Not quite but almost

 

One of my favourite guilty food pleasures is a generous slice of McVities Jamaica ginger cake preferably with custard and preferably eaten outdoors as part of a camping tea.  I think it must be something to do with the close texture, the sticky top and the spicy taste.  Anyway I wondered if I could make something along similar lines, but without the sugar and gluten.  I rejigged a recipe for a date loaf, replacing the sugar with grated carrot and adding orange and allspice. Dates have such a natural sweetness that I hoped I could get away with zero added sugar.  They also break down to a pulp when cooked with a little water and I was hoping that would give me the texture I was after.  I made two small 1lb loaves but I guess you could also make a larger loaf and bake it for a little longer.  

Well I have to say we really enjoyed this cake, especially spread with a little butter or margarine.  It tasted really sweet and you wouldn't have guessed it had no sugar.  I can't vouch for how it tastes with custard or whilst camping but it kept really well, and got more sticky as the week went on.

Date, Carrot and orange spice loaf (Gluten free and No Added Sugar)

Ingredients - makes two 1lb loaves

• 225g dried dates, snipped into small pieces
• 125ml water
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 170g grated carrot, prepared weight
• 125g butter, or lower fat substitute
• grated zest of 1 small orange
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 egg, beaten
• 175g gluten free plain flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1 tsp ground allspice

1. Preheat the oven to 170C / Gas 3.  Grease and line two 1lb loaf tins.
2. Put the dates into a medium pan with the water and bring to the boil.  Remove from the heat, stir in the bicarbonate of soda, cover with a lid and leave for around 5 minutes.  The dates should absorb the water and become soft and pulpy.
3. Add the butter, orange zest and juice and stir until the butter has melted.  Allow to cool a little.
4. Using a blender, or hand held stick blender, puree the date mixture.
5. Add half the grated carrots and blend again until the carrots have a finer texture, then repeat with the rest of the grated carrot.
6. Add the beaten egg.
7. Sift together the flour, baking powder and allspice and add gradually to the date mixture together with the ground almonds.  Mix well until smoth.
8. Pour into the prepared tins and bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
9. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for around 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

I roughly calculated the carbs for a 1lb loaf cut into 8 slices.  Each slice would have around 18g of carbs.

Banishing rainy day, back to school blues

Well the half term holiday is nearly over and it's raining again!  One cure for those winter blues is a hearty bowl of vegetable soup followed by a nice slice of cake.  Well the cupboards were looking a little bare but a I noticed a lonely Bramley apple on the bottom of the veg rack and decided to find a use for it.

I have tweaked a WI recipe for Date and Bramley loaf by reducing the added sugar content to virtually nil and substituting ground almonds for some of the flour content to lower the carb count.  Dates are so sweet by themselves that they really don't need much added sugar and the resulting cake is moist and plenty sweet enough.  Allow the cake to cool down properly before eating as it is much easier to slice.  We ate the warm but crumbly version!  Thumbs up from the family and plenty left for school lunchboxes tomorrow.

 Date and Bramley Loaf (the low sugar, gluten free version)

 

Ingredients

• 175g dried ready-to-eat dates
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 250ml recently boiled water
• 175g gluten free self-raising flour (I used Doves Farm)
• 100g ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 115g butter/margarine
• 12g Truvia sweetener
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 1 medium Bramley apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1. Snip the dates into small pieces and place in a small bowl.  Stir in the bicarbonate of soda and pour over the water.  Cover and leave to soak for at least a couple of hours or preferably overnight.
2. When your dates are ready preheat the oven to 180C / Gas 4.   Grease and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum and cinnamon into a large bowl.  Stir in the ground almonds, breaking up any lumps.  Rub in the butter or margarine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and then stir in the sweetener.
4. Add the dates, with their liquid, egg and chopped apple.  Beat until just combined.
5. Pour mixture into tin and bake for 1hr 15mins, or until a skewer comes out cleanly when inserted.  You may need to cover the cake with greaseproof paper or foil whilst cooking to prevent it going too brown on top.
6. Leave the cake in the tin for 10mins before turning out and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack.  

I think my loaf will make 12 slices and I estimated that each slice will be around 22g of carbs.