Nutritional information,  Sweet

Apple and blueberry buckwheat cake and a mouse in the house

appleandpearcake

The New Year brought an uninvited house guest: A mouse. At least I think he was uninvited. Maybe one of the dogs coaxed him in to annoy me. Not that I really have anything against him, in fact he’s quite sweet. But I admit I was rather taken aback this morning when I found him trying to chew his way through the top of my multivitamins. I tried to persuade him to leave, but he tilted his head to one side and looked at me quizzically as if to say ‘and your problem with me necking your vitamins is?’. I appealed to the dogs for some backup, but Hugo just sighed loudly and gave me a slightly contemptuous look that definitely said ‘wha’ever’. And Java, bless her, did her funny cross-eyed thing because the mouse is so small that I suspect she could hardly see it. In the meantime, the little rascal is making impressive headway through my vitamins and I’m afraid he’s going to end up the size of a small cat. Still, at least if he does Java will finally see him and perhaps spring into action…
There is quite a lot in the news at the moment about the ‘Sirt Food Diet’. I don’t usually pay much attention to the multitude of faddy diet books that appears on a regular basis, but this one makes some sense, even to me. I particularly like that its main objective is healthy eating and that weight loss is just a by-product of that. And I know that it is effective because I’ve been eating these foods for a number of years (before it even had a name!). The Sirt Food diet is so-called because it involves consuming foods containing compounds known as sirtuin activators, which cause body fat to be burned and muscle mass to develop (what’s not to like?). Eating these foods increases metabolism and strengthens the immune system. Sirtuin activators include buckwheat, apples, onions, almonds, walnuts, citrus fruits, chocolate, red wine, turmeric and blueberries, which frankly makes this cake a Sirt Food dieter’s dream!
Ingredients (serves 8)
For the topping:
3 apples, peeled and cut into slices
75g  blueberries
25g salted butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
For the cake:
75g butter, cut into cubes
75g organic virgin coconut oil, cut into cubes
100g cane sugar
2 large free-range eggs, beaten
75g buckwheat flour
75g ground almonds
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Caramelise the apples in a little water, adding the butter and maple syrup once softened. Add the blueberries last . Set aside. Place the sugar, butter and coconut oil into a mixing bowl and cream until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs, adding a bit of flour if the mixture begins to curdle. Continue to beat the mixture until fluffy. Fold in the remaining flour, ground almonds, baking powder and cinnamon.
Transfer the apple and blueberry mixture into the bottom of a greased bundt cake mould (I use a silicon one), levelling well with the back of a spoon. Then pour the cake mixture over the top. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool. Delicious served with Greek yoghurt.

10 Comments

  • tableofcolors

    Argh…a mouse! I know I would not have reacted as calmly as you! But the cake sounds delicious and all of the superfood ingredients you listed are things I try to include in my diet on a regular basis. As they help boost the immune system and overall health.

  • apuginthekitchen

    I have never heard of that diet but am very curious now and want to learn more, the cake sounds fabulous and delicious and at the same time quite healthy, As for the mouse, you are much more tolerant than I. I had the same problem about a month ago, 3 of them and not going into detail they are no longer here. Hugo and Java reacted much the same as Izzy and Nando, they rolled their eyes and turned over relegating the capturing and disposing of the rodent to me.

    • The Healthy Epicurean

      It’s quite interesting – there’s a new book about it called The Sirt Food Diet. Three mice!? That might have freaked me out a bit – one is bad enough… Isn’t funny how the dogs just aren’t interested – almost as if it’s beneath them. A cat would sometimes come in useful!

  • Emma

    This looks yummy but I’m trying to cut out sugar… Do you think it would work if I just omitted the sugar? Or maybe replaced it with desiccated coconut, or would that be too dry? I’ve used buckwheat flour and find it slightly bitter…

    • The Healthy Epicurean

      Yes I think it would still work. You could add desiccated coconut or even some more ground almonds perhaps. It could be a bit dry though so you may want to compensate with extra fruit on the topping? Let me know how it works out!

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