Plum & Walnut Cake

plum cake.jpg

One of my favourite things during the summer are the delicious and juicy fruits, characterized by their sweet flesh and pit in the centre, the so-called stone fruits. Amongst their countless benefits, I must highlight the impact they have in reducing the risk of numerous cancers¹ due to their potent anti-angiogenic bioactives, such as carotenoids (antioxidant) and their ability to inhibit the action of cancer stem cells. The later being stimulated by the action of chlorogenic acid², another polyphenol highly abundant in stone fruits and coffee.

Time for you to start consuming these delicious fruit varieties, full of flavour and outstanding health benefits. Here are some of my faves: plums, peaches, nectarines, mangoes and apricots. Eating them raw is the best way to get their full range of healthy compounds and refresh yourself in these summery days. You can also blend them into your smoothies for that sweet touch, add them into your morning toasts or mix into you next batter cake!

Ingredients

  • 180g wheat flour

  • 16g baking powder

  • 70g ground walnuts

  • 100g brown sugar

  • 100ml olive oil

  • 100ml almond milk

  • 1 medium-large egg

  • 1/2 lemon juice

  • 6-7 plums

  • 2tsp cinnamon

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC and with olive oil, grease a loaf tin (or line it with some parchment paper).

  2. Add the flour, baking powder and ground walnuts into a large mixing bowl and combine the ingredients with a spatula.

  3. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, olive oil, almond milk, egg and lemon juice.

  4. Combine the wet mixture with the dry ingredients. Mix them well until reaching a smooth consistency (the batter shouldn’t stick to the walls of the mixing bowl).

  5. Cut the plums in halves and remove the stone. Pour the batter into the loaf tin and place the plum halves on top. Sprinkle with some cinnamon.

  6. Bake for about 50 minutes at 170ºC until a toothpick comes out clean.

  7. Let the loaf cool down for 15-20 minutes before removing from the tin.

References

  1. Freedman, Neal D., Yikyung Park, Amy F. Subar, Albert R. Hollenbeck, Michael F. Leitzmann, Arthur Schatzkin, and Christian C. Abnet. 2007. “Fruit And Vegetable Intake And Esophageal Cancer In A Large Prospective Cohort Study”. International Journal Of Cancer 121 (12): 2753-2760. doi:10.1002/ijc.22993.

  2. Yamagata, Kazuo, Yuri Izawa, Daiki Onodera, and Motoki Tagami. 2017. “Chlorogenic Acid Regulates Apoptosis And Stem Cell Marker-Related Gene Expression In A549 Human Lung Cancer Cells”. Molecular And Cellular Biochemistry 441 (1-2): 9-19. doi:10.1007/s11010-017-3171-1.

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