Lemon & Poppy Seed Almond Protein Cake

Serves 12

Some of you may remember me trying and then failing miserably at my last attempt at a light, fluffy, sweet-but-not-too-sweet lemon cake. Well, I’m very excited to say that this time was a success! Not only that, it is vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, low in carbs and high in protein. Plus, it is very quick to prepare in only one bowl (hurray for no endless dirty dishes!) and looks pretty enough to brighten anyone’s day! One serving provides 337 calories, 9g of protein, 3g of fibre and 11% of my daily calcium intake thanks to all of those lovely almonds. Happy Sunday y’all!

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

· 4 Eggs
· 250g Almond flour
· 1 tsp Baking Powder
· 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
· 2 1/2 tbsp Poppy Seeds
· 190g Olive Oil
· 70g Maple Syrup
· 4 Lemons
· 30g Unflavoured Protein Powder (I used Neat Nutrition Powder)
· 2 tbsp Ground Flaxseed (I used Linwoods)

NOTE — If you don’t have any Almond Flour, just blitz blanched almonds in your blender until a crumbly flour texture is formed, but be careful not to blend for too long as it will turn into Almond Butter instead!

For an optional sweet lemon drizzle on the top:

· Juice and zest of 2 lemons
· 2 tbsp Maple Syrup

METHOD

· Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.
· Grease a spring form cake tin.
· Zest and juice 3 of the lemons.
· Slice the remaining lemon and set aside for decoration.
· Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl.
· Add all of the remaining ingredients and combine well.
· Pour into the greased cake tin and decorate with the sliced lemons on top.
· Cook for 45 minutes, making sure a sharp knife comes out clean when you check it.
· Can be served either warm or cold with a drizzle of the sweet lemon reduction.
· To make the drizzle, simply put the lemon juice, zest and maple syrup in a small saucepan on a low heat on the stove for 5 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Calories — 337
Fat — 28g (Saturated Fat — 4g)
Carbohydrates — 14g
Protein — 9g
Fibre — 3g
Vitamin C — 8%
Calcium — 11%
Iron — 9%