Ginger Cake

This is one of our favourites! It’s a ginger cake – truly delicious and better still there’s no refined sugar and it’s gluten free. 

It’s an Ayurvedic recipe I’ve borrowed from a book of recipes put together by Julie Dent who runs a wonderful retreat in Gloucestershire called The Clover Mill. Ayurveda means the science or knowledge of life – how to live a healthy life, how to live wisely. The theory and practices of Ayurveda are ancient and still have great relevance today.  But you don’t have to follow an Ayurvedic lifestyle to recognise the key principles of good nutrition that it advocates – cooking with fresh, seasonal ingredients, nothing processed, and eating mindfully.

Ingredients:

175g unsalted butter – melted (or 150ml light olive oil)
100g dried pitted dates
5 balls stem ginger
80ml maple syrup
3 large eggs
200g ground almonds
50g rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp ground ginger
1 pinch of salt

Method:

Cover the dates with boiling water and leave for ten minutes. Drain and food process with butter, maple syrup and stem ginger until mixed well.

Add the eggs and blend.

Add all of the dry ingredients and blend.

Pour into a prepared loaf tin and bake at 170 degrees celsius for about 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.