I have mentioned before on the blog that I try to eat in a healthy fashion. Mostly! I say mostly because I am inordinately fond of cake; I also like to eat the occasional burger and fries with a dollop of added-sugar-horror aka tomato ketchup on the side; and I indulge in the odd ninety-nine ice cream cone.
I do my level best not to divide foods into good and bad, so nothing is totally off-limits, while at the same recognizing that some foods are better, health-wise, for me than others. So long as I manage a rough 80:20 healthy/unhealthy food ratio I am happy enough.
Recently the 80:20 balance has been wobblier than a half set jelly and my cholesterol level is higher than recommended so when I saw a cook book by Dale Pinnock called The Medicinal Chef with the following strap line: ‘Eat Your Way to Better Health, I bought it, even though I had sworn off ever buying another cook book. It’s not that I don’t love them just that there is no room for any more of them in my teeny kitchen. Still and all I have no regrets about buying this one and surprise, surprise the first recipe in it that I was attracted to was for a cake. But not cake as I know it as it’s a no cook ‘cake’ dense with all manner of healthy ingredients. Here’s how to make it.
INGREDIENTS
8 tablespoons mixed seeds (such as flax, pumpkin, sesame or sunflower)
3 handfuls of goji berries
1 handful of pitted dates (I added an extra couple of handfuls for added sweetness and balanced the addition with just a little more coconut oil)
4 tablespoons of cacao powder (not the same as cocoa, cacao powder can be found in health food shops)
1 teaspoon desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon chopped nuts (such as pecans, walnuts or brazil)
1 tablespoon chopped dried fruits (such as dried apricots or cranberries)
METHOD
1. Prepare a loose-bottomed 20 cm round or rectangular cake tin by lining it with baking parchment.
2. Place all the ingredients except: the coconut oil, chopped nuts and dried fruits, in a food processor. The recipe recommends pulsing them a few times but I actually blitzed them for a couple of minutes to get a coarse mix.
3. Put the coconut oil in a heatproof bowl over some freshly boiled water and wait for the oil to melt. Add the just melted oil to the other ingredients in the processor and process until they combine fully into a firm paste but don’t worry if it’s a little liquidy-y as it will harden in the fridge.
4. Put the mix into the prepared tin and press down firmly so it fully fills the tin. Sprinkle the reserved chopped nuts and dried fruit on top of the and press down lightly.
5. Place the cake in the fridge for about three hours until set firm. Remove from the tin slice and enjoy, it’s delicious and super filling!
Notes: first this is a very forgiving recipe so don’t worry too much about exactly how much a handful of a particular ingredient is, secondly if you are missing most of the ingredients your local health food shop is probably the best place to buy them all in one go, and lastly if you haven’t used coconut oil before you may not know that it’s solid below 24°C.
Just Add Attitude 
What a joy to get a recipe using coconut oil. I have recently bought my first jar of it and I am only feeling my way with it. I am probably just behind the times but it is abit strange to use for the first time being quite solid (until heated) and “lardy” looking but apparently a good oil. I will try the cake and I am great at that 80/20 balance but I know I have it the wrong way round!!.
Hello H,
Still laughing having read your comment about the 80:20 balance! I am no expert and science is not my strong-point (all that I know could be written on the proverbial pin-head) but I believe, have read up on it, that coconut oil is a good oil and have been using regularly for some time.
Happy Weekend!
B xx
Wow this cake is just loaded with the good stuff. Totally guilt free and sounds really delicious. 80/20 never really heard of that but will look into it, food can be medicinal I’ll have to look for that cookbook.
It absolutely is, loaded with good stuff that is. It taste good and for some reason it’s very filling and that feeling lasts, -I feel full hours after eating a slice.
How delicious that must be. I love most anything with dates. And, at least, you know the state of your cholesterol. My little reminder to have my ‘bloods’ done has been sitting lost and lonely in the car for about 2 months!
It tastes pretty good. I love dates too and could eat half a pack of them in one sitting! I hope your bloods are ok when you get them done. ;
Oh I am glad someone else can eat half a packet at a time!
As they are so scrumptious it is very easily done!
🙂
Looks delicious!
It is! Thank you for your comment.
Sounds interesting.
And tastes good too!
Yum, I will have to try make this! Thanks for the great recipe 🙂 Who doesn’t love cake!?
Hope you enjoy it! Cake seems to be universally liked, I know I am little too fond of it! 😉
Sounds yummy. It’s too hot to turn on the oven, so I’m going into the kitchen right now, to whip up an arugula salad with most of those ingredients (I’ll skip the cacao). Thanks for the inspiration–I was struggling with what to fix myself for my lunch break and I definitely wanted something healthy but not bland 🙂
I hope your enjoyed your salad and I agree it’s a good idea to skip the cocao! 😉
Looks delicious. I’m afraid I would eat all the dates before they got into the cake. 🙂
Thank you. Dates are delicious and very tempting but I did manage not to eat the ones that were to go in the ‘cake’.
This cake looks wonderfully delicious and I love that it is packed with healthy ingredients! As a baker, I find that creating healthy recipes for desserts can be be such a challenge! I’m bookmarking this recipe for the future 🙂
Thank you Heather. I find this cake delicious and a guilt-free indulgence. I hope you enjoy it when you make it. 😉
‘Healthy’ and cake in the same sentence – I’m loving your style! Will have to try this recipe out, thank you 🙂
Thank you so much! Too true, healthy cake is hard to find. 😉
A cake that doesn’t need baking sounds perfect for this sticky nasty weather we’re having!
There is a lot to be said for not having to turn on the oven in hot weather. Thank you for your comment.
This cake looks delicious and all of the ingredients look incredibly healthy! I just recently got into the whole coconut oil thing, so I’m super excited to try this recipe! As for cholesterol, my mom’s been having oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast and it really helped lower her cholesterol!
Thank you for your comment. The cake is delicious. It’s good to hear of your Mum’s cholesterol-lowering success with oatmeal. Note to self: I must start eating porridge for breakfast again.
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