Carob is a miracle fruit for your healthy diet

Posted on sustenance

Carob is a dark brown fruit that belongs to the legume family and is native to the Mediterranean region. The healthy benefits of this superfood for our diet have been known for over 4000 years and are used in various products. The pods and their dried fruits are particularly popular as a substitute for chocolate.

The superfood is normally processed into flour and can therefore be used as an ideal and healthy substitute for cocoa in snacks, cornflakes or drinks. Carob is also used as syrup, for example: in many different baked goods.

The benefits of carob compared to chocolate are plentiful:

• The superfood contains fewer calories and less fat, but provides protein and fiber, which are not found in chocolate
• It is rich in antioxidants and nutrients, protects against free radicals and prevents certain types of cancer (especially cervical cancer)
• The superfood prevents the overproduction of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin — the risk of overeating can therefore be reduced
• It lowers cholesterol levels due to the fiber it contains, which promotes good cholesterol and a high density of lipoproteins

It contains a lot of calcium, which is essential for our diet and promotes the health of bones and teeth.

Would you like to try out a healthy carob recipe? This sweet dish from Stacey from Goodnessis.com (inspired by “Enlightenend Eating” by Carlone Marie Dupont) is super easy to make. The end result? A delicious cake with a very special glaze.

Carob cake

ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups whole spelt flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened locust bean gum
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup coconut sugar (or unrefined cane sugar)
• ½ cup of high-quality olive/sunflower oil
• 1 cup cold water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)

Instructions for the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
2. Grease a 20 cm corner pan or a 22 cm round baking pan. Mix flour, locust bean gum, baking powder, salt and coconut blossom sugar in the greased baking pan and mix the ingredients.
3. Then mix the sunflower oil, water and vanilla extract in a measuring cup and stir. Now empty the liquid ingredients onto the baking pan and mix everything with the help of a fork or a small whisk.
4. As soon as the dough is nice and soft, add vinegar and stir the whole thing quickly. Where baking powder and vinegar react with each other, bright swirls may occur. Mix well until the vinegar is evenly mixed with the dough.
5. Let it bake for 25-35 minutes, or try the toothpick test - if no dough sticks to the toothpick, the cake is done.
6. Then remove the baking pan from the oven and let it cool down. After that, refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the cake is in the oven, start preparing the glaze.

For the glaze:

• 2 tbsp. cold pressed coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 cup of maple syrup
• 1/3 cup locust bean gum

1. Melt the coconut oil in a small pan and then turn off the heat.
2. Add maple syrup and locust bean gum and mix with a small whisk or fork until soft. Store on the side to cool.
3. Remove the cake from the fridge and spread the icing over it. Just before serving, decorate with pieces of strawberries or pomegranate seeds, or sprinkle some coconut flakes on top.

Posted on sustenance