now you can lick the
spoon.
3.
Pour into the tin. Place the pears on top of the
mixture in a circle flat-side down, then drizzle any remaining juices over the
top. Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes at 170°C or until a skewer inserted
into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the
tin for 10 minutes before turning the cake out on to a wire rack to cool
completely. Tie up dogs/husbands at this point.
4.
A slice of this cake is fantastic as a pudding
served with crème fraîche but try a slice in the morning as well: research
shows that eating cake at breakfast can help you lose weight'. In case you
needed an excuse...
For A Brain Boost
Flour-free chocolate & beetroot cake
Flour-free
chocolate & beetroot cake
Serves: 8
Cals: 260
Sat Fats:
4.6g
Ready in:
50mins
News just in: scientists at Wake
Forest University in North Carolina discovered
that eating beetroot increases oxygen flow to your noggin. What's more, a
University of Exeter study showed juiced beets can improve your exercise
endurance by 16%. A slice before the gym then?
·
300g cooked, unseasoned beetroot, peeled and
pureed
·
4 large free-range eggs
·
4 tbsp honey
·
1 tsp vanilla extract
·
1tbsp raw cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
·
1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
·
pinch of salt
·
125g ground almonds
·
125g dark chocolate (preferably Green &
Black's 70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
·
4 tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
tsp
vanilla extract
125g
ground almonds
1.
Turn on Jazz FM and preheat the oven to 180°C
(okay, Jazz FM is optional). Grease and line a 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin.
2.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the beetroot, eggs,
honey, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt with an electric
hand mixer. When these ingredients are combined, fold in the ground almonds.
3.
Place a heatproof bowl on top of a saucepan
containing a little water. Make sure the bowl is big enough to cover the top of
the pan but do not allow the bottom of the bowl to be in contact with the
water. Put the chocolate pieces in the bowl and allow to melt over a low heat,
then mix in the oil. Gently stir the chocolate and oil into the cake mixture
until combined.
4.
Scrape the mixture into the tin (the one spoon
for you and one for the bowl method usually works) and bake in the oven for
35-40 minutes or until that trusty skewer poked in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and leave the cake to cool.
5.
Once the cake is cool, dust with cocoa powder
then serve with a nice cuppa. Put your feet up, tuck in. Bliss.
