Hearty and Healthy: Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

The Longevity Cake from Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village, California, is rich, but not in the way you expect. This flavourful cake offers the health benefits of good and good-for-you ingredients such as banana, flaxseed and blueberries.

“Even though it’s still dessert with some sugar, it’s less ‘bad” for you,’ says Paulette Lambert, director of nutrition at the California Health & Longevity Institute. “It has some nutritional benefits.” For example, fibre-rich flaxseed has heart-healthy anti-inflammatory properties and contains lignans, a source of antioxidants that may lower the risk for some types of cancer. Antioxidants also come from blueberries, a superfood; bananas add fibre and potassium, also good for the heart.

Whether as an everyday treat or for a special occasion, now you can make your own Longevity Cake with this handy recipe.

Longevity Cake
Ingredients:
1/4 cup soft, no-trans-fat margarine
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 ripe, medium bananas, mashed
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 cup frozen blueberries (or 1/3 cup dried blueberries)

Directions:
1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8-by-8-inch or round layer cake pan with nonstick spray and lightly flour.
2.    Mix margarine and sugar together in large bowl until creamy. Add egg, mixing well, then add banana, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.
3.    In small bowl, combine flour, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine half of the flour mixture with butter mixture. Add remaining flour mixture, being careful not to over-mix. Gently fold in blueberries.
4.    Spoon batter into prepared baking dish and smooth the top. Bake 25 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes clean.
5.    Cool, dust with powdered sugar, and cut into squares or wedges for serving.

Serves: 12
Calories per serving: 160
Calorie equivalent: 1 carbohydrate, 1 fat

Recipe courtesy Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village, California