Almond, Poppy Seeds And Blueberries Cake

A good couple of years back I was saying to myself that I really want to start baking flour-free cakes just to see what comes up. I have tried few things, few combinations, some were good, some .... a real mess but still edible. The trouble is, when you use such healthy ingredients, all organic and yes, some expensive too, the last thing that you will consider is to throw that away so, even the mess was .... all eaten up.

The bottom line is that practice makes good, or, as my mum always says “practice is the mother of learning” she is so right! It really is.

I eventually made this cake which is a repeat ever since and I have to say this cake really excites me every time I make it. Why? Well, because if I decide I want to try a new ingredient or if it happens that I am missing an ingredient, I don't panic or go and buy it quickly, instead, I replace it with something else. The great thing about this is that every time I make it, it turns out fantastically no matter what changes I have made! It is one of those recipes that it is either not too fussed about it all ? or maybe I am the one that is not so fussed about and eat it anyways. ? I don’t know what it is but I just love it! The best testers ever are of course my kids and their tastebuds will be my best judge.

They loved it. It is crispy, flavoursome and full of personality. Definitely not one of those boring ones ??:-)).

This dessert is a true delight and real treat since it is a healthy, gluten-free dessert. It also contains quite a low amount of carbs too.

I was talking earlier about changing ingredients, adding new ones, so one option, for example, can be adding desiccated coconut can help with adding sweetness to it and you can cut on the syrup or honey. By all means, if you want it sweeter you can add as much syrup or honey at the end when serving it with a nice knob of crème fraîche or and an indulgent stream of double cream ?. The eggs can also be replaced by chia seeds which you can soak in water for 20 minutes, or so one tablespoon of chis seeds to replace 1 egg.

Let me tell you a bit about rapeseed oil; it is also known as canola in the US and it is produced from the seed of the yellow-blossomed rape (colza) plant. It contains all three omega fatty acids as well as vitamin E.

It is believed to be on the list of those healthier cooking oils available since it is low in saturated fat and it has a quite high smoking point thus it keeps our heart kicking healthily ?.

And because I am talking about oils and how healthy/unhealthy they are to cook with, I will be getting a little deeper into the matter so, here are few facts:

• for salads and raw eating as well as baking always try and buy a nice organic unrefined oils;
• when it comes to frying ( to be avoided if possible) if you decide you want to deep fry something, you have not done it in a while etc, rather than eating out, do it in and use a good oil that you know about its qualities. You should never go over its recommended smoke point because it releases carcinogenic free radicals and, and this applies to all cooking oils really.
• Organic rapeseed oil can be used for medium-high heat and is appropriate for use in baking and other oven cooking as well as medium stir-frying.
• In general, high heat oil cooking is not recommended but if you really insist on one ;-)),  there are some processed rapeseed oils that contain a higher amount of monounsaturated fat and these are suitable for higher heat applications but I would just stick to the one and only.  Avocado oil!  This has one of the highest smoke point and that is 271°C (520°F).

I did get carried away a little here, I better get down to the real baking and will tell you more about oils later ;-))

If you like this recipe, you may also like :

• No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe
• Almond flour cake with apricots, coconut and mint
• Apple, carrot and zucchini cake with ginger and turmeric
• Extra Fluffy Apple muffins or cake

Let’s just get baking.