Who says, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too?” They’ve obviously never been to my house.
I married into a lovely Finnish family, who adore afternoon coffee and cake. It’s the art of social hour, richly steeped in Scandinavian heritage — a beautiful thing, really. It’s a tradition I’ve had no trouble embracing.
On a whim, I put my Paleo twist on a family spice cake recipe by omitting all dairy, grain and sugar. Opting instead for Paleo friendly ingredients such as coconut milk, coconut flour and pure maple syrup. I packed a Paleo one-two punch — adding shredded carrots and zucchini, plump raisins and crunchy walnuts.
The end result left my entire family grinning with mouthfuls and asking, “Is this Paleo?!”
GROCERY LIST makes 1 dozen
DRY INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
WET INGREDIENTS
6 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup canned coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
FILLING
3 carrots, peel and shred (I found rainbow carrots and used 1 orange, 1 yellow, 1 purple)
2 zucchini, trim ends and shred
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional
BAKING INSTRUCTIONS prep time, 5 minutes — bake time, 35 minutes
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients.
3) In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.
4) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, beat for 2 minutes. Stir in zucchini, carrots, raisins and walnuts.
5) In a non-stick or paper lined muffin pan, fill muffin cups halfway and bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven 30-35 minutes.
6) Let cool a few minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack and store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days or store in freezer for later use.
From my kitchen, to yours ….. PROOF!! You can have your cake and eat it too!! ENJOY!!
