Cacao Cranberry Loaf
Our resident nutritionist/food guru Jacqui is back with the perfect recipe to kick us into Spring!
For me, as Spring rolls around I come out of hibernation. I like to entertain a little more and enjoy our beautiful Brisbane Spring weather with friends outside. Whether it be a picnic or watching the sunset from my balcony - this is probably one of my favourite sweet loaves (besides banana bread) to make when having people over for a treat. The loaf is light, and the ricotta whip is airy and fluffy.
I love baking with spelt flour, not only is it high in fibre but it is more easily digested than wheat flour, but it has a mildly sweet and nutty flavour perfect for sweet treats!
Cacao Cranberry Loaf, served with ricotta maple whip
Makes 12 slices
Takes 1 hour
Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan
What you’ll need for the loaf
- 1/3 cup raw cacao powder
- 1 3⁄4 cup whole spelt flour
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1⁄2 cup dried cranberries
- 1⁄2 cup crushed walnuts
- 2 eggs
- 400ml coconut milk
- 1⁄2 cup pure maple syrup
What you’ll need for the whip
- 200g ricotta
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch cinnamon
The nitty gritty
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees fan force.
- Line a loaf tin (22cm x 15cm) with baking paper.
- In a bowl whisk eggs, coconut milk and maple syrup. Stir in salt, baking soda, baking powder,
- cinnamon and vanilla.
- Whisk in cacao until combined and no lumps form. Slowly fold in spelt flour till a smooth batter forms.
- Stir in the crushed walnuts and dried cranberries.
- Spoon loaf batter into tin and bake for 1 hour or till skewer comes out clean.
- While loaf is in the oven, prepare the ricotta icing.
- In a stand up mixer with whisk attachment, combine all ricotta icing ingredients till smooth.
- Once the loaf is cooled, spoon a generous amount of ricotta icing on top and serve.
Image credit: Grace Elizabeth Images