I, for one, always look forward to the delicious delights that are served at bridal showers and hen’s day parties. There’s nothing more inviting than walking into a do when there’s a grazing table set up with bites such as dips, sausage rolls, mini pizzas, and of course, something sweet like this healthy cake from Australia’s favourite nutritionist, Lola Berry. We love the pretty addition of the flowers that make this cake extra inviting. We hope this recipe inspires you to get busy baking for your next wedding celebration!

Lola says, “I know this sounds more like a savoury vegetable dish, but bear with me here; it’s a lovely treat that not only feeds the skin but also encourages the whole body to thrive. Extra-virgin olive oil is a bit of an all-rounder and delivers many health benefits to the body, whether applied topically or eaten, like this. When consumed it’s said to aid the digestive system, help to reduce our levels of bad cholesterol and even help lower blood pressure.”

Ingredients 

coconut oil, for greasing

3 cups (300 g) almond meal

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

pinch of salt flakes

1⁄2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

5 large eggs

1⁄2 cup (125 ml) maple syrup (or honey or coconut nectar)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups (210 g) grated parsnip 1 large granny smith apple,

grated

1⁄2 cup (60 g) sultanas

1⁄2 cup (60 g) raisins

1⁄2 cup (60 g) roughly chopped walnuts, plus extra to serve

1⁄2 cup (60 g) roughly chopped pecans

Icing

2 cups (500 g) ricotta

1⁄2 cup (125 ml) maple syrup

1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped (or 1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla powder or extract)

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 20 cm cake tin with a little coconut oil and line the base with a circle of baking paper.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Make a little well in the centre and crack in the eggs, then add the maple syrup and olive oil and mix together really well to get rid of any lumps. Stir through the parsnip, apple, sultanas, raisins, walnuts and pecans.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface, then bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

While the cake is cooling, whip up the icing. The easiest way is to mix the ingredients in a food processor or blender, but you can do it by hand; you just want to make sure everything’s mixed evenly and there are no lumps.

Slather the icing over the top of the cooled cake, then slice and serve.

Serves 8–10

Images by Armelle Habib

Recipes and images extracted from Beauty Food by Lola Berry, published by Plum, RRP $24.99, available in all good bookstores from 31 October.

About Lola Berry: Leading Australian nutritionist Lola Berry appears regularly on television shows such as The Project, The Today Show and A Current Affair. She is a spokesperson on nutrition and general wellbeing in print and on radio, and has a huge and interactive online following. She is the bestselling author of nine cookbooks: Inspiring Ingredients (2010), The 20/20 Diet (2012), The 20/20 Diet Cookbook (2014), The Happy Cookbook (2015), LolaBerry‘s Little Book of Smoothies and Juices (2015), The Happy Life (2016), Lola Berry‘s Summer Food (2016), Food to Make You Glow (2017) and Beauty Food ( November 2017).