Recipe: Mango Almond Celebration Cake

Even one slice of regular cake — no matter how harmless it might seem — can reintroduce bad sugars and fats into your diet and reignite those sweet tooth cravings. Try this cake instead, which will help keep your taste buds satisfied, but with ingredients that love you back. It requires just 30 to 35 minutes of prep.

You can also swap the apricot preserves for a variety of sugar-free jellies, and top with other fresh fruit like peaches or blueberries.

Ingredients

Cake
Canola oil or extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups (about 10 ounces) slivered almonds, toasted
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup raisin reduction*
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons orange zest (orange part only), finely grated
1 teaspoon lemon zest (yellow part only), finely grated
5 large egg whites

Mango topping
2 tablespoons sugar-free apricot jelly or preserves
2 ripe mangos (about 2 cups), peeled, pitted, cut into 1/3-inch dice

* Raisin reduction
2 cups (about 9.5 ounces) golden raisins
2 cups water

Directions

1. First make the raisin reduction. Combine the raisins and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer uncovered until about 3 to 4 tablespoons water remains, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm and blend until smooth in a high-speed blender or food processor.
2. Position the rack in the center and preheat the oven to 350º F. Lightly coat a 9-inch springform pan with canola oil or extra-virgin olive oil.
3. Put the almonds in a food processor and finely grind, about 30 seconds.
4. In a large bowl, mix the ground almonds, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, mix the raisin reduction, vanilla, orange zest and lemon zest. Add the raisin reduction mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to blend well.
5. In another large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold a third of the beaten egg whites into the nut mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites in a couple more additions, until just incorporated but be careful not to deflate the batter. Do not overmix.
6. Transfer the batter to the prepared springform pan. Bake until the center looks light golden and the edges are deep golden brown and start to shrink away from the sides of the pan, 38 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Using a small sharp knife, cut around the outer edges of the cake and remove the outside pan ring. Let cool 5 minutes more.
7. Spread the apricot preserves over top of the warm cake, then let cool completely. Remove the cake from the pan bottom with two spatulas, and place on a serving platter. Top the cake with the diced mango.

Nutrition information (per serving)

Makes 12 servings
Serving size = 1 slice

Calories: 197 kcal
Total fiber: 3.2 g
Soluble fiber: 0.3 g
Protein: 7.7 g
Total fat: 12.7 g
Saturated fat: 0.9 g
Healthy fats: 11.7 g
Carbohydrates: 15 g
Sugars: 7.7 g
Added sugars: 0 g
Sodium: 201 mg
Magnesium: 6 g
Calcium: 99 mg

— From “The What to Eat When Cookbook” by Michael F. Roizen, MD, Michael Crupain, MD, MPH, and Jim Perko, Sr, CEC, AAC.