January 2015 – Any New Year’s Resolutions? Perhaps healthier eating?
Who would have thought a CAKE could be part of that?
Cakes are almost always high in sugar, fat and calories, making it an unhealthy treat.
However, it is possible to bake WITHOUT butter, oil, eggs and sugar and instead use ‘whole foods’ as much as possible. Yes, also skip the oil as it is 100% fat, barely contains any nutrients (better to eat the ‘whole’ olive!) and even has approximately 14% saturated fats. Also try to avoid white flour, because it is so processed that it produces the same effect in the body as sugar. I try to use wholemeal flours from wheat, spelt, brown rice, chickpeas, barley, buckwheat etc. To bind the batter, you can use bananas, unsweetened apple sauce, ground flaxseed or chia seeds. If using ground flaxseed or chia seeds, mix one tablespoon with 3 tablespoons of water which is the equivalent of 1 egg.
Today I present the recipe for a delicious: Pumpkin Cake with Pecan Nuts and 80% Dark Chocolate Chips
Serves approx. 16
Ingredients:
- 1 medium to large banana, mashed
- 500 to 700 g pumpkin puree* (more makes it more moist)
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup 100% pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups of whole oat flour (or other whole grains i.e. 1 cup whole spelt & 1 cup brown rice flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 to 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 cup roughly chopped pecan nuts
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped 80% dark chocolate
*NOTE: I cook the pumpkin puree from butternut pumpkin. I have not found canned pure pumpkin
puree in Australia, without added substances such as salt, oil, sugar, etc.
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 180°C. In a small bowl combine mashed banana, pumpkin puree, maple syrup and vanille extract
- In a large bowl combine oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Transfer small bowl with wet ingredients to large bowl and mix together gently until wellcombined.
- Avoid over-mixing to prevent toughness in final product. Fold in pecans and chocolate.
- Transfer mixture into cake pan lined with baking paper.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes until top is slightly browned and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Let cool on rack voor 10 minutes and gently remove from pan (which is easy -> lifting it out with the baking paper). Put on a rack to further cool. Then carefully remove baking paper for final cooling.
[Recipe derived from Julieanna Hever’s Blueberry Oat Breakfast Muffins in Forks Over Knives:The PlantBased Way to Health, edited by Gene Stone and by Heleen Roex-Haitjema]
If you are interested to learn more about ‘whole food plant-based nutrition’, its benefits and how to implement this, please contact me via e-mail: heleen@wholeplantshealth.com.au
Heleen Roex-Haitjema, MD
Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition, Cornell University, New York.
Certified Food for Life Instructor, PCRM, Washington DC / classes with valuable health information and cooking demos
