I am so excited to share this one with you. Personally, I am utterly surprised it turned out this delicious!
I wanted to try my hand at making a real cake and yet follow Ayurvedic guidelines to make it naturally sweet, without sugar, with wholegrains and no white flour, rich and moist and very chocolaty without stimulating cocoa powder.
The result is all of the above and the texture is so juicy and soft it reminded everyone in my family of a steamed sponge pudding. Serve it hot or at room temperature.
Now even a celebration cake can be a treat that is wholesome and something you do not have to feel guilty about.
Moist Carob and Date Cake
With texture of a steam sponge pudding when served warm
Ingredients
Cake
- 140 g spelt or wholewheat flour - I weighed spelt grain and ground it into fine flour
- 2 eggs - I weighed them both to be a total of 130g in their shells
- 5 dates, without stones, chopped finely
- 270 ml water - just over 1 cup
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- 3 tbsp carob powder
- 210 g large sweet potato, grated finely
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1/8 tsp clove powder - I ground one clove with the grain into flour
Sauce
- 2 tsp honey
- 2 tbsp crème fraiche
- 1 tbsp carob powder
Instructions
Cake
- In a bowl whisk the eggs lightly. Add water, maple syrup and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine the finely grated sweet potato with the ghee, chopped dates and carob.
- Combine the wet and the dry mixtures in one bowl. The consistency should be droopy. Add a little water if it is very dense.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F for a fan oven. 200 C / 400 F for conventional.
- Using ghee, grease a baking dish. (I use a spring form pan.) Dust lightly with flour.
- Pour the mixture into the pan.
- Cook in the preheated oven without opening the door for 35 - 45 minutes, or until a metal skewer comes out clean.If you open the oven door during the cooking process, the cake will collapse when it cools.It is best to open the oven door and quickly pierce the cake with a skewer without taking it out of the oven. In this case, if it still needs cooking longer, it has less chance to collapse.Every oven is different. It took me 45 minutes in my oven.
- Let the cake cool a little and serve by cutting it with a spatula - it is so soft.Serve it warm for a heart-warming steam pudding feel or at room temperature similar to a carrot cake.
Sauce
- In a small ramekin, combine the three sauce ingredients. Pour over the cake slice. Make sure the cake isn't piping hot because honey should never be heated. It is OK to use the sauce over a warm cake, as long as it is not too hot to eat.
Notes
I love this cake without the sauce. For me it is sweet enough by itself, but the sauce elevates it to a celebration cake level for a special occasion.
Note that according to Ayurveda, ghee & honey should never be used in equal parts by weight because of their opposing qualities, which will create toxins. (According to Divya Alter, "e.g., 1 teaspoon honey plus 3 teaspoons ghee is toxic.")
There is 1 tbsp honey in the sauce and 2 tbsp ghee in the cake. It depends how much sauce you add.
Hi Irina, just wondering- what is the ayurvedic view of using eggs for baking? I’ve noticed Myra never uses them.. And what would be a good substitute for the creme fraiche? I don’t digest dairy very well at the moment..
thank you :))
Hi Shaheena,
great questions: there are various opinions on eggs in Ayurveda. Some use them freely, they are even in some Ayurvedic cookbooks. In Ayurveda nothing is good or bad but each food has its properties. Eggs are heating because of the yoke and some consider them hard to digest. If your Agni is weak, it is best to take a break from them. Each person is different so see how you feel.
Just omit creme fraiche if you struggle with it, or swap it for soaked / rinsed and blended cashews that create a cashew cream.
Hi Irina, thanks for this lovely ayurvedic cake recipe! Do you think a gluten free flour like sorghum or buckwheat or buckwheat/rice mixed would work here in place of the wheat flour?
Hi Issy, welcome!
Unfortunately, I have not tested this recipe with gluten free flours, so I cannot comment. I do not think it will work, but you are welcome to try and let me know. I will put a gluten free cake on my list of ideas. 🙂
Wow this was delish!
Thank you so much for your comment! I am so happy you enjoyed it!
Hi, is there anything I could use instead of eggs to substitute or would it still work leaving them out completely?
Hello! You can swap eggs for vegan eggs: ground flaxseeds mixed with a little water. However, the result will be very different: not as much rise but still delicious! Try it and let me know how it turns out!