I love this new season and all its seasonal fruits! Berries are my personal favorite in the summer, not just because they are delicious, also because they are full of goodness! Each year my heart makes a little jump when I see the first berries arrive in the supermarket. At this time they are still overpriced (sorry wallet) and probably from a greenhouse, but I just cannot not buy them. Luckily as summer progresses, the prices become reasonable, the taste becomes better and that means I will probably buy all the berries I can carry home.
Not only are they delicious to eat, berries are loaded with vitamins, antioxidants and phytochemicals that support a healthy body and skin and they also have a low glycemic index, meaning that they won’t spike blood sugar much (like your favorite muffin does for example) which is better for our overall health. So next time you see some good looking berries in the market, stock up on them!
Eating berries just as they are is definitely delicious but sometimes I like to play around with them and incorporate them in cakes and cookies. It would be a bit of a waste to add them to sugar loaded cakes, because well, I just told you about how good they are for our bodies. So, instead we tried to make a healthier berry cake. I have to say that it is still more healthy to eat your berries as they are (of course) but every now and then we just crave a piece of cake you know! And with this cake, you won’t even have to feel so guilty about eating it, win-win for sure!
Polenta forest berry cake
for 1 cake
170 gr polenta
30 gr coconut flour (you can change this for any normal flour or almond flour)
100 ml maple syrup
100 gr butter, melted
250 gr ricotta
3 eggs
1 cup of berries of choice, fresh or frozen (we used forest berries)
½ tsp vanilla powder (sugar free)
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Mix the dry ingredients (polenta, coconut flour, vanilla powder, baking powder and salt) together in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl mix the maple syrup, melted butter, ricotta and eggs. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix quickly. Add the berries and add the mixture to a prepared cake tin. Bake for about 25 minutes (this depends on your cake tin, so make sure the top browned a bit and the insides are solid).
* Optional: This cake is very good on its own, but if you want to give it an extra twist top it with our coconut cream frosting for extra goodness.
#cake #polenta #ricotta #coconut #flour #maplesyrup #butter #eggs #berries #forestberries #vanilla #sweet #dessert