This really is a very low fat cake. The title Recipe: Very Healthy Raisin, Lemon and Honey Cake is an accurate description for this delicious teatime treat. It’s the next stage in my experiment with cake making to produce a cake that is perfectly palatable but with far fewer ingredients that can be detrimental to your health. See my earlier article “Recipe: Healthier Lower Fat Sultana and Lemon Cake” for the first stage.
Changes to standard cake recipe:
Cut out the fat
- Remove the butter entirely
- Substitute butter with 0% fat Greek style yoghurt and one medium-size banana
Add honey
- Replace some of the sugar with honey
- The honey is raw and locally produced, giving it the added benefit of reduced food miles
Here’s a fat comparison between butter and the yoghurt/banana blend:
250 grams butter: 1,863 kcal (7,655 kJ)
170 grams 0% Greek style yoghurt, 80 grams banana : 162 kcal ( 685kJ)
That’s less than one-twelfth of the fat quantity!
And, before going on to the recipe, I’ll tell you about the honey and why I’m delighted to use it. It’s honey from Northiam, about 10 miles away, from bees that are housed in hives in the garden of a Sussex cottage. The honey is pure and contains no additives.
So now I’ve told you about the wonderful ingredients, let’s get on to the recipe:
Raisin, Honey and Lemon Very Low Fat Cake
Ingredients
- Banana – mashed (1 medium = 80 grams)
- 0% Greek style yoghurt (170 grams)
- Dark muscovado sugar (84 grams)
- Pure Northiam honey (56 grams)
- Free range eggs (4)
- Self raising flour (250 grams)
- Baking powder (2 teaspoons)
- Lemon (1 – zest and juice)
- Raisins (1 large handful)
- Chopped almonds – to sprinkle on top (1 small handful)
Method
- Mash the banana in a mixing bowl and then add the yoghurt;
- Add the sugar and honey;
- With an electric hand mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon, beat until smooth and creamy. It will take a little longer than a conventional butter and sugar mix and will be darker in colour;
- Crack the eggs and add to the mixture, together with a small handful of flour to stop the mixture curdling, and then continue beating until well mixed and creamy in appearance;
- Add the flour and baking powder. Beat until mixed in (on the slowest setting if using an electric mixer), just long enough to mix in thoroughly;
- Then add the raisins and lemon zest and juice;
- Finally, beat slowly until fully mixed.
Baking
- Turn on the oven to 170 degrees C (325 degrees F, gas mark 3);
- Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin;
- Put the mixture into the cake tin and sprinkle with chopped almonds;
- When the oven has reached the required temperature, put the cake in and cook for 50 minutes;
- Test with a clean skewer. When the skewer comes out clean, the cake is done;
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for about half an hour;
- Take out of tin and put onto cooling rack;
- When completely cold, put cake into a tin with a tight lid;
- The cake is best stored in a fridge, unless it is going to be eaten quickly. It will last for about a week.
