Sweet and Nutty Cake Loaf

I am so happy today 'coz I tried out two recipes and they are both fantastic! I won't fit both of them in the same entry because that just won't do them justice and they both deserve to be on their own :P The first dish that I made was the Sweet and Nutty Cake Loaf, adopted from Baking Bites. I was looking for something that differs from my usual blueberry muffins or choc chip coffee cake. The fact that this recipe used sunflower seeds caught my attention. So I decided to bake this to use up the half-empty packet of seed mix and half-empty bottle of almonds in my cupboard.

Sweet and Nutty Cake Loaf

1 cup white all purpose flour
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups of a combination of sunflower seeds, almonds, dried cranberries and sultanas

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Lined a loaf tin.
2) In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and the seeds, nuts and dried fruits.
3) In a separate measure cup, whisk together egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Stir until just combined. Do not over-mix and keep the batter slightly lumpy.
4) Pour mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and cooked through when tested with a skewer or a chopstick.
5) Turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

This cake just has so much texture - the loaf itself is dense, at the same time you get the crunchy almonds, crispy seeds and the juicy cranberries. It is not too sweet and there is the combined flavour of almonds and dried fruits in every bite. I imagine it will make a really good breakfast when heated with a bit of butter or honey on the top. On its own it is really good as a snack. You can be really creative and add whatever nuts or dried fruits you have on hand. Being low fat and loaded with heaps of seeds and almonds, a tea cake cannot get any healthier than this.