Spelt Raspberry Sponge Cake (reduced sugar, low fat)

It’s been a tough week in our house and so this spelt raspberry sponge cake was a welcome event. It’s the first of a ten week school holiday but that’s not why it’s been hard. No, it’s been difficult because I decided that we’d slipped back into bad eating habits and we needed to do something to address that. The addressing came in the form of a sugar, dairy, salt, gluten and caffeine detox.

The people who needed this most were my 13 year old and me. We’re both oh so fond of the bad-for-us stuff and our bodies were paying the hefty price. While I invariably make healthy family meals, I’ve been going a little crazy with the cakes and bread of late.

I also found myself starting to buy hot dog rolls, which is a cardinal sin in my eyes. Especially when I make beautiful bread like my caramel apple buns and giant cinnamon bun in my bread machine. All those E numbers and artificial ingredients usually make me avoid them like the plague.

But you know, it’s been rough last couple of months for one reason or another and it’s so easy to let slide without you even being aware of it. Thankfully I was able to give my head a shake and realise that if I’d sunk to the depths of buying crappy, highly processed bread, drastic measures were called for.

Our detox was a little tough mainly because you get into habits with eating (a couple of biscuits with morning coffee; a few nuts and a glass of wine before dinner) and when you suddenly can’t have these things, you feel deprived.

Luckily I had no cravings, strangely enough, but did suffer really badly with aches and pains. My poor son though, he felt like the roof had caved in without his daily sugar fix.

But you know what, nobody starved (crikey, one day we had baked salmon), and with just four days on this restricted diet we are both less bloated, have lost some weight and generally feel as though we have more energy. I am now rejuvenated and ready to start my healthy, balanced eating lifestyle once again.

I’d blackmailed promised my son that if we could do the detox together, I’d make us copycat KFC chicken burgers in the Actifry and some kind of cake. I did both.

The burgers are coming soon but today’s recipe is this spelt raspberry sponge cake. Although we deserved a little something nice I really didn’t want to spend four days not eating sugar and fat to suddenly have an overload, so decided on a lighter, healthier sponge.

I used a touch of butter and oil, with Greek yoghurt as a substitute for the lack of fat. The end result was this light and tasty spelt raspberry sponge cake and I was over the moon with it. I hope you will be, too.

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Spelt Raspberry Sponge Cake (reduced sugar, low fat)

Using spelt flour and less fat & sugar, this spelt raspberry sponge cake recipe is not only heathier and lighter, but delicious, too.

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Spelt Raspberry Sponge Cake

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 6 slices

Ingredients

Cake

• 20g (1½ tbs) butter (melted and slightly cooled)
• 100g (½ cup + 2 tbs) spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate (baking soda)
• 40g (⅓ cup) sugar
• 1 large egg
• 90g (¼ cup) Greek yoghurt (10% fat)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Raspberry Sauce

• 70g (½ cup) frozen raspberries
• 1 teaspoon water

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350ºF) and grease a 6 inch cake tin (I used a springform).
• Melt the butter and set to one side.
• Prepare the raspberry sauce by heating the berries and water together until the fruit softens. Mush them a little with a fork until they become a thick sauce. Set to one side.
• Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar together in a bowl.
• Beat the egg then whisk in the Greek yoghurt, oil and vanilla extract along with the cooled butter. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
• Pour into the prepared tin (the batter will be very thick) and then using a knife, swirl the sauce into the batter.
• Bake for around 20 minutes, until the top is firm to the touch and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pan for ten minutes or so, then either turn out onto a wire rack, or remove the outside layer (if using a springform pan). Allow to cool completely and then slice and enjoy!

Notes

There isn't much sugar in the recipe which naturally results in a less sweet cake. You can add more sugar if you prefer, without altering the result too much.

 

Disclaimer: I have converted the ingredients to cups using online converters. I have not made the dessert with imperial measures, and therefore, accuracy when using cups cannot be guaranteed.