Lets-do-thisss: Healthy Birthday Cake Recipe

Hey guys! Before I start, I should apologise for the fact I haven't posted for a couple of weeks! I've been so busy- I just started my third year at University and have also been working full-time at the gym for a couple of weeks. I've got a brilliant recipe to share with you today!

Yesterday, my boyfriend turned 22. He is the reason, I started my whole health and fitness journey in the first place. He lifts with me most days, enjoys running and often participates in fitness challenges (he ran/swim/abseiled for 20 miles over Mount Snowdon last month!!) and because he's a health nut too, it has become the norm for me to bake him a 'healthy birthday cake' each year.

I found this recipe on www.proteinpow.com - Anna has recipes for pretty much anything you can imagine so go check it out! She also features recipes from guest bloggers and this one was posted by Sanna (a Swedish blogger from Tasty Health). I decided to make her Vanilla & Cinnamon Cake and it was phenomenal! Here's how you can make it too...

Ingredients:

1 cup/130g oat flour (you can use regular oats and put them in a blender/food processor to turn them into a flour),
2 egg whites,
2/3 cup milk/180ml (I used almond milk but any type would work),
2.5 scoops of vanilla whey,
1 tbsp almond meal (I also think that ground almonds would be fine here),
1/4 cup apple sauce/60g (I use pureed apple from the baby food section in Boots),
1 tsp vanilla extract,
1 tsp baking powder,
1-2 tbsp sweetener,
1 tsp cinnamon.

1. Pre-heat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius,

2. Mix all your ingredients into a bowl (it shouldn't be too runny so add more milk if it's too thick),

3. Pour mixture into a tin (I spray mine and use baking paper because I worry about it sticking!),

4. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

I actually made two cakes so that the final one was bigger and looked more like a traditional birthday cake and whilst they cooled, I tried making some 'icing'. I won't lie, I had no idea what I was going to do with this but it went fairly well! This is what I did...

Ingredients:

1 cup/250g of 0% greek yoghurt,
1/2 cup/60g of vanilla whey,
1 tsp vanilla extract,
1/2 tsp xantham gum,

(You could use pretty much anything you want- try other flavours of protein powder and yoghurt and play around with it!)

I used an electric whisk to mix everything but the xantham gum together. I spread half of the mixture onto the top of one of the cakes for the middle layer. Then added the xantham gum to the rest of the mixture and whisked it up again (the mixture should change consistency and go from being slightly runny to being quite thick). I put this to one side, while I spread some strawberry flavoured jam (not so healthy but that's all I had in the house at the time) onto the top of the other cake. I then put the two cakes together and spread the remaining yoghurt onto the top. I then covered it with sprinkles and viola!