The following recipes use no refined sugar, instead they use either honey, molasses, dates, malt extract or apple concentrate…
Fruit cake
- 300g mixed dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, chopped dates and figs)
- 100g butter (or vegan substitute)
- 1 tbsp honey (or apple concentrate)
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 125ml boiling water
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- grated zest of half a lemon
- grated zest of half an orange
- a little milk (or plant-based milk)
- 1 egg beaten (this can be substituted with 1 tbsp ground linseed and a little vegan milk)
- 200g flour (I use 100g of Doves Farm Self Raising wholemeal flour with 100g chestnut flour for extra sweetness but you can also use a brown gluten free flour mix for a gluten free version)
- handful of flaked almonds and some extra for sprinkling on top
Melt the butter slowly in a large pan and add the fruit, sweeteners and water. Simmer for 20 mins and let it cool.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well mixed, add some milk if it is too stiff. Press into a 21cm lined round cake tin and sprinkle with more flaked almonds.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven preheated to 160°C (or 140°C fan) for 60–75 mins until a skewer comes out clean.
This cake keeps for many days, even weeks. I often double this recipe and use a 24cm round tin and bake it for 90 mins: it makes an excellent everyday cake or a special occasion cake.
French spice bread (Pan d’épices)
- 225ml honey
- 250g wholemeal rye flour
- 50g ground almonds
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarb of soda
- 2 bulbs (6cm) of stem ginger (finely chopped, grated or crushed)
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 5 cloves (ground)
- grated zest of half a lemon
- grated zest of half an orange
Warm the jar of honey in a pan of hot water until runny. Add honey to the flour, mix and leave to stand for an hour.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir for 5 mins or use an electric mixer (it’s too sticky to knead by hand and you waste a lot of honey).
Press the dough into a lined and greased 1/2 kg loaf tin. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven preheated to 180 ‘C or 160 fan for about 35-40 mins until skewer comes out clean. Cracks may occur on the surface.
When baked you can pour over a glaze of boiled water and brown sugar and return to oven for 2 minutes. (I prefer it sugar free)
This bread keeps for many days becoming softer if you keep it wrapped up in a tea towel. It tastes better after 2 days when the spices have mingled (if you can resist it for that long). It’s very dense so you can cut very thin slices with a bread knife.
Apple chestnut cake
- 150g wholemeal spelt flour or gluten free flour
- 150g chestnut flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon (nutmeg and cardamon also suit this cake)
- 150g unsalted butter
- 450g cooking apples
- 1 egg (this can be substituted with 1 tbsp ground linseed and a little vegan milk)
- 3 tbsp yoghurt (or vegan milk)
- 1 tbsp apple concentrate
- handful of sultanas
- handful of flaked almonds
Rub the butter into the flour mix, add the spices and baking powder. Peel and chop the apple into rough 1cm chunks. Add the apple pieces to the flour mix.
Stir in the egg, yoghurt and apple concentrate: this should be a thick mixture and hard to spread into the tin with no dry ingredients remaining in the bowl. If it needs more moisture add some water.
Line or grease a 23cm circular loose bottom cake tin, spread the cake mixture and sprinkle the almonds over the top. Bake at 180°C fan for 35–40 mins.
Great eaten hot or cold served alone or with some greek yoghurt or vegan cream.
Sticky date gingerbread
- 200g chopped dates
- 200ml boiling water
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 150g wholemeal flour or gluten free flour (I like to use 100g wholemeal flour with 50g fine oatmeal as it gives it a more chewy texture and is more beneficial for the digestive system)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1–2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3–4 ground cloves
- 75g organic unsalted butter or vegan alternative
- 50g date sugar (made from dried and ground dates available from www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk, but raw cane sugar or coconut sugar will be fine if you can’t get date sugar)
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 2 eggs beaten (can be substituted with 2 tbsp ground linseed and a little vegan milk)
- 2–4 inches of fresh ginger root (finely grated or chopped in a mini food processor) – this works out at 2 tbsp of chopped root which makes it satisfyingly gingery, but use more or less as desired
Pour boiling water over the chopped dates and add the bicarb and vanilla. Soak for 10 mins at least (this can be soaking while you prepare the other ingredients) then blend with a blender stick or in a liquidiser.
