Almond Strawberry Wholemeal Sponge (Eggless & Butterless)

Almond Strawberry Wholemeal Sponge (Eggless & Butterless)


It has been a hectic week but can see light at the end of the tunnel. As part of my effort to deplete my pantry stock as much as possible before an important milestone, I tried making another cake. I quite enjoy making these with a twist and I do not think there is much point in making a wholemeal flour cake with loads of sugar, butter and eggs. I saw this recipe in a vegan cook book but adapted it to our taste and non-vegan cooking. If you are vegan, replace yogurt and milk with equivalent soya products. The original recipe does not call for any added sugar and infact says add sugarless jam etc. However, I had my own doubts about taking it to that extreme and added little brown sugar and used regular jam. I was utterly clueless about the result because usually what makes a sponge cake spongy is the all purpose flour, egg and butter and without these key ingredients, would it really be as sponge. Indeed it was fair to call it a sponge and I was very glad to have found a healthy cake recipe that one can have for snack or even breakfast. Usually I do not sift wholemeal flour as I like to keep the bran, this time I did just so that it does not affect the texture of the sponge. Also I wanted to ensure sifting was done so the flour is aerated to result in a spongy cake. Next time I would overcome the issue of keeping the bran by simply adding it back to the flour after sifting (sometimes it takes a wee while to figure out simple things). Now for the recipe...

225g wholemeal self rising flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon strawberry jam
100g strawberry yogurt
¾ cup sunflower oil
175g strawberries, hulled
50ml milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
50g ground almonds
More jam to smear between layers

Preheat oven to 180degCand line the bottom of a cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides and paper

In a blender, blend together the oil, strawberries, jam, milk and yogurt until smooth

Put this in a large mixing bowl and add the ground almonds and sugar and mix

Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold into the mixture

Pour this into the cake tin and level. Drop the tin from a height of about 4 inches about ten times to get rid of excess air

Bake for 25 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes and transfer to wire rack and cool completely

Cut into two halves by slicing in the middle of the cake and spread jam on one half

Put the other half on top and cut the cake to serve!