Marvellously Moist Healthy Cake

Marvellously Moist Healthy Cake made from ground almonds, wholewheat spelt flour, courgette, carrot and apple. The ingredients help to make this bread super wholesome and nutritious!  With 3 eggs, only 50mls of olive oil and 100g of soft brown sugar, this is probably one of the healthiest cakes you can make but it wont feel like you’re missing out on a treat.

This super easy recipe offers a cake which is light and moist, delicately sweet and offers a good amount of nutrition.  It combines fibre rich courgettes, carrots and sweet apple – all finely grated so they disappear into the whole wheat spelt, ground almonds and egg mixture. Naturally sweetened with apple, carrot, cinnamon and almonds, I’ve kept the sugar content low with only 100g for the whole cake. Olive oil and yoghurt also help to make this cake super moist and luscious. It’s a healthy cake recipe which offers fibre, protein and slow-release energy without the usual sugar rush you get from traditional cake. 

Why you will love this recipe for Marvellously Moist Healthy Cake

This healthy cake recipe is great for increasing fibre into diets of those who usually avoid eating vegetables because by finely grating them, you will hardly notice they are there – perfect for picky children or teenagers – who would have thought you could increase their veg intake in a slice of cake?!

The cake has a moist texture and delicately sweet flavour – it makes a perfect option for cake when you still want to be healthy. 

What I love about this recipe is how easy it is to make.  The hardest bit is grating the courgettes, carrots and apple but you can make this job easier if you have a food processor – one of the best jobs this kitchen gadget can do is grate any hard veg in seconds! It’s a real time saver in the kitchen!  Once you have everything prepared, simply combine them in a large mixing bowl in the order suggested before baking in the oven until golden and ready to eat.

This recipe, once cooked and cooled, will be good stored in and airtight container for up to 3 days.

Important notes about this recipe

SWEETNESS

I have tried to make this recipe with the least amount of sugar without compromising on taste.  The other ingredients which help to increase the sweetness without increasing the sugar are; ground almonds, carrots, apples and cinnamon.  All of these ingredients are naturally sweet and help to give the cake that wonderfully delicate sweet flavour without being too sickly.

MOIST

This cake is fantastically moist and this comes from the quantity of vegetables and fruit, the olive oil and yoghurt, eggs and the ground almonds.  Due to so many of the ingredients adding to the moistness of the texture, I have found that it is important to choose a cake tin which is wide enough to allow for a shallow depth.  I have used a 23cm diameter cake tin for this recipe and the depth is roughly 2-3 inches.  If you use a loaf tin or a smaller diameter cake tin, you will find that the centre of the cake takes longer to cook through and it is for this reason that I prefer a more shallow cake tin which ensures a more even cooking throughout the cake. 

If the centre of your cake is not cooked but the top is beginning to brown, simply pop a piece of foil over the cake until it is cooked through as this will sow down the browning of the top of the cake so it will not burn.

STORAGE

Cool the cake completely before cutting it into portions and storing it in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

SERVING

This cake is delicious just as it is and need nothing extra adding to it but if you like, add a few berries and a drizzle of maple syrup for an extra decadent treat!

Ingredients

3 medium eggs

50mls olive oil

50mls natural yoghurt

100g soft brown sugar

150g carrots – 3 small Carrots

200g Courgette – 1 medium

2 Apples

200g whole wheat spelt flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g ground almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

1 pinch sea salt

Equipment

23cm cake tin, spring form easy release or loose bottomed, lined with baking paper

Step by step instructions

Begin by assembling all of the ingredients together and preheating the oven to 180 degrees C.

Finely grate the courgette, carrot and apple by using a food processor with the grating plate or by hand.

Crack the 3 eggs into a large mixing bowl and whisk.  Pour the oil and the yoghurt into the egg mixture and whisk together.

Next, stir in the soft brown sugar.

Add the grated courgette, carrot and apple to the bowl and combine.

Add the whole wheat spelt flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground almonds, cinnamon and sea salt to the mixture and mix well to ensure no clumps of flour remain.

Pour the batter into the cake tin, spread the mixture evenly to ensure and even surface and bake in the oven at (preheated) 180 degrees C for 40-45 minutes.

Check the cake is cooked through to the middle by inserting a skewer into the centre of the of the cake and checking it comes out clean. 

Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes before removing it from the cake tin and allowing it to cool completely on a wire wrack to prevent it from becoming soggy on the bottom.

Once completely cool, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

If you like this recipe, you may also like to try these; Upside Down Orange Cake or Almond Lemon & Poppy Seed Cake