Combine the flours, dried spices and baking powder.
Cream the butter and date sugar in a mixer then add the molasses. Add the beaten eggs and a spoonful of the flour mixture alternately until the egg is used up. Add the rest of the flour, stir in the blended dates and add ginger.
Line or grease a 17×30 traybake cake tin or similar, spread the cake batter in the tin. It should be no more than 1 inch deep with some room to rise. Bake at 160°C fan for 40–50 mins until it feels bouncy on top and not too wet inside: a skewer should come out clean,. It may sink towards the end of baking but it is still moist and yummy.
This cake is nice topped with flaked almonds: sprinkle them over the cake before baking.
Date and almond bliss balls
- 200g ground almonds
- 300g dates
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ground cardamon (6 pods)
- coconut flour or blitzed desiccated coconut
In a food processor, mix the almonds and dates until the dates are small pieces and mixed in with the almonds. Test the stickiness by trying to make it into a ball. Add more dates if necessary – this will depend on the freshness of your dates. Roll into individual bite-sized balls and roll in coconut to coat. You could always skip this stage and simply eat the mixture by the teaspoon!
Raisin walnut energy balls
- 300g walnuts
- 300g raisins
In a food processor, grind the walnuts to make crumbs and add the raisins and mix until they become a solid, sticky ball. The walnuts give a lot of oil. The stickiness will depend on the variety of raisins. Roll into individual bite-sized balls.
Experiment by adding grated orange peel, cocoa nibs, cinnamon and cloves. They can be rolled in cocoa powder if desired.
Flapjacks…
Flapjacks with oil
-
130ml unrefined rapeseed oil
- 150ml malt extract (I prefer rice malt extract as it has a more delicate flavour)
- 350g oats (porridge oats are fine, some jumbo oats can be added if desired)
- 20g desiccated coconut
- 75g sultanas or chopped dates
- a handful of walnut pieces or pumpkin seeds if desired
Prepare a small flapjack pan (32x18cm) and liner. This recipe makes 16 pieces so you could double the quantities and use a roasting pan (36x27cm).
The malt extract is best warmed first by putting the jar in hot water. Measure first the oil in a jug and pour into a large pan. Use the well-oiled jug to measure the warmed malt extract and add it to the pan. Heat the oil and malt slightly in a pan before adding all the dry ingredients. Mixing it together can be tricky and best done with a massaging hand when cooled
Put in a well oiled tin or I use a silicone reusable liner. Bake at 160 fan for 20–30 mins until golden: it will still be soft until it cools but this recipe can easily be overcooked and become very crunchy flapjack.
After removing from the oven it is best to press the soft mixture flat by using another baking tin. It can be cut into pieces while warm although I wait until it’s cold then remove it from the tin and liner and cut it with a long sharp knife.
Flapjack with butter
- 250g unsalted butter
- 200ml clear honey or malt extract, or both (I prefer rice malt extract as it has a more delicate flavour); you can also add a tbsp of molasses
- 450g oats (porridge oats are fine, some jumbo oats can be added if desired)
- 50g desiccated coconut
- chopped dates, seeds and nuts can all be added according to taste
- ground seeds of 6–8 cardamon pods and a dash of cinnamon
- optional: the grated rind of 1 lemon or 1 orange or both
Prepare a traybake sized pan (30x23cm) – I use a silicone liner.
Warm the honey and malt jars first then measure them into an oiled measuring jug.
Melt the butter gently in a pan and add the honey and malt (and molasses). Mix in the oats and the other ingredients.
Continue as for flapjacks with oil.