Soaked Spice cake with a Nutty Raisin topping

Raw milk kefir has been part of my life for exactly a year now.  I've kept a constant supply going and always find a way to use it.  Occasionally I'll drink a glass plain, but other than that, it's made into smoothies, cheese, dressings, baked goods, ect.  There is about a quart brewing all the time.  I strive to have no more than a half gallon on hand at a time.  If it gets to be more than that, then that means we are not consuming enough.  

I found myself with some extra kefir so I decided to soak some whole wheat flour and oats in it for some type of baked good. You'll lose some of the probiotic benefits by baking with the kefir, but it is still highly nutritious.  What resulted was a delicious, lightly sweet, moist cake.  I almost want to call it a 'coffee cake'.  It would make a nice brunch addition or to bring to a gathering.

 

The night before you want to bake the cake mix together the flour, oats, and kefir.  Stir well to make sure all the oats and flour are wet.  Cover and leave in a warm spot in your kitchen.  The soaking process will reduce the phytic acid and make the nutrients more available.

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups oats

2 cups kefir

The next day preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter or coconut oil.  In a big bowl mash a ripe banana and mix in the eggs, molasses, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.  Mix with a whisk until all ingredients are fully incorporated.  Then add the soaked flour mixture all at once.  Mix with a wooden spoon until all you can see are lumps of dough.  At this point it's better to put down the spoon and use a clean hand to squish all the dough pieces.  You want to make sure no lumps from the soaking dough are left.  Once it's well mixed pour it into the baking dish.

1 ripe mashed banana

2 large pastured eggs

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

This topping makes the cake!  Mix all the ingredients together and spread evenly over the unbaked cake.

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup organic raisins 

1/4 cup melted butter

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla 

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.  It smells amazing baking in the oven! ;)

** I thought this delightful cake was wonderful and had just the right amount of sweetness.  My husband on the other hand felt it wasn't sweet enough.  If you would like a sweeter cake feel free to add a cup of any natural sweetener you choose to the mix.**

I would love to hear from any of you who might try this recipe!  Let me know how it turns out for you. 

This post is part of 'Fight Back Friday' at Food Renegade and Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist.

Comments

[Michelle (Health Food Lover)]

Hi Kara.

That looks GREAT and sounds so yummy!

I would love you to share this at my blog carnival Wholesome Whole Foods.
http://healthfoodlover.com/hfl/2010/07/wholesome-foods-8-july-16th/

[Carrie]

Oooh, yum! I am going to make this to bring to my in-laws on Saturday morning. I'll try and let you know how it turns out. Can't wait! :)

[Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS]

Looks amazing. I bet the topping makes it. I am making myself get up from the computer to go make this right now. I needed a dessert for company this weekend.... I love the low sweetness in it.

[Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS]

In the oven now! Smells so good! I only gave it 5-1/2 hours of soaking, but it is hot today. The kefir probably worked fast. :)

I used date paste for the banana and molasses. Blended dates with water to paste. I added it until the batter tasted good -- 1-3/4 cups. Could have added more but that was all I made up.

I will let you know how it goes!

[Lisa Lammert]

I tried a similar recipe to this only instead of soaking the wheat flour in kefir, it called for soaking in 2 cups of yogurt for 12-24 hours, 2 cups of shredded zucchini, honey, and 3 eggs. It did not turn out very good. Very dry - which might have been due to the recipe calling for squeezing the liquid out of zucchini.

I have couple of questions. Did you use freshly ground wheat flour and do you think the type of wheat flour you use makes a difference. The dough came out very stretchy like after it sat for 24 hours. What kind of molasses did you use and can you use blackstrap molasses and get the same results or substitute with honey?

I would like to read the feedback from your readers who said they were going to try it before I attempt to make something like this again.

[Carrie]

Just finished mine this morning... I used 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (not freshly ground though...), goat kefir, and the rest exactly as the recipe says. I don't know if my molasses is blackstrap or not, just says all natural unsulfured molasses. One thing I noticed was that the topping didn't seem like enough to cover the cake, so I did add probably another 1/4 cup walnuts. And, I used "craisins" instead of raisins just because I'm not a fan of raisins. Our two eggs were a little on the smaller side, but that's all we had left for now. I let it soak about 7 hours overnight last night. When I was mixing the flour/oats/kefir with the rest of the ingredients, I didn't really have any chunks of dough as you mentioned, so I really didn't need to mix much more than with the spoon.

