Let Them Eat Cake!

Hey girls and boys, do I have a great cake recipe for you! We made this cake for our family and for an office party birthday and it magically disappeared almost instantly. I got so many requests for the recipe I decided to post it. The crazy thing is (and don’t tell anybody this until there are only crumbs left on the plate because they will never know) beside being -lick the plate delicious- it is TOTALLY HEALTHY! It is whole wheat and there is no refined sugar in it – only healthy agave sweetener.

(Note: Whole Wheat Pastry Flour which is white in color and light. It is different than brown Whole Wheat Bread Flour)

You can buy the cookbook that this and many more great recipes come from our web site at: www.zoeway.com– we are in the process of getting it online - so if you can't get on quite yet, please check back in a few days). This cookbook is a little on the expensive side but is well worth it (full color pictures on every page and chock full of good info). It is not like some other Agave cookbooks that I've reviewed. Other popular Agave cookbooks ask you to buy a list of weird ingredients that you will probably never use again or have recipes that are unappealing. This great cookbook is filled with family favorites that have been converted to be healthy and delicious as well as new recipes that are bound to become family favorites. You can also buy the Agave at our site in various sizes. I buy the gallon size because I bake with it and use it to refill my smaller size that is more handy for adding Agave in my tea or coffee.

Whole Wheat Agave Carrot Pineapple Cake

This is a super moist and delicious carrot cake. The Cream Cheese Frosting, which is incredible, can be made in minutes and only uses 2/3 cup agave vs. 6 cups of powdered sugar, saving you over 3,000 calories!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 virgin cold pressed coconut oil - warmed to liquefy (or 1 ½ cups canola oil)
1 1/2 cups agave
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup unsweetened coconut
2 cups grated carrots
2 cups crushed pineapple (with juice)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I grind my own in my Vitamix)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grind Flour. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Pour into greased 9 x 13 inch pan.

Bake at 325°F for 50 - 60 minutes. Let cool and frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. This cake tastes better on day two!

Cream Cheese Frosting:
This delicious frosting is easy to make and saves you 3,000 calories over the sugar equivalent and tastes better.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature (I use organic dairy)
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2/3 cup agave

Steps:

Put all ingredients into a large bowl and blend until smooth with an electric mixer. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Tips and Notes: Use as a frosting on carrot cake, chocolate cake, brownies, zucchini bread, banana bread, etc.

Southern Fried Health Food

My food philosophy in a nutshell: It must taste good! – Or you can vibrate the air with useless sound waves about a product and it's health benefits – and it will take up permanent residence in the fridge, growing penicillin like some abandoned lab experiment. However, my real maniacal hidden agenda is that our food be clean, healthy food that TASTES GOOD.

Who am I? I am a recent “true believer”. Yes, I have known, studied, and even taught the benefits of healthy eating and exercise for decades. Heck, we were even full blown vegetarians for a while and felt great. But one summer afternoon the perfumed aroma of a neighbor’s sizzling steak grilling in the distance wafted into our backyard. Like some giggling high school kids with fake IDs we snuck to the grocery store for the contraband. We grilled the most delicious juicy perfectly marbled stake and for a brief moment we experienced carnivore’s heaven. We looked at each other and agreed that we had been way overboard on this "vegetarian thing" – only to feel occasional buyer’s remorse, sugar coated and not nearly as healthy – but hey, it’s the American way. Besides, how can a chocolaholic truly be a health nut?

Well, as they sing, "The times they are a changin’ ", and actions have consequence. What we can get away with in our youth will beat us bloody later. It is funny how that works. It seems like you can get away with living an unhealthy life choice without paying the consequences just about as long as it takes to develop into a habit then “Its time to pay the piper” (as the old timers say) – I think that means by that time, you're pretty much screwed to the wall.

What is a true believer? Well I am not on a sticks and berries diet …yet – My whole life I have been a "from scratch", southern fried, cheese biscuit, real potatoes and gravy, dessert with every meal, dipped in chocolate cook. I still have a family to feed and all food must pass muster on the delicious scale. However, I have slowly converting us all to a healthy alternative diet and we will share the trickery on this blog. I would love for you to join our adventure and to hear your tips and suggestions. We have already seen tremendous life changing and even miraculous health benefits this year!

Coming Tomorrow:

My New Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe (don't tell them until after it has been devoured that it was healthy and actually good for them!)

In the meantime, be sure to visit (and bookmark) our website at http://www.zoeway.com - and keep checking back for more great tasting, healthy products coming soon!