As soon as I saw this recipe on Natural Noshing, I immediately knew what I was going to have for dinner that night. That bake looked so unbelievably good, I just couldn’t wait for the day to be over so that I could get busy and make my own little bowl of happiness.
However, there was one tiny little obstacle standing between me and that delicious bake. You see, the thing is I just can’t bring myself to get the oven going just to bake such a small, tiny single item. Must be something I learned from my parents: do not waste energy.
Hmpft. How am I supposed to enjoy buckwheat bakes without making a huge batch, then, I ask you? Guess I’ll have to get me one of those little toaster ovens especially to bake these babies… Mind you, I think they are very well worth it!
But in the meantime, since I don’t have one at the moment, I decided that I would try and make this one as an instant version, using the same technique as the Chocolate Cherry Instant Bake that I’d done a couple of weeks earlier…
Need I tell you I was EXTREMELY pleased with the results? This turned out to be one warm, moist, melt in your mouth, decadently sinful apple, pecan, cinnamon cake.
I am really, really loving those buckwheat bakes, in both their instant and patient versions.
Now, don’t let the long list of ingredients discourage you from trying this recipe.
It know it might look extremely extensive but trust me, it’s not so bad. It looks a lot worse than it actually is.
What takes the longest, really, is to cook the apple, and you should be able to get pretty much all the other steps done while the apple is cooking.
Seriously, from start to finish, this scrumptious breakfast / snack / lunch or dinner, whichever you prefer, should come together in about 10-15 minutes, tops!
And every single one of them is so very worth it!
INGREDIENTS
(serves 1)
Adapted from Natural Noshing
Wet
- ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- ½ the cooked apples from the toppings section below
- 2 egg whites
- 2 tbsp unsweetened soy milk
- 1 tbsp liquid honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Dry
- ¼ cup buckwheat flour
- 1 tbsp raw buckwheat groats
- 1 tbsp black chia seeds
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp toasted pecans, chopped
Toppings
Cheese custard
- ¼ cup low fat cottage cheese
- 2 tbsp vanilla whey protein powder
- Pinch cinnamon
Cooked apples
- 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup water
Other goodies
- 1 tbsp toasted pecans, chopped
- 1 tbsp liquid honey
- Generous grating of nutmeg
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a medium non-stick pan, cook apple, cinnamon and water over medium-high heat until tender and water is evaporated, about 4-5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, in a small magic bullet type food processor, mix cottage cheese, protein powder and cinnamon and process until smooth. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix applesauce, milk, egg white, liquid honey and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients until well combined. Add applesauce mixture and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until well incorporated. Fold in half the reserved cooked apple.
- Grease a microwave safe bowl, or dessert cup, with a little bit of olive oil.
- Cover with a paper towel and microwave about 2 minutes and 30 seconds
- As soon as cake comes out of the microwave oven, unmold it (or not!) and top it with cheese custard, remaining cooked apple, chopped pecans and liquid honey. Dust with a generous grating of fresh nutmeg.
- Serve immediately.
even though too many ingredients its worth making, looks really nice. I love your blog, keep on coming back for more
Looks delicious! This is similar to a simple flax mug bread that I make but with so much more umph! You are right, it looks intimidating but it’s actually quite simple.
Your version sounds SOOOO delicious! I love the apple-cinnamon combo, isn’t it so comforting? I have another protein custard to try – YAY! I LOVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY! I need to get more serving dishes, background accents, props etc – yours are always so professional and makes me want to come to your house for dinner/lunch/breakfast/dessert
I need to find some raw buckwheat groats – I’ve only found the toasted variety in the stores around me!
Oh and a toaster oven is well worth the $$, I use it almost everyday since it’s so hot outside and I don’t like wasting energy either
Aw, thank you so much Nora, that is so unbelievably sweet of you to say! I would love to have you over for lunch, or dinner, or mabye breakfast at dinner sometime! Bet we’d have a blast cooking! You might be very disappointed with the quality of my “table” though… once the magic of the photo set up is gone, there often isn’t much to it! I often laugh at how I set everything up real pretty then undo it all and sit at a bare table, or even on the sofa, to enjoy my meal.
Strange that you would have a hard time finding the raw buckwheat groats… it’s more like the other way around, here! I too, prefer raw. The roasted variety has a very strong taste and doesn’t blend in too easily!
I’m so excited to try this! The world needs more recipes utilizing buckwheat groats. I recently created a Kasha breakfast cake with carrots and dates on my site, nothing as fancy as this, but I do enjoy experimenting with buckwheat.
http://raisedfromscratch.com/2012/09/29/kasha-breakfast-cake-with-carrots-and-dates/
Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to exploring your blog some more.
Anna
Your cake looks amazing Anna! I really like your style of cooking and will have to try a few of your recipes. If you search my site, you will find quite a few recipes using buckwheat groats, for I happen to LOVE them. I am not quite as big on Kasha though. I much prefer the raw version. I find Kasha tastes a bit too strong and it tends to steal the show (as in, when you add it to a dish, it’s all you can taste) so I usually will add a tablespoon for each, say, half cup of raw groats when I’m in the mood for a bit of the “toasty” flavor.
Anyway, thanks for visiting and for taking the time to leave feedback. Glad I got to discover your site too! I sure will be going back for inspiration!
I tried your buckwheat bake yesterday and really enjoyed it. I baked mine at 350 for about 25 minutes instead of using a microwave, and didn’t bother blending the cottage cheese. Very tasty! I’ll definitely be playing around with the basic buckwheat recipe soon to make larger portions
Will link back to you when I’m able to post modifications. Thanks for checking out my site as well, I really appreciate your feedback.
YAY! I look forward to your post, Anna, can’t wait to see what you turn the buckwheat bake into. I’m positive that it will be glorious! Make sure you let me know when you do post it. I wouldn’t want to miss it!
Oh, and the pleasure is all mine, and I will be checking out your site some more, too, you can be certain of that! 
These buckwheat bakes look SO interesting! I love buckwheat! My question is……what is the purpose of the buckwheat groats? It seems like an odd ingredient in a cake. Do you use uncooked groats or cooked groats? I just can’t picture this working in a cake….lol….but obviously it does! My brain is telling me there’d be little nubs in the cake that would be kind of chewy.
Please set my mind at ease so Ican feel comfortable making these awesome cakes you’ve posted! lol
melissa
Thanks Melissa! I tend to use raw buckwheat groats because I love the little bit of a crunchy texture that they add to baked goods. I never tried cooking them beforehand, but I guess it could be done if you don’t like the idea of getting crunchy, chewy bits in your cake. Or, you could probably omit it altogether, I don’t think that it would make much of a difference in the finished product.
In the end, I say use the option that you are comfortable with.