I have to say I agree with your husband that IMO it's just maybe is not quite sweet enough. As it cools I can taste the cinnamon more though and it's yummy! Smells amazing too. Of course, I kinda craving a sugary crunch on top, but that would obviously not be the healthiest :)

Thanks for the recipe! I'll definitely try it again sometime and maybe add a little honey and maybe a crumbly topping (what's in those toppings exactly though? anyone?)

[Tara]

Wardeh - how did it come out? The molasses is such a distinct flavor that I'm curious as to what yours ended up tasting like without it.

Lisa - I do not grind my own wheat, BUT I do buy local organic whole wheat that is ground the day I pick it up. I then store it in my freezer. I think the wheat I use is rather dry and heavy (just my experience from making bread with it), so yes I do think different wheats can give a different texture. I've have issues with my dough being stretchy like you described and I just add more liquid to give it the consistency I'm looking for. Yes, mine was blackstrap molasses. You could sub in honey, but again - they are very different flavors, so it will be a different taste. Not bad, just different.

Carrie - that's interesting that your topping didn't seem to be enough. Mine almost seemed like too much. Did you measure the nuts before or after chopping? Often times coffee cake recipes will call for a topping of oats, flour, brown sugar and butter. So that may be what you are thinking of. Glad you enjoyed it!

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Hi Kara! I grabbed your RSS feed. I remember spice cake from my granny as a child and that smell in the air is like heaven! What I love is "traditionalizing" old family recipes to be healthier so you can continue to enjoy the soul food and comfort food aspect of a dish or treat, knowing you made it healhty! Great blog and hope you come visit me at a moderate life! :) alex

[Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS]

Tara -- It was really, really good. The topping makes it great, I love the buttery crunchiness of the nuts. I would agree with Carrie that it could use more. :)

Mine was probably sweeter than yours, and it was perfectly sweet. I think combining molasses with dates would be really good, but just dates was wonderful.

I forgot to say that also I used fresh ground spelt flour, which is awesome in cakes. It is much like whole wheat pastry flour in its lightness.

[Lisa]

Tara - Do you know the difference in whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour? The health food store that I go to sell both.

Where do you buy your freshly ground wheat flour?

[Vikki Kay]

Hi, I substituted ingredients, too, soaking buckwheat flour and using treacle for molasses. It came out extremely soft and rich - like fruitcake without the fruit.

[Leah]

I made this today and it was awesome! I added another banana for extra sweetner and moisture and used ground pecans for the topping since I didn't have any walnuts and my boys don't like chunky nuts. Then I served it warm, topped with a dollop of sweet cream (from NT). Mmmmmm...!

[Jessie]

I made this recipe & it came out well. I did use spelt flour & honey rather than whole wheat flour & molasses.

However, my "topping" sank into the cake somewhat & wasn't really on top anymore. This didn't seem to happen to anyone else who commented. Can you suggest what may have gone wrong for me?

[Tara]

Lisa - I'm not well versed in it, but I think that WW pastry flour will yield a lighter (less dense) baked good. I found a local farm that grows organic whole wheat and will grind it for me the day I pick it up. I get 25 lbs at a time and keep it in the freezer to keep fresh.

Vicki Kay - glad to hear your substitutions worked out deliciously!

Leah - thanks for letting me know. The sweet cream sounds like it would be amazing on it!

Jessie - What was the consistency like once you poured it into the baking pan? Did the nuts and raisins seem to sink right away? Maybe the difference in the spelt flour had a effect on it? I'm sorry, I'm not sure. Did it turn out alright otherwise? I almost think that the topping sinking in would be rather yummy!

[Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist]

Hi Tara, this cake looks delightful! It looks so delicious - I'll bet it would be fantastic as a coffee cake type of pastry as well (or even for breakfast)!!

Thank you for participating in Monday Mania and sharing your Real Foodie Wisdom with my readers!

[annie]

Pastry flour has a lower gluten content (so I have heard) so you can't use it is things that have yeast-they won't 'lift.' So, it's best suited for quick breads, cakes, cookies, muffins, that sort of thing. I would not think that this would be 'gluten-free' enough, though, for gluten intolerant individuals. I always still soak recipes in which I am using WW pastry flour. Or, I use my sprouted flour. =D