My teens are always ‘STARVING’ and even when I double recipes, these days they gobble it all down in one hit which means sadly for me there are barely any leftovers to reuse or repurpose : (

For the sake of my sanity I’m determined to beat this and create meals and snacks which are nutritious and FILL ‘EM UP so I’m not constantly cooking!

Grab my ebook Real Food For Hungry Teens and fill those hollow legs!

So my first endeavour resulted in this Double Chocolate Banana Slab Cake full of ingredients to satisfy and satiate.

With nutritious ingredients like banana, oats, chia seeds, eggs, milk, butter, nut butter and a little avocado, this cake is the answer to my prayers to stop the incessant niggling and nagging for ‘more food’ especially after school.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favourite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Cacao Powder
Maple Syrup
Whole Spelt Flour 
Rapadura Sugar
Baking Powder
Salt
Cinnamon
Dark Chocolate Chips
Rolled Oats
Medjool Dates
Coconut Milk

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration take a look at my ebook, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes.

It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar-free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved, and take the guesswork out of what delicious, healthy food to pack your kids for lunch!

If you need nut-free icing take a look at my 10 Real Food Icing recipes here.

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Double Chocolate Banana Slab Cake

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 14

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

CAKE

• 3 ripe bananas
• 115 grams butter melted
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• ¼ cup milk can use any milk like almond, dairy, coconut, rice, oat ....
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rapadura sugar or coconut sugar
• 1.5 cups whole spelt flour or unbleached plain flour
• 1/2 cup cacao powder or Dutch processed Cocoa
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 3/4 cup whole oats
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

ICING

• 1/4 cup nut butter I used peanut butter because that’s what I had
• 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup or rice syrup
• 3 teaspoons raw cocoa powder
• 2 Medjool dates
• 2 tablespoons avocado can’t taste it but gives body to the mix and extra nutrition!
• 1 tablespoon milk you can use almond, dairy, rice, coconut etc, any will work
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

• Grease and line a 20 x 20 square tin
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

CAKE

• In a large bowl, mash the bananas.
• Melt butter and pour over the top of bananas and stir. Add eggs, vanilla, milk and combine well.
• Sift in the flour, cacoa powder, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add chia seeds, whole oats and chocolate chips. Fold the mixture until just combined.
• Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake approx 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. All ovens are different so I would check at 20 minutes to check if cooked.
• Remove from oven. Allow to cool in tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto cooling tray. Cool completely before icing.

ICING

• Pop all ingredients into a small food processor and blend until smooth.

Notes

Cut into squares or bars and store in air tight container or freezer.

If you make this recipe and share on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek.

Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook.

Some other delicious healthy treats you might like are Raw Caramel Slice and Cookie Dough Energy Balls.

Do you have hungry kids who are bottomless pits too?

Whether you like you cakes raw, fancy, allergy-free, gluten-free, rich, indulgent or basic….I’ve got you covered.

Double Whammy Chocolate Cake according to Jo from Quirky Cooking is perfect for those fancy occasions.

And she reckons her Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake is a great for those semi-fancy occasions.

Double Chocolate Banana Slab Cake by me is an easy one for everyday and perfect for lunchboxes.

Magic Bean Chocolate Cake by Clevercook is a massively popular one.

Avocados in the Raw Chocolate Cake by Clevercook. Holy yummy richness!

Rich and Delicious Chocolate Muffins (which can easily be turned into a cake) by Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle

Best Ever Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free Chocolate Cake by 84th and 3rd

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes by Alexx Stuart which can also easily be turned into a cake.

Easy One Bowl Chocolate Raspberry Cake by Lisa Corduff. Chocolate and raspberries is on of my personal favourite combos.

Gluten-Free Brownie Cake by Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle

Chocolate Yoghurt Cake by Natural New Age Mum

Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Chocolate Chia Cake by Tania Hubbard

Hot Chocolate Cake by Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle

If you make any of these recipes please do take photos and send them to me.

If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life. 

And remember, if you haven’t already, grab your copy of my new Easy Wholefood Luncbboxes here.

Bren x

First world problems to the max.

So together we set to task and created this delectable cake and she assures me that this time the texture is “just right”. Phew!

I had planned on using dates but had run out (a rare thing in this house). Having seen a few recipes around using prunes, I was inspired to give it a go.

