Dessert: A Fruitcake to Love

Recipe by Elizabeth Falkner Dried fruit, nuts, and oil-cured olives make this fruitcake something special.

This recipe includes fertility superfoods such as:

Cinnamon, Nuts, Walnuts

Health and fertility benefits of A Fruitcake to Love

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060). Nuts are a natural source of Inositol, a derivative of Vitamin B (which is often prescribed in the form of supplements for women with PCOS). Inositol can effectively control the symptoms of PCOS by reducing insulin resistance and improving insulin sensitivity. Walnuts are low on the glycemic index. What’s more, they also lower the glycemic index of other foods that you eat in conjunction with these nuts. Any kind of nuts provide a healthy source of fat and a great way to encourage PCOS weight loss.

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/4 cups chopped pitted Medjool dates
3/4 cup chopped candied orange peel
1/3 cup chopped dried Mission figs
10 oil-cured olives
2 tablespoons Nocello (walnut liqueur) or Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
2 tablespoons water
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup (11/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup shelled unsalted natural pistachios

Instructions

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 °F. Butter two 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 1/2-inch metal loaf pans. Spray with nonstick spray; dust with flour. Mix dates and next 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Let stand 15 minutes. Sift flour, baking powder, coarse kosher salt, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon into another medium bowl.
Whisk yogurt and oil in small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with yogurt mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in walnuts, pistachios, and dried-fruit mixture. Divide batter between prepared pans. Smooth tops.
Bake cakes until tester inserted into centers comes out clean and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pans, about 50 minutes. Cool in pans 30 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks. Cool completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made up to 1 month ahead. Wrap in foil, then enclose in resealable plastic bags. Store at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Thaw frozen cakes in refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

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