Earlier this year, I decided to give up refined sugar. I had come to the conclusion that my diet was packed with sugar and this was affecting my health. I felt sluggish and bloated, I was constantly exhausted and was putting on weight.
For two glorious weeks I followed the Davina’s 5 weeks to sugar-free and I felt great. Then we stayed at my mum and dad’s for the weekend and went out for a date night. I gorged on yummy desserts and drank lots of wine. I fell off the wagon.
Since then sugar has re-entered my diet and I do feel worse for it. I am hoping that this fabulous recipe from Mandy from the blog Sneaky Veg will remind me that cakes can be yummy and they don’t have to be packed with sugar. So Mandy, over to you….
Lemon and honey fairy cakes (free from refined sugar)
Hi, I’m Mandy from Sneaky Veg and I’m thrilled to be guest posting for Mrs H’s favourite things today.
My daughter, who is three and a half, is increasingly interested in helping in the kitchen. As a food lover and one of those people who’s rarely out of the kitchen myself, I am really thrilled about this. Her interest in cooking is something I plan to encourage.
She is much keener on making cakes than meals at the moment, although today she did enjoy mashing an avocado for her baby brother’s lunch so hopefully this interest in food will develop over time.
It’s lucky that she enjoys baking so much as we made many iterations of these low sugar cakes before we agreed upon this version. Too dense, too chewy, just not right somehow – several batches later we hit upon this version.
The texture of these fairy cakes is quite different to a normal butter and sugar cake. I think that this is probably inevitable though with the sticky honey and the proof was in the tasting as Miss R and her five year old brother couldn’t get enough of these.
It’s a really easy recipe to cook with a child and a good way to let them have a treat without giving them too much fat and sugar.
Ingredients
For the fairy cakes
2 medium eggs
90g honey
Zest of one lemon
100g Greek yoghurt
100g self raising flour
1sp baking powder
For the frosting
100g cream cheese
1 tbsp honey
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place 15 fairy cake cases in your fairy cake or muffin tin.
Beat the eggs with the honey. Add the lemon zest and greek yoghurt and continue beating. You can do this with an electric beater or by hand. Using a metal spoon fold in the flour and baking powder.
Place a tablespoonful of the cake mixture into each paper case and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Cool for a minute or two in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before adding the frosting.
Beat the cream cheese and honey together until well blended and the texture is light. Spoon a little onto the top of each cake and spread with the back of the spoon to cover the cake. You could also pipe it on if you’re feeling fancy!
Licking out the bowl is the best bit, right?
About Mandy and Sneaky Veg
Mandy is a mum of three from London. She blogs over at www.sneakyveg.com about her continued mission to feed her kids more fruit and veg. You can also find her at www.facebook.com/sneakyveg
Thanks so much to Mandy for this fabulous recipe. Those cakes look yummy and I can’t wait for Little Miss H and I to don our aprons and get our bake on.
If you are looking for some inspiration on how to feed your kids more fruit and vegetables then do go and visit Mandy’s mouth-watering blog. I am eager to try out the Pippin Pie and this amazing looking chocolate beetroot cake.
Do you ever bake without using refined sugar? Do you have any favourite recipes?
9 Comments
Mini Travellers
October 14, 2015 at 8:04 pmI don’t think I have ever baked without sugar but maybe I should. Honey and cream cheese. Yum!
Heledd - Running in Lavender
October 13, 2015 at 9:24 pmOoh these sound delicious!! I love lemon cake so these would be right up my street.
Katie LifeonVistaStreet Haydock
October 13, 2015 at 8:23 pmThese looks great and I’m really impressed that there is no refined sugar!
Jenna
October 11, 2015 at 12:55 pmThis looks like THE perfect recipe for baking with little people. Sounds proper scrummy too.
Fab recipe, Mandy. Thanks for sharing Lucy. xx
Mrs H
October 13, 2015 at 12:02 amThey are THE perfect recipe for baking with little people. And they are properly scrummy. Thanks for your comment lovely. Hugs Mrs H xxxx
Katy
October 10, 2015 at 8:29 pmI’m hearing so much about sugars now, really need to look into our eating habits more. This looks great, wouldn’t think to use cream cheese! x
Julia @ Rainbeaubelle
October 10, 2015 at 7:19 amThese look gorgeous and I’d love to try baking without refined sugar. I am a total sugar addict at the moment and am surviving on chocolate and wine! I’ve tried a few Deliciously Ella cake recipes and loved them, but the kids hated them! These will be next on my list to try! Thanks Mandy and Lucy xx
Mandy
October 9, 2015 at 3:15 pmThanks so much for letting me write on your blog Lucy! We’re working on some sugar free chocolate beetroot fairy cakes at the moment so I’ll let you know when they’re published. xxx
Mrs H
October 9, 2015 at 11:36 pmMandy, thank you so much for producing a fabulous recipe for my blog. I know that I tested you with the sugar-free conundrum but these cakes are yummy. And I can’t wait to read the chocolate and beetroot fairy cakes recipe. But I still can’t get my head around beetroot… in a cake! Hugs Mrs H xxxx