My dear ones, Christ is born! Glorify Him!

This is another cake I made honoring this beautiful celebration! For the Christmas spirit, I made this cake using the Nordic Ware Christmas Wreath bake pan. (I will post photos shortly)

This is an original recipe of mine that I have put together after much experimentation. It is really easy to make, and delicious too! It tends to be sweet, fair warning. Some people don’t like matcha, some do. If you like matcha, use less sugar than noted in the recipe. I love matcha, so I use about 1/2 cup to 1 cup, depending on who I am hosting for.

An important to be aware of: make sure your non-dairy milk, applesauce (or aquafaba, depends on what you use) is at room temperature. When combining anything cold with coconut oil, the oil seizes up. If you use coconut oil, then you will know that coconut oil “melts”/softens when in warm temperature. It solidifies when the temperature is cooler. It is something that does on its own depending on the temperature. (If that makes sense).

Speaking of, if your coconut oil is solid, heat the amount you are using in the recipe until it softens and melts. Keep an eye on this when you do this- you don’t want to have the taste of burnt coconut oil in your cake!

If you don’t have coconut oil, you can use sunflower oil since it is neutral in taste, but coconut oil pairs better with matcha, in my opinion. I advise against using canola oil.

What is Aquafaba?

Aquafaba simply means ‘bean water’. Faba = bean. Aqua= water. I use aquafaba sourced from chickpeas if I don’t have applesauce on hand. It doesn’t have a dominating/loud flavor which is a plus. It is a great binder in place of using eggs. It is light in color which is perfect for this recipe because I don’t want it to affect the color of my recipe at the end result.

You can easily make this at home or use the “water” from the chickpea can. If you would like to go the homemade route, simply reserve the water you cooked your chickpeas in and use it in this recipe.

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ingredients

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 cup sugar

6 tablespoon applesauce/aquafaba

1/2 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk, or non dairy milk of choice (oat, almond milk, or soy work best)

1 cup organic all purpose  flour (or use 1:1 GF flour for a gluten free option)  

1 tbsp matcha powder (culinary kind)

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.  Spray a loaf pan well or line with parchment paper.
2. Use a mixer, cream together the coconut oil and sugar. You can also do this by hand. Whisk together well. 
3. Add almond milk and aquafaba/applesauce. Beat well until well combined.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, matcha powder, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to aquafaba/applesauce mixture and mix until smooth.
5. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown on the outside and a toothpick comes out clean. 
6. If making this for guests or sharing it on a holiday, sprinkle some powdered sugar for a nice effect.

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health benefits

Matcha

Nutritional profile: 

67% protein

33% carbs 

Protein: 14 g

Aquafaba

Applesauce

If using this option, buy unsweetened applesauce since this recipe is sweet as it is. The applesauce I used was the Thrive Market Organic Non-GMO Apple sauce Original. It is organic, Non-GMO, gluten free, paleo, vegan, preservative free, no artificial ingredients, and no added sugars or sweeteners.

Nutritional profile of apples:

95% carbs

3% fat

2% protein

65 calories per 1 cup serving (chopped, raw)

Non-dairy milk

The nutritional profile will depend on the non-dairy milk you choose. Typically nut milks are a great source of plant based protein among with other vitamins and minerals. Check the nutrition info on the container. The benefit of using homemade nut milk is that it does not have additives. This preference is entirely up to you based on your health needs/concerns!