Be sugar smart – have your cake and eat it too!

Feedback is taking part in Sugar Smart September.

Being sugar smart does not necessarily mean going sugar free, Lucy who runs our Alchemic Kitchen project has developed a delicious cake recipe that has less sugar instead using fruit such as banana or apples. Check out our ideas for additional flavourings or get creative coming up with your own!

Read about our work on sugar and soil depletion. 

Recipe for a sugar smart cake

• 100g sugar
• 100g butter
• 200g bananas (well mashed) or 200g grated apple – you can use 200g grated carrot or 200g grated courgette (using courgettes – once grated, squeeze out before adding or the mix will be too wet)
• 200g self-raising flour
• 3 free-range eggs

Beat sugar and butter well, add mashed/grated fruit and whisk until blended – it will look like it’s split but don’t worry!

Add eggs one at a time with one tbsp of the flour, then fold in rest of flour and any additional flavours. Spoon into a lined loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes at 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Check to see if middle cooked (with either a cake tester or a knife), if not, cook for a further 10 minutes.

Additional flavours

• Cocoa powder – substitute 50g flour for 50g cocoa powder and also chop in 50g dark chocolate works well with a banana base
• Add 2 tsp powdered ginger, and 50g of pre-soaked sultanas (instead of 50g of the grated apple) for the apple base
• Cinnamon and nuts go well with carrots (substitute 50g of the carrots with 50g chopped nuts and 2 tsp of cinnamon)
• Lime goes very well with courgette as an additional flavour – use the zest and juice of 1

For more inspiration from the Alchemic Kitchen, follow them on Instagram and Facebook.