Blueberry Gingerbread Cake + Crustless Quiche
Extras subscribers get an exclusive recipe for crustless quiche from my friend Stephanie Meyer of Project Vibrancy!
It’s the end of January, the month we often dive into something new. I get lots of requests for vegan and gluten-free recipes. So, I thought it would be an interesting challenge to bake a classic Blueberry Gingerbread Snack Cake with those dietary boundaries in mind. As you probably know by now, I grew up in a commune, where I wasn’t allowed to eat sugar, we grew most of our food and ate an incredibly healthy diet. We were by no means vegan, nor gluten-free, but we ate no processed foods, used honey or maple sugar to sweeten baked goods, and cooked everything from scratch. I still, for the most part, with the exception of lots of sugar in my house, live like that.
I am often asked how I bake so much and don’t gain a ton of weight. In fact, I ran into Dan Buettner, the author of the Blue Zone Books* (about the secrets of living longer) and he asked the very same question. My non-scientific response was, I don’t eat the whole cake (meaning I take small portions of whatever I am baking), I exercise (walk my dog, weight train, and/or dance) a little bit every day and I don’t eat processed foods (canned, frozen, prepared foods that contain a lot of hidden fat, sugar and salt). So, even though I bake constantly, I don’t gain a ton of weight because it is balanced by the other choices.
A super brief real-talk about menopause. My body has changed since I hit menopause about 5 years ago and my metabolism seems to have slowed and continues to do so. As a result, I am more diligent about working out. Not only for weight gain but muscular health and stamina. Our bodies are constantly changing and sometimes those changes require a switch in our routines.
Nobody I know has more experience creating healthy ways to eat delicious food, than my friend, Stephanie Meyer. Stephanie is, hands down, one of the greatest home cooks I know and her recipes have been featured in magazines, books, and TV. Due to a long undiagnosed issue with eating gluten, she had to do a retooling of her way of cooking. Instead of giving things up, she got more creative and built an entire library of recipes that not only taste great but have completely turned around her health. Her story is one so many can relate to and she’s able to provide encouragement and guides to an exciting new way of cooking.
I am so grateful that Stephanie has shared her story and some of her tips, techniques, and favorite tools - one of which she knows I am in desperate need of! ;) Stephanie has also shared a fantastic Crustless Spinach Quiche recipe below for Extras subscribers.
Recipe: Zoë’s Blueberry Gingerbread Snack Cake Evolution
I’ve been tinkering with this gingerbread snack cake since 1996. It was on the menu at Backstage at Bravo!, the first fine-dining restaurant I worked in after leaving culinary school. We used to bake big batches of this cake and then break it into pieces to soak for bread pudding. It was always a big seller in the cold of the Minnesota winter with the warm spices and served with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream. I always loved the cake for its comfort food simplicity. Serve it with ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or yogurt for breakfast.
The original cake was made with shortening, Crisco to be exact, lots of sugar, eggs, and a mild dose of spice. In the updated recipe I made substitutions in an attempt to make the cake more delicious by today’s standards and to create a vegan and/or gluten-free version. In the post I explain the substitutions I played around with and which ones worked best. The recipe has all of my final choices reflected but I thought I would take you through my process of getting to there.