Friday 16 December 2011

Why my cakes are nutritionally good for me

I tweeted a picture of my cakes the other evening to a few friends, and told them these were the cakes I had made to put up onto (my sponsor) Healthy Supplies web site that I write recipes for. One of them came back and said how can anything that loaded with cholesterol be healthy?

Just because they look unhealthy it does not mean they need to be. I pointed out to Linda that they are dairy/egg/gluten/wheat free and therefore are very healthy with little cholesterol in them.
Dont think she believed me, but let me point out how healthy the ingredients are that I use. So Healthy Supplies means you wont get this one on your blog site.



These cakes consist of 110 ml of rape seed oil which is full of Omega 3,6 & 9 + vitamin E and has one of the lowest saturated fat contents for a culinary oil, and has no cholesterol in what so ever.

To that I added 125g of Xylitol which has a low GI and wont rot your teeth like normal sugar. 

What are the other health benefits of xylitol?

First, you are doing your body a big favor by substituting more xylitol for sugar in your diet. While xylitol is just as sweet as table sugar (sucrose), it has about 40% fewer calories and 75% fewer carbohydrates. Xylitol also won’t raise your blood sugar like regular sugar does, putting tremendous strain on your system, causing negative health effects.

To replace the eggs I used ground Flax seed which again is an excellent source of omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9 essential fatty acids (EFAs) that assist with basic bodily and mental functions. Flaxseed (like many of the foods I eat) can help to reduce cholesterol level.


Next up came a mixture of gluten free flours  first 100g of brown rice. The good: This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a very good source of Manganese.


50g tapioca flour which is not really the best choice going as it is low in both fibre and vitamins but good for essential minerals but it is a nice light powdery flour that helps to add to the overall lightness of the product. 

Next I added 50g buckwheat flour which is again an excellent nutritional flour that is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber and Magnesium, and a very good source of Manganese.



lastly I add 40g potato flour I put this in to help the binding as tapioca flour has low binding abilities. Nutritionally  This food is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin B6.

I sieved all the flours together, and added a teaspoon Xanthan Gum and 1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder during the sieving process. I added some lemon extract for flavour and then cooked them.

Once cool I made a "butter" icing using unhealthy icing sugar and vitalite which is naturally rich in Vitamin E, is virtually trans fat free and contains no hydrogenatated oils. Sunflower oil is light in taste and appearance and supplies more Vitamin E than any other vegetable oil.

So there you go as far as cakes go they are healthy, nutritional, low in bad fats and high in good. Well thats my excuse and Im sticking to it.

This is a review post with foods provided by Healthy Supplies but the ideas and findings are my own.


6 comments:

  1. Ok, am moving very soon, in the snow and all, gawd help me, and once settled shall try these and let you know what we all think in our tiny new village in the middle of nowheresville! XX
    They still LOOK too nice to be healthy lol

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  2. ohh yummy and healthy perfect! :)

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  3. Wow .. ok I confess every cake we eat is shop bought. I can make chocolate crispie cakes or boxed kits but thats as far as I go ... the kids are fab at baking tho thankfully ...I am going to share this post with my mums group x

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  4. thanks Emma, hope your mums group enjoy it, let me now how they get on. Just tell them that gluten free cakes really only keep for a day, 2 at most so no good for bake sales or anything

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  5. Thanks for this. Very interesting. I've been experimenting recently with baking with different flours and oils and trying to cut down/out the sugar. For the most part, it's all come out very well. I didn't use too much xylitol, as I was concerned about the laxitive effect it can have. I must try out some Vitalite - I'm sure we used to get that when I was teenager.

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  6. Hi Tasha yes its a hard combination to work with. Thanks for the comment on the laxative effect but I dont think at the levels I used (125g of Xylitol), equating to less than 10g each, unless you are eating more than 6 a day should be a problem, and according to http://www.spiffies.com/v/PDF/Study_xylitol_safety.pdf Some nutritionists have expressed concerns about the potential laxative effects of xylitol and
    other sugar alcohols (sorbitol, maltilol) when given in high doses. The xylitol consumption
    threshold at which gastrointestinal discomfort may occur in humans appears to fall in the
    range of 70 – 200 grams daily for adults and 40 grams daily for school age children, and with
    regular ingestion, the tolerance actually increases.
    But yes it is something people need to be aware of, everything has a good and a bad side.

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