Healthy Lolly Cake
Happy Friyay my friend! I hope you’ve had a wonderful week and, if you’re in the southern hemisphere like me, stayed warm in between the intermittent downpours. We’re planning on heading over to Waiheke this evening, praying for a few spots of clear sky, so we can indulge in a glorious walk down Onetangi Beach tomorrow morn. Mila has popped over to Cairns in Australia with my mum (yes I miss her!), so we’ll be heading over to join them next week. Actually – I’m planning on hosting an essential oils workshop while I’m there too! If you’re Cairns based, I’d LOVE to meet you. Check out the details here and book yourself in. Will be super small, 8 ladies max, but would be lovely to catch you beautiful Queenslanders in person if you can make it.
Meanwhile. Recipe time. Which, this week, is… lolly cake time! Yes, I’ve managed to recreate your childhood favourite into a healthy slice of bodily-honouring deliciousness. Equally as good as the original, but this time, vegan, dairy-free, refined sugar free, and super low in total sugars.
Yes, this Healthy Lolly Cake is…
- A delicious slice of vanilla-y, biscuity heaven;
- Easy to make – 30 mins all up;
- 7 simple ingredients (plus a few extra to colour if desired);
- High in healthy satiating plant-based fats and fibre, whilst being low in sugar; and
- The perfect slice of nostalgia to share with your childhood buddies and fam.
So, forward this blog on to a special childhood friend of yours. Invite them round. Tell them you’re cooking (and they can even check out the ingredients in advance). I know who I’m going to be sending this one to…
Have your vitamins and eat them too
As you know, I am all about encouraging you to eat as wide a range of plant-based foods as possible. Why? They’re good for your bod, and will provide you with all the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients you need to keep your space-suit in tip top shape.
Sometimes though, we need a little extra boost. This might come in the form of herbal formulations (I prescribe these bespoke often in my naturopathy clinic); perhaps in the guise of protein powders and supplements; or in some more dire instances, as intravenous infusions (if we’re really, seriously low). I always prefer to favour whole food sources of nutrients first. However, if your body has been in a state of stress (the case for many of us); if we’re eating foods from vitamin and mineral deficient soils; or if we’re consuming conventional produce that has lower levels of nutrients than naturally organically grown foods; sometimes we need a bit extra.
In my clinic, I see clients for a whole hour and a half to determine a long term plan for them, and what supplements and herbal medicine they might need, as well as nutrition and lifestyle recommendations (in fact these two always come first). If you can’t quite afford to see a naturopath quite yet though, then using a referral service might give you a starting indication of where you might be deficient.
Wondermins, a new NZ based company, are doing just that, and asked me to try out their service and share my thoughts with you. I completed a simple 10 minute survey, at the end of which, I was recommend three separate vitamins – a fertility-focussed multi, a probiotic, and Rhodiola (an adaptogenic herb used for stress, focus, and energy). Not a bad selection I thought. And somehow inspired me to make a vitamin-looking lolly cake for our recipe this week!
Essentially, Wondermins offer you a more personalised version of just picking up a multivitamin from the chemist, which I see many clients doing, and that in many cases they might not need. In fact – often, clients will turn up with a whole bag of supplements and vitamins, and ask me if they need them all. The answer is almost always – no!
Instead these vitamins are more targeted to your specific needs, and they also have an online chat service so you can ask more detailed questions once you’ve been given your recommendations, to make sure they’re a good fit for you. Then, they get delivered straight to your door monthly (I’m all about the delivery these days – no more carbon miles, just the delivery guy is doing them instead of you!).
Additionally, the quality of many vitamins and supplements available at chemists, are of rather dubious quality. Let’s not get into it, but I always recommend personalised and professional advice if you can! Wondermins are taking things up a step up from the chemist-shelf offering, by trying to provide more personalised advice based on your individual concerns.
If you’re intrigued and want to find out more, you can do like I did and try their online survey. See what you come up with! Let me know if the comments below if you like, I’d be more than happy to overlay my thoughts. The team at Wondermins have also given me a special code, begood30, which you can use to try them out with 30% off. But please, don’t full your basket with packets and packets of vitamins and supplements from the chemist without getting advice on whether you really need them. I wouldn’t do my account without an accountant, take a flight without a pilot, so don’t take supplements without naturopathic or medical advice!
Wishing you a wonderful weekend. Tell me what you’ve got planned! I’d love to hear.
Oh yes, and if you try this vitamin -inspired and and nutrient dense lolly cake, let me know what you think! Leave me a note below, tag me on Insta with the tags @begoodorganics and #begoodorganics, post a pic on my FB page here, or send me an email. Always love hearing your feedback and how you are finding things in your own home!
Til next week, take care my friend, and stay happy and well.
PS If you like this recipe, I’d love you to pin it on Pinterest, share it on Facebook, post your recreation on Instagram (tag me @begoodorganics and #begoodorganics), or share it with your family and friends. Also, if you’re not already subscribed to my weekly recipe emails, be sure to do that here, and don’t miss my next recipe video by signing up to my YouTube here.
And, if you’re interested in one-on-one advice, I have a small number of Naturopathic and Nutrition consultations available each week, either in person or via Skype – you can find more information on those here.
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Please note – if you are wanting to meet any of the specific dietary requirements below, please read my recipe notes.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 c cashews
- 1 c coconut flour
- 1/2 c coconut oil
- 4 tbsp liquid sweetener coconut nectar, brown rice syrup, agave or yacon
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch sea salt
- 1 tsp strawberry/beetroot powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp spirulina
- 1/4 c desiccated coconut
Instructions
- Blend cashews and coconut flour in a food processor until it becomes a fine flour, then add the remaining ingredients (except the colourings and coconut) and blend until well combined and sticky.
- Put 2-3 heaped tablespoons of the mixture into 3 small bowls (6 tablespoons in total), and add the beetroot powder, turmeric, and spirulina to each bowl and stir until combined. You can add more or less if you prefer a darker colour.
- Roll each coloured mix into three long rolls and place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to set.
- Remove the “lollies” from the freezer and slice into 3 cm pieces. Pour the rest of the cake mix onto a piece of reusable baking paper, and evenly place the coloured rolls throughout your cake mixture. Cover the coloured bits with the mixtures, roll into a thick log around 8 cm in diameter, then sprinkle over desiccated coconut and roll again until evenly covered. Place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes or overnight to set.
- Slice into 1cm slices and serve! Will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Recipe Notes
- Make it nut free: I haven’t tried this option myself, but you could replace the cashews with watermelon seeds for a nut free option. I wouldn’t use sunflower seeds, I think they’d be a bit too bitter here and not give that ‘biscuity’ taste we’re after.
- Make it keto: Use yacon syrup instead of coconut nectar / brown rice syrup / agave.
- I’ve used a combination of cashew and coconut flour here, to make it more affordable (cashews are expensive!). If you don’t have coconut flour on hand though you could replace with extra cashews, or else use desiccated coconut instead of coconut flour.
- The end colour of your log will depend on the sweetener you use – some are darker than others, but we’re only using a very little amount here, so it shouldn’t impact things too much.
- This lolly cake is only very modestly sweet, not like the regular ones you get from the bakery. So if you do prefer a slightly sweeter outcome, feel free to add 1-2 more tablespoons of sweetener to the mix.
- For the pink colouring, you can use beetroot powder, strawberry or acai powder, or even a few tablespoons of beetroot juice (grate some beetroot, and squeeze it between your hands to get some juice).
