This is my go to low fat, vegan and gluten free cake recipe. And as far as cakes go, I think it’s a pretty healthy one too! You get the goodness of fruits and nuts, with only a minimal amount of sugar and fat. Feel free to experiment with the ingredients, and use less sugar than suggested for example. The fruits make this cake already quite nice, gooey and sweet! The winner is: you can use the base of dry ingredients (oat flour, almond meal, etc.) and exchange the nuts and fruits to your liking. For example if you don’t like walnuts, use almonds or pecans, etc. And for the fruits you can simply just use one mono-fruit, like just apples or just plums. I used a mixture of apples, plums, apricots, pears and peaches (all dried). But you can also mix in sultanas, raisins or goji-berries, for example. This cake works as well with fresh fruit instead of dried fruit, so go ahead, be creative, and enjoy!
Feeling Vata: this cake is for you, simply enjoy!
Feeling Pitta: skip the walnuts and use soaked, then roasted almonds instead.
Feeling Kapha: use fresh, astringent apples instead of dried. Choose any of these foods: dried figs, dried or fresh apricots, dried limes, dried peaches, prunes and or raisins. Best to avoid the nuts alltogether and just add in more fruit. Or simply use soaked then roasted almonds or try with charoli nuts. You also do well by adding a thumb-sized knob of ginger (minced) to the cake mix for added fire.
Weekly Recipe
Easy Peasy Fruity Nut Cake Recipe- Vegan & Gluten Free
Easy Peasy Fruity Nut Cake - Gluten Free & Vegan
This is my go to low fat, vegan and gluten free cake recipe. And as far as cakes go, I think it's a pretty healthy one too! You get the goodness of fruits and nuts, with only a minimal amount of sugar and fat. Feel free to experiment with the ingredients, and use less sugar than suggested for example. The fruits make this cake already quite nice, gooey and sweet! The winner is: you can use the base of dry ingredients (oat flour, almond meal, etc.) and exchange the nuts and fruits to your liking. For example if you don't like walnuts, use almonds or pecans, etc. And for the fruits you can simply just use one mono-fruit, like just apples or just plums. I used a mixture of apples, plums, apricots, pears and peaches (all dried). But you can also mix in sultanas, raisins or goji-berries, for example. This cake works as well with fresh fruit instead of dried fruit, so go ahead, be creative, and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 x cake springform (I used one with a diameter of 26 cm)
- 1 cup of roasted walnuts, roughly chopped (or nuts of your choice, pecans and almonds work well also)
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup almond meal
- 2 x tablespoons psyllium husks (or you can use ground flaxseed instead)
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 x teaspoons cinnamon powder
- 2 x teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 x teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 x teaspoon sea salt
- 1 and a 1/2 cups plant milk (I find oat milk works best)
- 2 x tablespoons olive oil
- 2 x teaspoons vanilla extract
- 300g dried fruits containing apples, pears, apricots, peaches and plums - roughly chopped (or use fresh fruit instead, mix it up as you like and with the fruits that you love).
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven at 180˚C fan bake. Line the base of a spring-form baking tin with baking paper and lightly grease the sides with olive oil.
- Sift all dry ingredients (apart from the walnuts and chopped fruits) into a mixing bowl and stir well.
- Add plant milk of your choice, olive oil and vanilla extract, fold through, but make sure you don't over mix.
- Add toasted walnuts and chopped dried fruits, fold through and transfer to the prepared cake tin.
- Bake for 25 minutes, then open up the oven and cover the cake with foil if needed, bake a further 10-15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean (total cooking time of 35-40 minutes).
- Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from the cake tin and serving.
- Dust with icing sugar or make a nice vegan frosting!
Notes
- Make your own oat flour: as its not always easy to get gluten free oat flour in the shop, I always have plenty of gluten free oats at home that I order in bulk online. Then when I'm baking I simply put a cup or two in my food processor, blend on high for a few minutes, and voila: gluten free oat flour at the ready! If you don't agree with oats, buckwheat flour is a good alternative.
- Try adding sultanas, raisins, goji berries or make a fresh berry cake or apple cake!
- Avoid over-mixing the batter to prevent the cake from not rising well.
