Vanilla apple quark cake is one of my favourite go-to tasty and healthy snacks and even though the name has cake in it, which traditionally means sugary desert, it is everything but that.
Ever since I started doing sport, which is almost 20 years ago, I believed that in order to stay fit, I had to give up sweets completely. For many years, I ate only tasteless food because that is what everyone said that I had to eat in order to be fit.
Until a few years ago, when I decided to become a personal trainer and nutrition coach full time and I started to encounter lots and lots of women who failed to achieve their fitness goals because they could not keep up with these restrictive diets for a long time! Sooner or later, they all went back to eating sweets and I watched this helplessly not knowing what to do. Deep down I just knew that I had to find a solution.
I am an athlete and food is primarily seen as FUEL in my world. That means that taste usually falls on the second spot for me but in time I understood that most people just want to stay fit and healthy while continuing to live there life, so I made it my goal to find out how I can help women succeed. So, I started researching ways on how to make sweets healthier.
I came a long way since I started, I went to study in the meantime which helped me to gain lots of knowledge and I have also worked with countless women since then, so that I am now able to share my experiences with you.
There is one main reason why most sweets are bad for us and make us fat and the reason is that they all have too much carbohydrate combined with too much fat and little or no protein.
This is usually how people’s meals look as well and this is the main reason why we constantly feel unsatisfied.
The element that makes us feel full longer after a meal is protein and the truth is that most recipes out there simply have little to no protein.
Having said that, here is a recipe for a healthy cake that is rich in protein, lactose-free and can be even vegan that will satisfy your sugar cravings in a guilt-free and much healthier way.
VANILLA APPLE QUARK CAKE
One serving contains: 135kcal – 8g protein – 6g fat – 12g carbs
This recipe is for 12 servings. The duration is about 30 minutes (with 2 hours cool down in the fridge) and is great for beginners in the kitchen as well.
Ingredients:
For the bottom of the cake:
– 3 eggs
– 30g xylitol (or some other zero calorie sugar replacement option)
– 15g bourbon vanilla, ground
– 30g almond flour (or coconut flour)
– 100g ground almonds
– 20g potato starch
– 1 tee spoon baking powder
For the apple layer:
– 400g apple
– juice from half a lemon
– 15g bourbon vanilla, ground
– 1 big spoon xylitol (or some other zero calorie sugar replacement option)
– 15g cake glaze (clear)
– cinnamon
For the vanilla quark layer:
– 2 white gelatin sheets
– 150g lowfat quark (or any other vegan alternative)
– 150g yogurt (or any other vegan alternative)
– 30g vanilla protein powder or vanilla pudding
– 15g bourbon vanilla, ground
You will also need:
– springform pan
– cake ring
– baking paper
Mixing it all together
1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius top / bottom heat and line the bottom of the springform pan with baking paper.
2. For the bottom, beat the eggs with xylitol and vanilla for 3-4 minutes with a hand mixer until frothy. Mix the almond flour, ground almonds, starch and baking powder. Mix everything into a smooth dough. Pour the batter into the springform pan and smooth it out. Bake the base in a preheated oven for 20 minutes and let it cool.
3. For the apple layer, peel the apples, remove the core and cut the pulp into cubes. Put together with 200 ml water, lemon juice, vanilla and xylitol in a small saucepan and sauté briefly. Then drain the apples in a colander and collect the juice for the glaze.
4. Place the cake base on a cake plate and enclose it with a cake ring. Distribute the apple pieces evenly on the floor. Fill up the apple juice with water to make up to 200ml of liquid and cook with the icing powder according to the instructions on the packet. Spread the icing on the cake.
5. For the vanilla quark layer, soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for 5 minutes. Mix the quark, yoghurt, egg white powder / pudding and vanilla until smooth.
6. Gently squeeze out the gelatine sheets and gently heat them in a small saucepan over low heat until they have dissolved. Warning: the gelatine must not boil! Take the pot off the stove and quickly stir in two tablespoons of the vanilla quark mixture. Now stir this mixture into the rest of the vanilla quark mixture.
7. Spread on the apples, smooth out and put the cake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Cover with cinnamon or cocoa powder as desired.
ENJOY THE VANILLA APPLE QUARK CAKE!