Healthy Citrus and spice cake



Well, we are nearly two weeks into January and I hereby confess all my sins over the festive period – shopping in the sales, watching too much television, having the odd alcoholic drink, not going to the gym and, significantly, eating far more than is the norm for me, as well as indulging in some of the most delicious but calorie-laden foods! What is to become of me? OK, hold the front page, you are all my witnesses, after my birthday next week – well, a girl has to enjoy dinner out on her special day -  I am really going back on the wagon of healthy living.

However, this weekend, I still had to satisfy my urge to bake and I scoured my not insubstantial hoard of recipe books for such a confection which used ingredients that I already had in the store-cupboard. One recipe that leapt out of the page included fresh cranberries but, as my husband has been advised not to eat cranberries as they interfere with his medication, I changed the flavour to zingy citrus with the slight warmth of cinnamon spice.

I also wanted to try a silicone mould that I had bought for 99p in the sales. It was a ‘moment of madness’ purchase but promised a cake shaped like a beautiful rose – hard to resist I know! The actual result, after baking, was sadly rather disappointing and probably exactly why the price had been slashed to an all time low! Never mind, the cake tasted fine and, as a lower calorie alternative, one I will keep up my sleeve and make again for a future healthy eating tea-time indulgence.

Here’s the recipe:

Citrus and spice cake

Zest of two clementines (I used tangerines) plus 3 tbsp juice

3 free-range eggs

190g golden caster sugar

2 x small tubs (120g) Greek-style low fat luscious lemon yoghurts

1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp orange extract

200g self-raising flour, sifted

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 180C or fan 160C or gas mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin with baking parchment.

Whisk together the yoghurt, eggs, vanilla and orange extracts, plus zest and juice. In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar. Stir all the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until smooth.

Pour into prepared tin and bake for around 50 minutes or until golden and slightly springy to the touch. Finally, leave cake in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.