Low fat Eggless Date And Walnut loaf

I can't believe it has been almost a year since I last posted in my blog!  But since I've been busy with other things in my life, my absence can be explained sympathetically :) Though that doesn't mean I haven't been busy in my kitchen trying out new low fat healthy eating options!

Have been planning to update my blog for sometime now, in fact, after each successful dish in my kitchen, I'd think, I've to post this.....  But, procrastination took over soon after and the blog would be forgotten in the quest for more recipes...

So, what brought me here, finally, was this AMAZING low fat eggless date and walnut loaf, which was too good to be true and is really apt to break this long self-imposed exile of mine.

The recipe I adapted it from , is from this beautiful blog : http://paritaskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/07/eggles-date-and-walnut-cakeloaf-low-fat.html

As usual,  I made some changes to make it even more healthy and COMPLETELY OIL FREE!!!  Read on, and more importantly, get in your kitchen and BAKE it!!

Ingredients:
25-26 seedless dates
1 cup skim milk
3/4 cup organic jaggery
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp homemade applesauce
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped dates
a few tbsp powdered walnuts for garnishing

Preheat oven at 185 degrees C.  Grease and flour a bread loaf pan.

Method:
1.  Microwave dates for 20-30 seconds to soften them, and soak them in warm milk for 5-10 minutes.
2.  Add jaggery to the date and milk mixture and grind to a smooth paste.
3.  Add applesauce to the same mix and mix with an electric beater / rubber spatula, if doing by hand.
4.  Sieve together flour and baking soda, and add the dry ingredients to the wet, one spoon at a time.
5.  In the end, gently mix chopped dates and walnuts in the batter.  Spoon the mixture in the prepared loaf pan, leveling the top with a rubber spatula.  Sprinkle the powdered walnuts on the surface evenly.
6.  Bake for 30-35 minutes till the toothpick inserted comes clean.  Cool on a wire rack, cut into slices and enjoy with your breakfast/evening tea...or anytime you feel like :)

MOIST ORANGE AND ALMOND CAKE

Being perpetually obsessed with "Healthy Low fat" food recipes BUT without artificial substitutes, AND with little compromise on taste, leave me frustrated many a times.  Especially when it comes to baking cakes.  And I, these days, am possessed with some 'baking spirit', which forces me to look for new recipes to bake - almost everyday!

Now, coming back to finding cake recipes, which are healthy, low fat yet yummy to eat, well, they are a little hard to find.  So, whenever, I come across a cake recipe which does not call for butter/oil, or other usual suspects which you expect in a 'tasty' cake, I want to yell in happiness - 'Eureka'!   And I did exactly that, when I happened to chance upon this wonderful 'Orange and Almond Cake' in this book called 'Low-fat no-fat mediterranean'.

The only changes that I did were related to eggs.  I made this cake with 1 egg instead of 3 as directed in the original recipe.  I used home made applesauce as the major egg substitute, and made some other adjustments to the ingredients to compensate for the 'loss' of 2 eggs.

Here's the recipe as I made it:

Makes one 8 inch cake

Ingredients:
1 large orange *(see my note below)
1 egg
2/3 cup homemade applesauce
1 1/4 cup caster/icing/powdered sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 scant tbsp lime/lemon juice
2 cups ground almonds
1/4 cup plain (all purpose) flour
icing sugar for dusting (I didn't use it)
low-fat greek yogurt to serve(optional - in my opinion doesn't need anything else - tasty enough on its own!)

Method :
1.  Wash the orange and pierce it with a skewer.  Put it in a deep pan and pour over water to cover completely.  Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for an hour, or until the skin of the orange is very soft.  Alternatively, you can pressure cook the orange to give one whistle and let it simmer in cooker for about 20-30 minutes.  Drain and cool.

2.  Preheat the oven to 180 degree C/350 degree F.  Grease a 8-inch round cake pan and line it with parchment paper, or just dust with a little flour.

3.  Cut the orange in half and discard the pips (seeds), if any.  Place the orange with skin in a blender and process till smooth.

4.  In a bowl, whisk the egg and sugar together till thick.  Add Applesauce and whisk again.  Fold in the baking powder, baking soda, almonds and flour.  Fold in the orange puree and lime/lemon juice.  Mix everything just well, don't over mix.

5.  Pour into the prepared baking pan and level the surface.  Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until the skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.**  Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack, peel off the lining and cool completely.  Dust the top with icing sugar, if you wish.  Serve it as a dessert with greek yogurt, if you like.

Notes:
* Orange used here is the  Australian bright yellowish-orange-colored orange.  If you are not able to get that, you can use tangerines (usually called oranges in India).  You may need to adjust the time for boiling.
** If you find (as I did) that the top gets browned faster, much before the rest of the cake has baked, you can simply cut a piece of almunium foil and cover the top of the cake to prevent it from burning while the rest of the cake is still being baked.