If you are looking for ways to incorporate spelt flour into your baking, this Lime and Poppy Seed Loaf is a great place to start.
Traditionally, the flavour that we all know is lemon and poppy seed, but limes seem to be in season now so I decided to substitute lemons with limes instead.
The flavour the limes gave the bread was slightly tart, but still sweet, and I think it helped make the loaf a lot tender during the baking process.
What is Spelt Flour?
Spelt flour comes from an ancient strain of wheat. It’s high in protein and has a nutty flavour that’s sweeter and lighter than that of whole wheat.
Spelt is rich in vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, calcium, selenium, iron, manganese, zinc, vitamin E and B-complex vitamins. It is high in protein and lower in calories than wheat flour and also easier to digest than wheat.
I have been wanting to find out how this flour tastes for a while, after hearing all its nutritional benefits.
Since I am not gluten-intolerant but more gluten-sensitive (and choose to avoid gluten to curb inflammation), I wanted to check if it would upset my IBS, and I am happy to report that it did not.
That being said, even though spelt contains very little gluten, if you have celiac or a severe gluten intolerance this grain won’t be for you.
Happy Baking!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Spelt flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp. lime zest
- 2 tbsp. poppy seeds
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (can substitute dairy-free yogurt or coconut cream)
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 medium eggs
- 1/3 cup butter or coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
For the icing
- ½ cup of icing
- 15ml milk
- Lime Zest & edible flowers to decorate
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 190C and grease a loaf tin
- Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
- Mix all the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined, ensuring not to overmix.
- Spoon the batter into the loaf pan filling 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
- Make the icing by combining the milk with icing sugar. If too runny, add a bit more icing sugar, if too stiff add a few drops of water. Then pour icing over the cake when it is cooled
- Finally, sprinkle lime zest and decorate with edible flowers.