Verdict: Prunes and chocolate = match made in cake heaven

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Prunes
Bicarbonate of soda
Coconut or rapadura sugar
Spelt flour
Baking powder
Dark chocolate
Raw honey

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Hot Chocolate Cake

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup prunes deseeded
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water I used water from the kettle
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 60 grams butter chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut or rapadura sugar
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 100 grams dark chocolate chopped (I used 90% Lindt but you may like to go for 70% as it may be too intense if you're not used to it)
• thick cream
• raw honey

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees
• Butter and line cake tin
• Pop prunes, hot water and bicarbonate of soda into a food processor with the lid on and let it stand for 5 minutes
• Add the butter and sugar and pulse until just combined
• Add flour and eggs and pulse again until just combined (careful not to over pulse)
• Add chopped chocolate and pulse a few more times
• Pour the mixture into the prepared bake tin and pop in the oven for approx 50 mins - 1 hour, test to see if it's is ready with a skewer after 50 minutes
• Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack
• While it's cooking stir together your cream with a teaspoon of raw honey (or to taste), with a spoon
• Serve cake warm with some honey cream and berries
• Eat the cake within 3 days or store in the freezer

Notes

These Thermomix and Gluten-Free Instructions were sent to me by my clever friend Sarah from CleverCook.
250g pitted prunes in 250g boiling water
1 teaspoon bicarb of soda
Speed 1/no temp.
Add
60g butter
80g rapadura
100g dark chocolate
SP 4/30 secs, scrape down
Add
2 eggs
120g GF flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
SP 5/15 secs. Pour into lined muffin tins and cook 25-30 mins.
Thanks Brenda, they are lovely!

You can even turn these into muffins!

Please send me pictures on Instagram or Facebook if you make this cake, or leave a comment on this blog post to let me know how you go.

Here’s one by one of my lovely Facebook followers who told me it was “ohhh so delicious” and apparently her husband has claimed it his favourite cake recipe!

Woo hoo!

You might also like Cardamon Spice Cake and Double Chocolate Banana Slab Cake.

Bren x

Image credit: A girl, a guy,furkids and food

But I could never go past the smooth, hard icing. I loved fondant (God help me the corn syrup!) and royal icing too, but my consistent No. 1 was the almond icing on wedding cakes (hello, sugar coma). Typically this was good news for me because nobody else liked it, and my husband is currently in my ear reaffirming that fact (and casting me a very strange look too). If only I’d known what was in it, I might’ve made less of a scene of myself, sitting and eating bowls of the stuff.

The funny thing is, I couldn’t even eat those icings now given what I know about them. My cakes are healthy, so it makes sense my icings are too, the proviso always being that they taste good! So, the recipes below are true to the ideals of health and taste, and contain none of the corn syrup, artificial flavours, or transfats found in packaged or commercial frostings. Rather, they incorporate beautiful, nourishing ingredients like butter, avocado, yoghurt, coconut cream and natural sweeteners like honey. You really don’t need highly refined icing sugar mixture, which usually has corn starch or wheat flour that are a no-go area for those who are gluten free.

See what you think and maybe spread them over the likes of my Double Chocolate Banana Slab Cake or my Hot Chocolate Cake or even my Rich and Delicious Chocolate Muffins.

10 Real Food Icing Recipes

I love my Notella spread over vanilla or chocolate cupcakes, muffins, cakes and biscuits! Top with shredded coconut and sliced strawberries for a taste sensation! Just adjust thickness by adding more or less coconut cream. So versatile, that Notella!

How about a dairy free, refined sugar-free, vegan Gooey Chocolate Icing, which Jo from Quirky Cooking suggests you spread thickly on your cake.? Ok Jo, if you insist!

Detoxinista shares a dairy free Creamy Cashew Icing which is full of healthy minerals.

If you are after a dairy free, nut free icing, then Sarah from Clever Cook has got you covered with her Coconut Frosting. Icing with a lemony tang always gets my vote!

Alexx Stuart has created a nourishing, mousse-like Simple Chocolate Icing, just perfect for chocolate cakes and cupcakes. It’s super simple too.

A Girl, A Guy, Fur Kids and Food shares this Paleo and Thermomix recipe for Coconut Cream Whip which they used to top their Strawberry Cake.

Check out this nutrient loaded Butter Frosting by The Healthy Home Economist.

Here’s a favourite type of icing for me, a Raw Chocolate Glaze by Tania at Gluten Free Grain Free. She recommends it as a topping for her beautiful Chocolate Chia Cake mix. Oh, alright!

Natural New Age Mum tops her ‘go-to’ Chocolate Yoghurt Cake with cream and strawberries. I wonder if anyone would protest if you mixed a little raw honey or maple syrup into the cream first? Another great tip she offers is mixing marscopone cheese with some pureed berries and honey to taste.

And here’s a super-simple recipe you can whip up in less than two minutes!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Coconut oil
Honey or rice malt syrup
Cacao powder
Vanilla bean powder

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Super Simple Ganache Icing

Prep Time 2 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 4 tbs coconut oil
• 2 tbs honey or rice malt syrup
• 2 tbs cacao powder
• 1 tbs boiling water if coconut oil isn't melted
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Instructions

• Mix all ingredients together until smooth and spread on cooled cake

Quick tip: if a recipe calls for dusting with icing sugar, coconut flour works well as a replacement.

Do you like icing or do you pick it off like my kids? Do have a favourite real food icing recipe you’d like to share. Feel free to pop it in the comments.

Bren x