A moist cake with warm spices topped with Caramelized Apple Slices and baked with Fine Almond Flour. I top it with a drizzle of Vanilla Bean Rum Glaze. A healthy new alternative recipe.
I have decided to delve into baking with “alternate ingredients.” See below about the changes in modern wheat (flour) in our country today.
My husband is gluten-sensitive, and so I am always testing recipes we both can enjoy.
Almond flour seemed like a sensible ingredient to play around with in my baking. It is used widely in the Paleo diet, is low in low-carbohydrates – and very friendly for those following a gluten-free diet.
Almond flour is that it’s simply ground-up almonds so it gives you all of the original almond’s health benefits.
When you use almond flour as part of a generally healthy recipe, it doesn’t just taste good, but it can provide a steady source of fuel that also won’t make your blood sugar spike.
I seem to be eating less and less sugar these days, so the dessert needs to be special, delicious or evoke a memory.
This apple cake is filling is not too sweet and totally satisfying.
The Liberty apple (what I picked at the farm!) is sweet like a McIntosh, yet more tart and has a flavor profile very much its own including some hints of citrus and melon. Its yellow-toned flesh is crisp and juicy with a fine-grain texture.
Try different apples for this cake – the firmer, tart varieties hold up best.
Almond flour does lend a coarser textured cake, and it’s denser.
I encourage all to enjoy gluten-free baking and see how it can blend into your lifestyle.
Here are some thoughts I am having about What has happened to Modern Wheat:
The way we bake has changed considerably over the years. There has been a health movement.
Have you noticed the increase in the amount of gluten-free products in the grocery store or at your favorite restaurant?
There’s little evidence that a gluten-free diet offers any particular health benefits. However, a gluten-free diet can still be a healthy way to eat depending on which gluten-free foods you choose, how often you eat them and whether your other food choices are healthy ones.
Back in the day, we used to consume ancient varieties like Emmer, Einkorn and Kamut.
However, almost all of the wheat eaten today is high-yield dwarf wheat, which was developed by cross-breeding and crude genetic manipulation around the year 1960.
Another condition, called non-celiac gluten sensitivity, is believed to be much more common, perhaps afflicting around 6-8% of people.
Many celiac patients have started buying Einkorn wheat or sourdough bread instead.
And widespread concerns about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), allergens, pesticides, and artificial ingredients are shaping innovation in food, supplements, and personal care products like never before.
History of “Diets, the 1960’s on:
In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a sprinkling health foods stores across the country. Getting back to nature was stylish.
The 1960s saw a grassroots revival of holistic health – food co-ops also started to appear, filling the demand for healthy, fresh foods. Think wheat germ, tofu and granola. (Convenient, processed foods became readily available in the 1950s.)
In the 1980s sushi became popular in America, in part because people began to pay more attention to the health benefits of food like fish and vegetables. Margarine was actually what people were buying more of… not butter – it was touted as a healthier and less expensive version of butter. And – artificially flavored and artificially sweetened products everywhere!
In the 1990’s frozen yogurt shops swept the country – a low-fat alternative to ice cream, and the low-fat craze that really took off. Low-fat items were packed with added sugar to make up for the lack of flavor.
High-protein, low-carb diet were in vogue as were avoiding high-sugar fruits and veggies.
In the 2000s the macrobiotic diet was widely popular. This philosophy of eating brought back the carbs that were frowned upon in the ’90s, in the form of high-fiber foods like brown rice. Smoothies were now considered a daily consumption – yet cupcakes came back in style.
Here we are in the 2010s –
What seems to be popular are singular foods; quinoa, avocados and kale – and convenience foods such as hummus and ramen noodles.
Organic and local grown foods I would say are the largest contribution to this decade. Second to non-gmo and gluten-free foods. Full fat dairy including grass-fed butter are now trending, as is grass-fed beef. Organic sales in the U.S. totaled around $49.4 billion in 2017, reflecting new sales of almost $3.5 billion from the previous year.
Organic is the fastest growing sector of the U.S. food industry.
“Gluten-free” I believe is not a trend only for this decade.
A great, educational read, see below: “Gluten Intolerance … it’s more complicated than you think.”
The article mentions: “People often comment about how bread didn’t cause problems with our health before GMOs and Roundup were prevalent in our food supply.” “Glyphosate is poison and so are the other ingredients in Roundup.” “If one suffers from a chronic illness of any kind, they must remove gluten from their diet in order to get well.
“Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is believed to be the most prevalent of the gluten-related disorders.”
Enjoy!
Karen
