Are you ready for the most unsuspecting little piece of lemony goodness that happens to be healthy? Yes, I said healthy.
I’m SO excited to share this recipe for a decadently moist, lemony sponge cake that I completely invented!! It’s really exciting for me to create a new recipe because the satisfaction from it is on a totally different level. This recipe was born of a desire to make not only a gluten-free cake, but grain free as well as refined sugar free and dairy free (and not taste like it!)! Why? Well, for one you guys know I’m the Fit Foodie and that’s what I do.. but, what’s so wrong with a little sugar every now and then? Let me tell you... INFLAMMATION. Coming out of the holidays having eaten my fair share of sweet treats (gluten free, mind you) and then several consecutive weekends of more joyous occasions to celebrate (with more treats!), I needed to make these treats healthier, because we’ve been getting too many colds. Did you know that the effects of what you eat are cumulative? Toxins take time to exit the body (and many times need help from other substances to detox too). I don’t want to make this about detoxing, but rather a celebration of something you can eat more often and actually feel good about, and not have it weaken your or your family’s immune system. I would say that’s pretty miraculous for a little cake, wouldn’t you? And so I give you my Meyer Lemon Miracle Cake, inspired by and made with the most perfect organic Meyer lemons from my aunt’s lemon tree. But, you don’t need special lemons to make this either. Any regular fresh lemons will do.
MEYER LEMON MIRACLE CAKE
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Dry Ingredients
Coconut Flour 1/3 cup
Arrowroot 6 tablespoons
Tapioca 2.5 tablespoons
2 Tablespoons chia seeds
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup Monkfruit sweetener
2 packets of stevia
Sea Salt 1/4 tsp
2 tsp baking powder
Wet Ingredients
3 Eggs (egg whites separated from yolks)
Juice of 1.5 Lemons
Zest of 1.5 lemons
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 Cup Water
3 Tablespoons Maple syrup
5 Tablespoons Ghee or Coconut Oil
Optional Glaze:
Lemon juice of 1/2 lemon
Lemon zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup corn starch*
1/4 cup maple syrup
Stevie to taste further or monk fruit
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8.5 inch nonstick cake pan, and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients until well blended and set aside. Next, using a hand mixer in another deep bowl, beat egg whites until a firm peak forms and set aside. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredient bowl, and add the ghee, egg yolks, lemon juice and water. Blend them together until smooth, then slowly mix in the dry ingredients by pushing them into the center a little bit at a time. Add in maple syrup, vanilla extract, orange extract and lemon zest. Mix well. Lastly, gently fold in egg whites being careful not to over mix.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the center is set and no longer wobbly. Remove from oven and let cool For about 20 minutes.
For the Glaze: in a small bowl whisk together all glaze ingredients until smooth. If you need to thicken it further, add more corn starch or monk fruit and whisk well. Spoon the glaze over the cake and top with optional berries.
*I strongly suggest using organic Corn starch due to it being high on the glyphosate residue list, not to mention frequently genetically modified.