It it always quite surprising to people that I do not have a sweet tooth - I absolutely LOVE baking and designing birthday cakes for my friends & family, but I do prefer a savoury treat. This is why this low-fat, low-carb loaf cake version was a great option to accompany my post-run cuppa.
My original thought behind this loaf cake was to try and avoid using up my flour reserve, as it seems to be hard to come by in the shops these days. The other main drive, as a dairy intolerant person, was to avoid using any butter and/or any spreads, which is where coconut oil comes handy.
Yields 1 loaf of about 6-7 slices
Ingredients:
- 72g of ground almonds
- 1X teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
- 2X large eggs
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, depending on taste
- 1X teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 4X tablespoon of coconut oil (melt in a pan if required)
- 2X ripe bananas mashed with a fork
- 75g of dried figs chopped
- 75g of grated carrot
- 15g of dried grated coconut
- 50g of sultanas
- a handful of pine nuts
- a few spoons of brandy or Macieira
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180 C.
In a small bowl, place the sultanas and soak in some Macieira or brandy. Set aside.
In a bowl combine the ground almond, the bicarbonate, the baking powder & the cinnamon. Set the dry ingredients aside for now.
In a separate bowl crack and whisk the eggs. Add the vanilla extract, the coconut oil (let it cool if you had to melt it in a pan) and the mashed bananas.
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients in the first bowl. Fold in all of the remaining ingredients.
At the end, drain & pat dry the sultanas and fold into the batter.
Line a 21 cm loaf tin with parchment or baking paper and pour the batter in.
Bake in the oven for 40 min. Once cooked, place on a rack to cool - do not remove from the tin when too hot or it might sink.
Serve with a sprinkling of coconut shavings or almond flakes on top (optional).
Some extra tips
Try adding a little ground ginger to your batter to spice it up!
For more crunch, you can also swap the pine nuts for walnuts or hazelnut!
If you have a sweeter tooth, try serving with a drizzle of honey!
Comments