I know. It was actually something about apples. But….that’s okay, huh? We all like a good loaf, right? Yes, of course we do. So on that note let’s have a look at what I was up to yesterday.
In recent years I have had to listen more and more carefully and respond to the messages from my gut as I was having ongoing digestive issues that I just didn’t seem to be able to resolve. I’m not a person that indulges in fatty foods, alcohol, pastas or commercial sugary feasts. And yet my gut continued to erupt whenever it took the fancy and despite my dietary eliminations. Item by item I whittled my foods down until things began to get a bit better.
This of course included no gluten or at least next to none. Gluten types seem to vary considerably so it looks like I can stomach tiny drops of rye or spelt. But a huge no no to the wheat family and friends.
And that brings us, of course, straight to cassava. I was delighted to find this little friend. It’s a very starchy root vegetable native to South America. Ground up it makes for a very versatile and wheat alternative flour that your gut will thank you for. When we first bought it, we had a rougher, darker-coloured flour which I was able to use to cook a thick, warm breakfast with. It had the texture of semolina. I did some research on it so maybe that will feature in another blog post.
But what you ideally want to watch out for is the finer, white version that you can bake cakes and cookies with. The batter ends up very thin but it bakes up beautifully.
So this is what I put into my little loaf on Wednesday.
- 1/2 cup of white cassava flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 8 tbsp liquid coconut oil (makes it very moist)
- 6 eggs
- raisins according to taste (I like lots)
- cinnamon
- cardamom
- cloves (use sparingly)
- vanilla essence
- 1 dessertspoon raw honey (small)
- tiny sprinkle of rock salt
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Combine all of your dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Shake your spices in liberally according to taste. Again, I like lots. I buy the cardamom cloves and love to grind them up. That way you can grind them finely or leave them granulated. Just hold back a bit with the cloves. In another larger bowl whisk the eggs and add the oil and vanilla essence. Add the dry ingredients and then finally the raisins. Because the batter is so thin, the raisins will sink to the bottom of the cake. There is no way to avoid this but it’s delicious either way!
And if you are okay with sugar, go for more honey. I keep mine to an absolute minimum.
Grease a small 8″ x 4″ loaf pan (one hand span long). Grease and line with parchment paper. I just put one long strip along the bottom and up the two ends.
The mixture will resemble pancake batter.
Bake for at least 4o mins (up to 50 as needed). Test with a knife. It should be nice and golden brown and have risen a bit.
Let it cool for 15 mins before taking out of the form.
Test for taste and keep testing until you’ve eaten the entire loaf.
If you enjoyed it as much as I did, bake another one. I’m going into series with this. I have so many ideas of my own as well as ideas friends shared with me.
And please, do let me know how you got on!
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