I Love Dessert (especially these mini cakes with red currants)

I don't know about you, but I love desserts. I grew up in a home with some strict limits on desserts and I think it made me only love and crave them more. Meanwhile, my husband was allowed to put extra sugar on his frosted flakes as a kid and he can live without it. Go figure.

While I love to eat dessert, I do not love the extra crap that comes with most processed desserts in the supermarket and I certainly do not want my kids eating those things either. The additives include high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, artificial flavorings and colorings, and loads of other preservatives that allow their shelflife to be longer than the average life expectancy of your favorite pet. Therefore, I do not limit my dessert intake except that they should really be homemade as much as possible. I make exceptions for the local italian bakery and occasionally the bakery at Whole Foods for special occasions, but overall the things that are around the house on a regular basis are the things I typically make myself.

I also love to alter my desserts to be a little less processed and little more natural than most homemade desserts. Now, don't get me wrong. A piece of cake is a piece of cake and should be eaten as such. But I play with other flours and sweeteners to minimize the damage. A cake made with whole wheat flour will spike your insulin levels less than one made with regular white flour. You get the picture, so on with the dessert!

I got some fresh red currants from the farm yesterday, so I wanted to do some experimenting. I found a recipe for red currant mini cakes that I altered a bit to be a little heartier.




Mini Cakes with Red Currants

Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick of butter
• 5/6 cup of powdered sugar (sift if extra lumpy)
• 1/2 cup of flax meal
• 3/8 cup of whole wheat flour
• 1/4 tps baking powder
• 3 egg whites
• Fresh red currants

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 4 cups on large muffin tin (where there are 6 molds instead of 12).


2. Melt the butter in a sauce pan.


3. Mix the sugar, flax meal, flour and baking powder in a bowl.


4. Lightly beat the egg whites with a fork and add to the dry ingredients.


5. Add the melted butter.


6. Mix until just combined with no lumps.


7. Divide the batter into the 4 greased cups.


8. Top each cake with currants.


9. Bake for 20 minutes.


10. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan.


11. Remove from the muffin pan and let them cool on cooling rack.


12. Top each with a little sprinkle of powdered sugar.