SCD Apple Banana Cake
SCD eaters have a hard time finding carbs that are comfortable and safe to eat – especially the ones I know, who are little – but this SCD legal Apple Banana Cake is a problem solver!
The problem with SCD for kids is that it can stunt growth. Those are fightin’ words I know! But, when children eat a high protein, high fat, low carb diet (as was true for the infamous Atkins diet of the ’80s), they will not only not gain weight very well, they may not grow well either – even when they eat ample daily total calories.
Why is this? Because little humans need carbohydrates for growth. Carbs protect protein for other tasks during growth. They also help build a healthy gut biome, when the right carbs are eaten. When kids go keto, they are using protein and ketones for energy. Protein is a lousy fuel source. Relying on it day after day will overburden kidney. Ketones (as you probably know) are a great fuel source. While this works great for adults and anyone who does not need to lose weight, it doesn’t work so well for children who need to gain weight and correct a growth pattern that has flattened. Ketones can also suppress appetite, making it even harder to eat the amounts of food children need to repair growth patterns
Once you get past Intro, Stage 1 and Stage 2 of SCD, try this recipe. I took extra care to cook apples before baking them in to the cake (a tool like this, if you don’t already have one, makes the core/cut/peel part of the task fast and easy). If you’re further along in the Stages of SCD, you may be fine putting cut raw apples into the bake. If you don’t have time to cook the apples, use SCD legal applesauce (2 cups).
I also took extra caution with the orange juice, and fresh-squeezed my own for the recipe (with one of these – makes this job a snap too, and many versions abound. I’ve had mine for over 30 years and it’s still going strong). Or, you can use any store bought SCD legal OJ instead (Whole Foods 365 fresh squeezed for example) to save time.
The third thing I was careful to do was grind the pumpkin seeds into meal before adding to the recipe. Again, SCDers who are stable, past early phases, and not trying to resolve active symptoms may be able to skip that step and just place the seeds in the batter.
Ok enough tips – bake and enjoy. This is moist and yummy, almost like a kugel, minus the grains and sugar!
- 1 cup almond flour such as Bob's Red Mill
- 1/4 cup raw sprouted pumpkin seeds such as Go Raw brand
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon raw maca powder such as MRM brand
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon GF organic vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup orange juice (no added sugars, or fresh squeezed)
- 4 medium size apples cored, peeled, sliced and chopped
- 2 bananas
- Grease a 9 inch square baking pan with coconut oil or ghee, and line with parchment baking paper. Preheat oven to 350.
- Place pumpkin seeds in a food processor. Grind to fine meal. Add this to a medium size bowl and combine with dry ingredients: Almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda, raw maca powder.
- In a separate bowl or in a stand mixer bowl, combine eggs, honey, vanilla. Beat til smooth and evenly mixed.
- Core and peel apples (a coring tool makes this easy). Slice thin and then chop into smaller pieces. Sauté these in ghee in coconut oil, and add orange juice. Cover and simmer til bubbling soft, about 15 minutes.
- Mash banana to gloppy liquid in another bowl. Add the cooked apples (or applesauce) to the banana mash, and stir both to mix together evenly.
- Add the banana/apple mixture to the wet ingredients, and stir to evenly combine everything.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, stir til evenly mixed. Batter will be thick and wet. Spoon into baking pan. Bake for one hour, til top is browned and cake has begun pulling from edges of pan. Enjoy!
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