As October begins, so too does the cold and flu season. Here at our house, the start of school and all those new germs finally got to us. Although we get sick far less often than our pre-Paleo days, alas it hasn’t yet made us Superman. It hit me first, making me feel hungover for three days before subsiding into a couple weeks of mild coughing. It hit Wesley and Finn next, before finally infecting Stacy and Cole on Sunday.
And once it arrived, soon Stacy was meandering in the kitchen whining “I want something bready! I crave something bready when I’m sick to go with my soup, kombucha, and tea!” It was up to Finn, Wesley, and I to make it happen for her! As a means to sneak some nutrients in to the girl who grew up eating English muffins when she was sick, this “bready” thing packs a bit of a nutritional punch with 2 types of vegetables, 2 types of fruits, and 2 types of kinds of nuts!
Stacy watched over our shoulder while we put these together, telling us to add more of this and that. The end result was a delicious representation of all the fruits and veggies of fall (that happened to be in our house), despite looking like a hodge podge of random add ins. It certainly helped us through a desperate time, and we hope you’ll employ it to good effect for your family!
Just a note, because we know it will come up: we used a special cinnamon roll shaped cake pan. These are not cinnamon rolls. Any 9″ or 10″ cake pan will do. This cake will remind you of a cross between a carrot cake and zucchini bread (which, by the way Cole says our Zu-Cakes recipe in Eat Like a Dinosaur is one of our favorites ever). This recipe will work well in a bundt pan or muffins, too, although this pull-apart pan is wonderful for making regular cakes and breads feel special. It works wonderfully for our Monkey Bread recipe too!
The best part of making this was seeing the boys all helping to make it happen. Also amazing was seeing Stacy cheerful about the result!
Pro-tip on paleo cakes: WAIT FOR IT TO COOL. I know, I know. But it’s warm, and smells good, and you want to eat it. But please don’t. If that cake is still warm that means it’s soft and without the powerful binding protein (gluten) as soon as you go to flip it you’re going to lose parts. So wait for the cake to cool and you’ll know it’s ready when it pulls away from the pan, like in the below pictures. Then, make sure to run a knife along the edges to make sure none are sticking, give it a good shake against the counter top, and then put your serving dish over top and simply flip it over and let gravity do the work – voila!
Ingredients
- 2 C blanched almond flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 C honey
- 1/4 C palm shortening, lard, or butter (room temperature)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 C peeled, cored and shredded apple (about 1 medium apple)
- 3/4 C shredded carrot (about 1 medium carrot)
- 1/2 C shredded zucchini
- 1/2 C pistachios
- 1/2 C raisins
Instructions
- Grease your pan and pre-heat your oven to 350.
- Sift together flour, spices, baking soda.
- In a separate bowl, beat your wet ingredients until well combined.
- Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients until fully incorporated.
- Fold in remaining ingredients.
- Pour batter into greased bundt pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until knife comes out clean.
- Cool for 20 - 30 minutes, then turn out onto plate.
Notes
Avoiding honey? Try adding 1/2 cup of diced medjool dates into the wet mixture and pureeing to use a fruit to sweeten. Or, if you prefer a lower carbohydrate cake substitute the honey and raisins for vanilla stevia. This cake is hearty and incredibly versatile, so have fun playing with your favorite combinations!
Please note: cake is never a great choice on it’s own for breakfast! Even though there is very little sweetener in this entire cake, which serves 6-12, we still recommend adding some protein and fat to your morning routine. If you’re in a hurry, try scrambled eggs. On the go, hard boiled eggs or beef jerky! Or maybe our Mocha Protein Smoothie. Either way, don’t be fooled into thinking one can eat cake for breakfast everyday, as Cookie Monster says it’s a “sometimes food.”
