MADE WITHOUT eggs, butter or sugar, this tofu cake is healthier than egular Christmas cakes, but does it have the same punch?
First we spoke to Carol Reid, a registered dietician and chair of the nutrition, tourism and hospitality management department at Northern Caribbean University (NCU), Mandeville, who made the cake, then we asked some of our newsroom staff to take a bite and give us their feedback.
Reid, who grew up in Mandeville, says she has always wanted to make an impact on people's health choices. "I realised from an early age that there are many people suffering because of poor dietary choices, especially in Jamaica. Therefore, I decided to do a degree that had an impact on health. Also at that time there were not many dieticians Jamaica," said Reid.
She studied dietetics at Andrews University in Michigan and worked in the U.S. for nine years before coming back to Jamaica.
Reid said she came up with this recipe after scanning through a recipe book outlining the variety of ways in which tofu could be prepared, and stumbled across a recipe for tofu cheesecake. She said she was inspired to try a tofu Christmas fruit cake and three years ago came up with this version.
MY CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE IS... is healthier than the regular Christmas cake because it does not contain harmful animal fat that regular cakes have.
DIABETICS CAN HAVE IT-- although they still have to be cautious because it has honey.
WHENEVER I SERVE MY TOFU CAKE... I do not tell people that it is sugarless, eggless or butterless until they are finished. Most times they do not notice the difference because it tastes just like regular cake. They are always amazed and they love it.
MY PHLOSOPHY IS THAT... food that is good for you should also taste good and look good.
I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS... seven years old I used to climb on a stool to watch my mother cook. One day I decided that I was going to cook fish so I climbed up on the stool and placed the fish in the pot (under the supervision of my mother) and I cooked my first meal. It turned out quite well and my family was very impressed.
- Keisha Shakespeare
Carol Reid's Tofu Christmas Fruit Cake1 cup raisins
1 cup currants
1 cup prunes
1/2 cup cherries
1 1/2 - 2 cups grape juice
or prune wine (or wine
of choice)
1 lb soft tofu, mashed
1 cup applesauce (or 3
ripe bananas)
2 tbsp. lime juice
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond flavouring
1/2 cup honey
1 cup vegetable oil
4 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cake spice
1 cup bread crumbs
3 tbsp. browning
METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 250ºF.
2. Blend the fruits together with the juice (or wine). Set aside.
3. Blend tofu, applesauce (or bananas), honey, oil and flavouring in a blender until smooth.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder and spices.
5. Add pureed ingredients to flour mixture. Mix lightly.
6. Fold in blended fruits.
7. Add browning and mix well.
8. Pour batter into a lined and well greased 12-inch cake tin or smaller tins containing the equivalent volume.
9. Bake for about 2 - 21/2 hours until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Reactions to tofu cake
We offered the cake to our ever willing newsroom staff without telling them anything about it. We simply asked them to taste and make their comments. Then we told them that the cake was eggless, butterless, sugarless and made with tofu.
COMMENTS BEFORE:
Hmmm, this is really good cake. I could eat more.
Not bad, but something is missing.
No, it nuh ready.
I like it, but it's kind of fresh.
It tastes too healthy.
It needs something else but I can't figure out what.
COMMENTS AFTER
Oh, now that you explain I can understand why it tastes so fresh.
For a vegetarian cake made with tofu, it's very good.
No sah, mi prefer dead from the real t'ing dat can kill yuh. At least you die happy.
I like it then.
This is great because it would be good for diabetics and other people with health concerns.
I'd make this at home.
