RWB Angel Food Cake with Lemon-Almond Cream and Berries

Independence Day is just five days away, everyone! Any fun plans? I've been seeing fireworks stands all over and I've been making myself resist buying some, partly because I think I would totally cause a disaster. I grew up in drought-ridden Arizona for the first eighteen years of my life, so we were always excited when they let the city shoot off fireworks (they didn't want to set the nearby forest on fire). If you guys have heard about that huge fire that started in Oak Creek and scooted up near to Kachina, that is right by my hometown, Flagstaff. Fires were an unfortunately normal occurrence; when I was fifteen, my boyfriend at the time went on a hike with his family at the 13,000ft mountain near town and they got caught in the middle of a fire that basically burned half of the trees on the peaks. They had to run with all their camping gear as the ash rained down on them. Being a typical teenage boy, he stopped to take pictures of the flames for me. 

Because, you know, safety.

So let's all remember to be careful with our bonfires, BBQs, and fireworks this fourth! Yeah? Sounds good. Anyways, moving onto the food, which is what we are all actually here for, right?

By now you guys have seen your share of red, white, and blue all around: in the grocery store, on the streets, and in the recipes floating around online. I want to throw my own recipe into the mix. What's better during summer than a light dessert with the fruits of the season? That's pretty much what my mindset was when I created this recipe. It's another one from my old blog (Michelle's Healthy Bites) and it's good enough that I can't help but share it again. I just love it so much. First you have the fluffy, sweet cake. Then you add on some lemon-almond whipped cream (to DIE for and so easy, I promise) and fresh berries.The cream adds a slight floral nuttiness and depth, and the fruit brightens it up (not only taste-wise, but also for a stunning presentation). Raspberries contribute a slightly tart, but still sweet element that rounds out the entire dish.

Basically, this is heaven. And perfect for a party.

A Fourth of July party...

Coincidence? I think not!

(Also good for other parties because the entire world isn't America, even thought Americans tend to want to think so. To all my international/ non-American readers: this is still yummy and patriotism aside, an awesome recipe). 

Angel Food Cake with Lemon-Almond Cream and Berries

Serves 12

Ingredients:

• 12 large egg whites
• 1 cup sugar*
• 1 and 1/4c. splenda*, divided
• 1c. cake flour
• 1 and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1tbl water
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4tsp salt
• 2c. light whipped topping (such as cool whip or a non-dairy alternative), thawed
• 1/4tsp almond extract
• The zest of one large lemon
• 2c. fresh raspberries
• 2c. fresh blueberries

Instructions:

1. Allow the egg whites to come to room temperature in a large, clean, covered bowl (takes at least 30 minutes, and remove egg whites from the egg before doing this).
2. Preheat oven to 350F. 
3. Add 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup splenda into a food processor. Pulse the sugar a few times. This makes it finer, and gives the cake a lighter texture. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. It really does make a difference!
4. Add the flour to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine, or sift the flour and the sugar twice so it is nice and fine.
5. Add cream of tartar, water, vanilla extract, and salt to the egg whites. Beat on high with an electric mixer (hand-held or other) until it becomes very foamy. Slowly add in the remaining 1c of splenda.Continue to beat the eggs until medium (between soft and stiff) peaks form. At this point, switch to a spatula and gently, gently fold in the flour mixture, 1/4c. at a time. Take this nice and slow, and incorporate the entire mixture.
6. Gently spoon the batter into two 8x8 square UNGREASED baking pans. Lightly run a knife through the batter to get rid of bubbles (I just did three lines each way) and place in the oven for 20-30 minutes. You will know they are done when the cake springs back when lightly touched or when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (but I personally like the touch method more).
7. As soon as they are out of the oven, turn them upside-down on a heat-safe surface. Don't try to take the cakes out: let them cool for 30 minutes. I'm serious when I say thirty minutes. If you don't do this, expect ruin and sadness. After 30 minutes have passed, the cake will have receded slightly from the edges of the pan. My first cake separated from the pan by itself; the second one needed to be convinced to leave. Just run a thin spatula on the bottom, very gently, and turn the pan upside-down.
   
   Very Important Note: Angel food cake is often said to taste "eggy," and that is because the cooks do not let it cool for long enough. Wait at least 3 hours before you frost or slice into this cake.
    
8. To make the cream, combine the whipped topping, almond extract, and lemon zest in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined.
9. To assemble the cake, cut each “loaf” into 6 slices. Evenly divide berries and cream among the twelve slices.

