Sweet treats

Make Liz’s delicious recipe for menopause cake

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Treat yourself to a slice of Liz’s famous menopause ‘cake’! Deliciously good for you, it uses ingredients that are high in phytoestrogens, the oestrogen-like compounds found in soya, linseeds and some dried fruits.

This cake is definitely not going to sort out all your menopausal needs, but it is a bit of fun to break the ice perhaps when talking about your symptoms (or those of family and friends) over a mug of tea and slice of cake.It’s wonderfully rich and moist, with a very dense texture (more of a loaf than a cake) and a good, rich flavour. Store in an airtight tin or slice and freeze to eat as required. Very delicious toasted or on its own.

To increase the phytoestrogen content, use soya milk rather than dairy in your menopause cake. Soya milk contains phytoestrogens that can be moderately beneficial for some (those women who convert them to the kind the body needs) during the menopause, and can help  keep hormones a little more balanced.

If you’re looking to avoid gluten, replace the spelt flour with amaranth or quinoa flour.

Watch Liz make her menopause cake

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Ingredients

  • 4 dried dates, chopped
  • 4 dried figs, chopped
  • 4 dried apricots, chopped
  • 5 Brazil nuts, chopped
  • 6 walnuts, chopped
  • 2 tbsp flax seeds
  • 150ml just-brewed Earl Grey tea
  • 1 carrot (around 100g), grated
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened desiccated coconut
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 150g spelt flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 medium egg, beaten
  • 125ml soya milk

Method

  1. The night before you’re going to make this, or up to eight hours ahead, put the dates, figs, apricots, nuts and flax seeds into a bowl. Pour over the tea, cover and leave to soak. By the time you come to make the loaf, all the tea will have soaked into the fruit.
  2. When you’re ready to make the loaf, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Line a 450g loaf tin with baking parchment.
  3. Add the carrot, coconut, cinnamon, flour, baking powder, egg and soya milk to the bowl of soaked dried fruit, nut and seed mixture and mix well. Spoon into the prepared loaf tin, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
  4. Reduce the heat to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and bake for a further 30-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  5. Carefully lift out of the tin and put on a wire rack. Allow to cool before slicing.