Mood-Boosting Lemon Turmeric Cake

Awhile back, we posted about Turmeric, a bioactive ingredient we use in our new, Plastic-free Bodycare formulations. Turmeric is a powerful antioxidant that helps calm and reduce skin irritation. This golden root, often used in Ayurvedic medicine, serves as both a ground spice and a supplement. Its health benefits are primarily a result of a bioactive component it contains called curcumin, which has powerful anti-inflammatory properties.

Turmeric tastes earthy, bitter, and peppery, making it an exotic and pleasing surprise in baked goods. Its beautiful golden color lends dishes a vibrant shade of yellow-orange, which is both visually lovely and (if you follow color therapy theory), enhances both mood and metabolism.

This Mood-Boosting Lemon Turmeric Cake is the perfect winter treat. Citrusy, bright, spicy, pungent, and not too sweet — enjoy it with a cup of tea by the fire. As usual, this recipe is vegan, and we include the option to make it gluten-free.

Ingredients
1 ½ cups almond flour

½ cup all-purpose or 1:1 gluten-free flour

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt (or sea salt)

½ cup melted coconut oil 

1 cup oat milk

2 lemons

1 cup + 2 tablespoons organic coconut sugar

Handful of pine nuts 

Method
- Preheat the oven to 375º F. Lightly grease a 4-by-9-inch loaf pan with coconut oil, and line it with parchment, leaving some overhang on both of the longer sides to easily lift the cake out after baking. (If you don’t have a standard-size loaf pan, just get as close to these dimensions as possible. You can use either a metal or a glass pan — metal conducts heat more evenly).

- Grate 2 tablespoons lemon zest from 1 lemon into a medium bowl. Halve the zested lemon and squeeze 2 tablespoons juice into a small bowl. Cut half the remaining whole lemon into thin rounds, discarding seeds (save the other half for another use).

- Add 1 cup coconut sugar to the lemon zest in the medium bowl; blend with fingertips until the sugar is fragrant. Whisk in the coconut oil, oat milk and the 2 tablespoons lemon juice until well blended.

- Mix the dry ingredients (flours, turmeric, salt, and baking powder) in a large bowl.

- Blend the dry and wet ingredients into the large bowl until batter is smooth and yellow. 

- Blend in the pine nuts.

- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Scatter the top with thin lemon slices and 2 tablespoons coconut sugar.

- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or so, until the top of the cake is golden brown, the edges pull away from the sides of the pan, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. If the lemons start to brown too much, cover with foil to prevent burning.

Happy Sustainable #SelfCareSunday. Enjoy!