Nutrition Information*

Sodium: 111mg

Total Fat: 2g

      Saturated: 1g

      Trans: 0g

Sugar: 21g

Protein: 5g

Calories: 174

 

*Note: this recipe contains splenda. Scientific evidence indicates that there is nothing wrong with moderate amounts of artificial sweeteners, and I have calculated the amount in this recipe so it is well within safe limits. However, all sugar can be used if you so desire. The nutrition information for the all-sugar recipe is below: 

Sodium: 111mg

Total Fat: 2g

      Saturated: 1g

      Trans: 0g

Sugar: 42g (you can see why I use splenda now)

Protein: 5g

Calories: 255
*Also, here is if you used all splenda (which also works quite well):

Sodium: 111mg

Total Fat: 2g

      Saturated: 1g

      Trans: 0g

Sugar: 5g

Protein: 5g

Calories: 109

Health and Nutrition News: 6/6 to 6/27

Every few Fridays, I like to make a collection of news stories that revolve around the field of Food Science, Human Nutrition, Vegetarianism, and other Health News. These are studies or reports that are not only super interesting, but also really work to open my mind and remind me that these fields are constantly evolving and finding new information. Click on the links for more info!

University of Gothenburg has studied eight European countries and found that children consuming a diet more in line with the rules of the Mediterranean one are 15% less likely to be overweight or obese than those children who do not.

A new study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine examines the bone marrow of people at different weights, and finds that obesity correlates with higher fat bones. 

Good news for us vegetarians! Loma Linda University Medical Center has concluded that vegetarian diets result in less greenhouse gasses and longer lifespans. They did it by studying the eating patterns of vegetarians, semi-vegetarians and non-vegetarians, then comparing them.

Garvan Institute of Medical Research has released a super interesting new study about brown fat, the kind that protects humans from obesity and diabetes. Although there were only five subjects, initial findings show that temperature might play a large role in how much brown fat you have. The colder it was, the more brown fat they had (which is good, because people with a high amount of brown fat tend to be leaner and have lower blood sugar levels than those with white fat). This makes sense, because brown fat exists to create heat in the body; the colder it is, the more you need!

These are articles that I find fascinating. If you want to keep up on more news, I suggest going to ScienceDaily, BBC News Health, and EatRight.org. The next news update will be on June 27th.

Grilled Vegetable Quesadillas

There is nothing that makes me happier than grilled vegetables.

And cheese.

(We can't ever forget the cheese. Literally the only reason I'm not vegan.)

My father just bought a new grill which means we have been grilling everything that we can like obnoxious grilling pricks. It's made for some... interesting outcomes (such as when we tried to grill some melon and failed miserably), but occasionally we luck out. I've always just made quesadillas in the pan, but I figured why not try it out on the grill?

 So. Good.

These guys are packed with a ton of vegetables and just enough cheese to get that gooey deliciousness and that cool when-I-pull-this-apart-it-is-all-stringy-and-awesome feeling that are pretty much essential for quesadillas, in my humble opinion. Cheese, guys. We have some eggplant in there, squash, onion, and for just a little kick I decided to add some green chile.


Did I mention cheese?

Grilled Vegetable Quesadillas 
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/3 inch rounds
• 1/4c. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/3 inch slabs (lengthwise)
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds 
• Cooking Spray
• 1/4tsp salt
• 1/2tsp pepper
• 8 whole wheat tortillas, 8" diameter 
• 1/2c. diced canned (or fresh and sauteed, if preferred) green chiles
• 1c. (4oz) reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
• salsa, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat your grill to medium heat.
2. In a ziplock bag, place eggplant and oil together and seal. Flip the bag and massage the eggplant a bit to evenly coat and distribute the oil. Let sit for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, spray other vegetables with cooking spray.
3. Grill the vegetables for the following total times each, flipping them halfway through:
   Eggplant: 15-20 minutes
   Squash: 5 minutes
   Onion: 5 minutes
   Or until tender, for all.
   Remove from heat, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut into small, bite-sized squares. Mix in green chile.
4. To assemble tortillas: evenly divide the vegetables among the 8 tortillas, placing them on the bottom half of each tortilla. Sprinkle each with 2 tablespoons cheese, and then fold the top half of the tortilla over.
   
5. Grill for 3 minutes on each side, remove from heat, and serve.

Nutrition Information*
Sodium: 697mg
Total Fat: 29g
      Saturated: 6g
      Poly: 5g
      Mono: 17g
      Trans: 0g
Sugar: 7g
Protein: 18g
Calories: 527

*This will vary largely depending on what kind of tortilla brand you use. I use Ole brand.