Celebrate Christmas with these wholesome, healthy treats

SPIRIT OF THE EARTH experiments with various rice varieties and for Christmas, they have created Manipur Black Rice Fruit Cake. “There are many purple-hued Chak Hao rice varieties in Manipur — the most popular being the Chak Hao Poireiton. The literal meaning of Chak Hao is ‘delicious rice’ (Chak – rice; Hao-delicious). Chak Hao Poireiton is a slightly nutty and sweet flavoured rice. It is a ‘sticky rice’ rich in fibre and turns deep purple when cooked due to its anthocyanin content. This grain has disease-fighting antioxidants and helps prevent and fight diabetes, cancer and heart disease. When milled into flour, it’s great for traditional and revolutionary bakes. Packed with mixed fruits this Manipur Black Rice Fruit Cake is a decadent gluten-free dessert. Senthil Kumar Balu of Wholesome Rhapsody has baked this cake for us,” says Jayanthi Somasundaram of Spirit of the Earth. Each Manipur Black Rice Fruit Cake weighs approximately 400 gms and it is vegan, gluten-free and organic.

THE LEAN BEAN’S limited-edition vegan Christmas pudding cake is not your usual traditional cake. Priya Rathnakumar says that the cake is made with Medjool dates, orange peel, almond flour and their almond butter. “It’s got a vegan chocolate and coconut milk layer which oozes of deliciousness when you take a bite. We have been getting a lot of requests from people to make a vegan pudding cake. So, we thought to give it a try and made this cake. The response has been good so far,” quips Priya.

AKIMI’S GOURMET has come up with a special Christmas hamper that has healthy treats. Akila Vankalapati, the co-founder of AkiMi’s Gourmet, shares, “The hamper contains a vegan fruit cake (250 gms), gingerbread cookies (pack of 4 cookies), Florentines (box of 3) and nut and berry marvels (pack of 4). Our gingerbread cookies are made of almonds, walnuts and spices. Florentines are an ideal mix of toasted nuts and fruits glazed with dark chocolate. Our Florentines are half cookie and half chewy dark chocolate goodness. All the treats in this hamper are vegan, refined sugar-free and gluten-free.” 

Cindana Manickavel, who runs the venture Sugar Monkeys, has curated a festive hamper with a lot of goodies. To give a healthy option for her customers, the homebaker has also made a special quinoa cake. “Apart from the treats in our hamper, I am also making quinoa cakes for those who need them. This gluten-free and refined sugar-free cake is made using quinoa, olive oil, palm sugar and dark chocolate. I have been receiving a lot of requests for this cake,” says Cindana.