It’s Spring in Ireland and I have a nice crop of Rhubarb growing in the garden.  Today I thought it would be interesting to try adapting an old favourite of mine – Dutch Apple Cake – to Low Carb and adding some lovely fresh Rhubarb instead of the more traditional apples.

The original recipe is from Rachel Allen’s ‘Bake’ cookbook. I am fond of this book because it reignited my interest in baking a number of years ago and what followed was a culinary adventure that was a whole heap of fun!

Revised Ingredients

• 2 Eggs
• 125g xylitol/20g stevia (plus extra for sprinkling)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 85g butter
• 75ml milk
• 125g ground almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder
• Two handfuls of chopped Rhubarb 

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Line a cake tin with parchment paper (I use a loaf tin).
• Whisk the eggs, sweeteners and vanilla extract in a bowl until it forms a mousse-like consistency (about 5 minutes).
• Melt the butter in a saucepan with the milk then gradually add to the egg mixture, whisking all the time.
• Fold the dry ingredients into the batter being careful to ensure there are no lumps. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.
• Sprinkle the chopped Rhubarb on the batter and then sprinkle a dusting of stevia on top. Don’t worry if the rhubarb sits on the surface, the batter will rise around it.
• Bake in the oven for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 180 degrees centigrade and bake for a further 20 – 25 minutes.
• Allow to cool in the tin before cutting into slices and serving!

This is one from the archives. While browsing the Wheat Free recipes at the back of “Wheat Belly”, the book by Dr. William Davis, I came across an interesting looking recipe for Low Carb Muffins. In my pre-LCHF days I was a keen Baker and I honestly hate to compromise on flavour and texture when it comes to baked goods.

“I’d rather do without than eat some second-rate approximation of an original classic!”

This recipe caught my eye for a couple of reasons. I had the ingredients to hand in my kitchen (more or less!), and my Baker senses started to tingle hopefully because it looked workable!

Since turning Low Carb, I don’t eat bananas but even when I did eat them, they regularly ended up going black, unattended, and unwanted, in the fruit bowl. As a result, I have a stash of over ripe bananas bagged up in my freezer. This is a great way to store bananas that are past their best as they are perfect for making banana breads or muffins. This recipe called for one banana divided across a 10-muffin recipe so I felt it was worth adding the extra carbs to achieve texture.

Detailed below is a slightly modified form of the original recipe based on what my pantry had to offer!

Ingredients

200g Ground Almonds

30g Ground Linseeds

150g Xylithol (or equivalent non nutritive sweetener)

1 tsp Baking powder

Pinch of Sea Salt

1 Banana

2 large eggs

120 ml coconut milk (or Sour Cream)

60 ml Macadamia Oil (or Walnut Oil, Coconut Oil or Olive Oil)

140g Blueberries *

10 Raspberries *

Virgin Coconut oil spray (optional if you use silicon muffin tray or muffin cases)

(* This was based entirely on what I had in the fridge that day.  The recipe can easily absorb circa 170g of in season berries.  I have used new season Rhubarb to really good effect with a topping of xylitol and cinnamon sprinkled on top before baking)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 160 C/325 F

Grease ten muffin tray cups with the Coconut Oil spray

Place all the dry ingredients in one bowl and stir to combine well. In another bowl mash the banana and then stir in the eggs, Coconut milk and the oil. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well, then fold in the Blueberries.

Spoon the muffin batter into the greased muffin tray (I used a silicon muffin tray for this recipe). Press a fresh raspberry into the top of each muffin.

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for around 40 minutes. I use a convection oven so you may need a little longer in a conventional oven. Keep an eye from around 30 minutes. No one knows your oven better than you do so I’ll let you be the judge.

Leave the muffins to cool in the muffin tray.

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This recipe was beautifully moist so the cooling time in the tray allowed them to set nicely. The result was a really tasty, moist muffin with good texture that was brim full of fruity flavours. I am really looking forward to playing around with this base recipe to try out different flavours!