spice

Gorgeously nutty carrot cake (vegan, gluten-free, no added sugar)

Zanne Cake , , , 0 Comment

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This week’s healthy treat is a lovely carrot and hazelnut cake with a warming kick from cinnamon and a bit of cocoa. These slices of guilt-free goodness are vegan, gluten-free and free from refined sugar, relying only on the natural sweetness of the ingredients.

This is another variation on my recent experiments with cakes based on chickpeas. Yes really. The humble chickpea eliminates the the need for eggs and flour and adds some extra protein, and you can’t taste it so nobody will ever guess your healthy secret!

The carrot flavour isn’t too obvious in this recipe, but adding a couple of finely shredded carrots will add lightness and moisture, and the crunch from the chopped hazelnuts brings it to perfection.

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VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE CARROT AND HAZELNUT CAKE
Makes around 24 slices

100g carrots, in chunks
100g dates, pitted
1 can (240g) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
100g oats*
1 heaped tsp baking powder*
20g cacao (or vegan-friendly cocoa powder)
2 tsp cinnamon
50g smooth hazelnut or peanut butter
200 hazelnut milk (or other nut / oat / coconut milk)
30g agave nectar
100g hazelnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Brush a 24cm square (or equivalent size) brownie tin with coconut oil.

Put the oats in a food processor and blitz until they are finely ground.

Add all the other ingredients, except the hazelnuts, and process everything into a smooth mixture. Stir in the chopped hazelnuts.

Fill the mixture in to the brownie tin, spread evenly, and bake at 175°C for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into squares or slices.

Keeps in the fridge up to one week – if you can manage to not eat them sooner.

* To ensure the cake is gluten-free us GF-certified oats and baking powder.

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Vegan, gluten-free, super healthy apple and cinnamon cake

Zanne Cake , , , , 0 Comment

vegan-gluten-free-apple-cinnamon-cake

I’m on a mission to prove that healthy cake can be just as delicious as traditional cake, and this recipe definitely is a case in point.

Imagine all the goodness of sweet, moist apple cake with the warmth of cinnamon and a hint of chocolate, but without any butter, flour or refined sugar. This recipe uses chickpeas instead of flour, which makes it gluten-free and has the added benefit of swapping out some of the carbs for protein. You won’t be able to taste the chickpeas, promise. As my friend said after she tried these, “I can’t believe it’s chickpeas!”

I rely on these cakes for my mid-morning snacks, for a light energy boost before workouts…and basically for all my cake needs.

The basic recipe also works in all sorts of other flavour combinations, and over the next few weeks I’ll be posting a brownie version, a vanilla protein blondie version, and carrot cake variation on the apple recipe. So stay tuned for more gorgeous cake!

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VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE APPLE AND CINNAMON CAKE
Makes one 24cm square tin

100g oats*
1 can (240g) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
100g dates
30g agave nectar
50g peanut butter
30g cocoa
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder*
250ml milk alternative (I use Oatly or Koko, but almond milk works too)
2 apples, chopped, half put aside
1 tsp coconut oil for the tin

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Brush a 24cm square (or equivalent size) brownie tin with coconut oil.

Put the oats in a food processor and blitz until they are finely ground.

Add all the other ingredients (reserving half of the chopped apples) and process everything into a smooth mixture. Stir in the remaining apples with a wooden spoon.

Fill the mixture in to the brownie tin, spread evenly, and bake at 175°C for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of the cake comes out clean. It’s ok if you still get a slight wobble in the middle; that will give the cake a brownie-like consistency.

Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into squares or slices.

Keeps in the fridge up to one week. (They might keep longer but I haven’t tested that as they never survive more than a week in my fridge!)

* To ensure the cake is gluten-free us GF-certified oats and baking powder.

Two grain baked apple flavour porridge with cinnamon

Zanne Breakfast , , , 0 Comment

Aaah autumn. The season of tea, soups and warming breakfast porridge. For tonight’s Saturday dinner I made baked apple porridge (because why the hell not) and it’s the ultimate winter warmer!

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The combination of apple, cinnamon and a crunchy topping gives this porridge all the goodness of a baked apple dessert. And by cooking half the apple in the porridge until it breaks down and using the rest for the topping, and adding some roasted rye flakes and seeds as a topping, you get a wonderful mixture of textures. It’s seriously so, so good. I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For this one make sure you use whole (chunky) porridge oats and not the fine ones, because the porridge needs to cook a bit longer for the apple to break down.

TWO GRAIN BAKED APPLE PORRIDGE WITH CINNAMON
Makes one portion

For the porridge:
3 tbsp whole (chunky) porridge oats
1 tbsp rye flakes (for example from Holland & Barrett)
1/2 apple, peeled and chopped finely
200ml oat milk
100ml water
1 tsp honey (or to taste)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the topping:
1 tbsp rye flakes
1 tsp brown linseed
1/2 apple, sliced

Put all the porridge ingredients in a small pan and cook until the apple chunks start to break down. If the consistency gets too thick just add a splash more hot water as you go along.

While the porridge is cooking, roast the remaining rye flakes in a pan until golden and crispy. (This only takes about half a minute once the pan is hot so keep an eye on them!)

To serve, put the porridge in a bowl, sprinkle the linseed and crispy rye flakes over it, top with the apple slices and give the whole thing a dusting of cinnamon.