Susan Jane White’s Victoria Sponge with Chia Jam and Coconut Cream

Susan Jane White is one of our foodie crushes, mainly because she makes adding milled chia seeds to things fun and tasty. She’s also very much dead on and her new cookbook The Virtuous Tart is a celebration of healthy sweet treats AKA The Dream. If you’re trying to cut down on wheat, dairy and cane sugar when it comes to tea time snacking, this is your new bible. We tried out some peanut cookies at the weekend with guests stealing some for the journey home results. We can only imagine how good this spin on the classic victoria sponge is?

The Virtuous Tart is in shops now. Buy it here.

“Not the traditional butter, cream, sugar and bleached-flour variety, this Victoria sponge will make your taste buds backflip and your health insurer applaud. Make it for a group of Brits and you’ll have friends for life.”

FOR THE SPONGE:
Makes 10 portions (double to serve 20)

1/2 cup (65g) coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (25g) ground almonds
1/4 teaspoon mineral-rich salt, like pink Himalayan
4 medium (not large) eggs
2 tablespoons natural or soya yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (125ml) light agave, brown rice syrup or honey (honey is much sweeter than brown rice syrup)
Just under 1/2 cup (120ml) unscented coconut oil, melted, plus extra for greasing
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

FOR THE FILLING:

2/3 cup (125g) frozen raspberries, defrosted
3 Medjool dates, stones removed
1?2 tablespoons chia seeds
Squeeze of lime juice
4?8 tablespoons coconut milk yoghurt (page 130)
Makes 10 portions (double to
serve 20)

To make the chia jam filling,
1. Whizz the thawed?raspberries in a food processor or hand-held?blender with the licky-sticky dates, chia seeds?and lime juice. Allow the chia seeds to thicken’the jam for 40 minutes before using.
2. Preheat your oven to 170?C/150?C fan/340?F.
3. You’ll need to oil a 20cm x 20cm square brownie?tin. I find the best oil to use for greasing is?unscented (as opposed to extra virgin and raw)?coconut oil. Unscented coconut oil won’t turn the?edges of the sponge infuriatingly dark. The meat?of the coconut is lightly steamed before being?pressed in order to remove the strong coconutty?aroma from the oil.

To make the cake,take out two large bowls.
1. In the?first bowl, sift your coconut flour with the baking?powder. Stir through the ground almonds and the’salt.
2. In the next bowl, whisk the eggs and yoghurt?together, adding a splash of vanilla extract.
3. Then pour in the sweetener and melted coconut?oil, stirring vigorously to prevent lumps.
4. Gradually drizzle in the lemon juice, whisking?all the while.
5. Scrape this gleefully sticky mess?into your prepared tin and level with a spatula.
6. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the sponge from the oven before the edges darken. Let it cool?on a wire rack for 1 hour before ejecting from?the tin.
7. Then carefully slice the sponge in?half to make two layers (of course, you could?always double the recipe and make two big tiers?instead).
8. Smother great big clouds of coconut’milk yoghurt over one half. Parachute a little?chia jam on top of this, then crown with the?other half of the sponge.
9. Serve on a plate with’many napkins and giddy fingers. And a side of?Sinatra.

This gorgeous recipe was extracted from The Virtuous Tart by Susan Jane White (Approximately €29, out now)