1, 2, 3 Sponge Cake

I bake this cake at least once a week. Even though it has sugar in it, everything I use is whole and organic so it's a much healthier alternative to just about anything similar on the market, plus it's homemade! (I still cringe when I remember the twinkies and doughnuts from my youth. Mom and dad, how could you?)
The castle-shaped mold came back from a recent trip to New York: it weighs a ton (as a matter of fact we had to pay for the excess weight in our suitcase that time), but was well worth it, the kids absolutely love it.
The cake's title explained: not only is it as easy as 1, 2, 3, the empty yoghurt cup is used as a measuring cup for the rest of the ingredients in ones, twos and threes:

1,2,3 Cake
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 125ml natural yoghurt (the secret ingredient that makes the cake so moist)
2 yoghurt cups sugar
1 yoghurt cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 yoghurt cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the eggs. Add the yoghurt. Gradually stir in the rest of the ingredients, in the order they appear on the list. You can also optionally add 1 thinly sliced apple or pear, gives a great fruity touch and adds moisture. Bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out dry.

When I first found out that people in Spain used olive oil for baking cakes, I was shocked (a cake with no butter?). You can also use sunflower oil, but trust me, this one works out perfect.
The one in the picture is sprinked with powdered sugar, to make the snow on the castle.
See, it's so easy that lately Bruno and Olivia help out whenever we make it, I'll measure out the ingredients and they'll pour them into the mixing bowl and do their version of stirring and beating. Only problem is, half the batter ends up either on the table or their hands and faces before it even reaches the oven.

Yoghurt and Dairy; Yoghurtish Apple-Banana Compote

Yoghurt is possibly my children's all-time favorite food. They demand it every single day for dessert at either lunch or dinner (I only let them eat one a day). When I first arrived in Spain I found it pretty weird that people ate yoghurt for dessert; I always saw it as a breakfast or snack-time thing.
My daughter has been lactose intolerant for about a year; we discovered the intolerance after a bout with a gastro-intestinal virus, and as I was then gradually weaning her off the breast, she had lactose-free baby formula for a while, and then switched to adult lactose-free milk (which is now pretty easy to find in almost any supermarket, due to the great amount of adults -Israel, my husband among them- who are suddenly discovering their own intolerance). The pediatrician insists that her type of lactose intolerance is temporary, but every time we have tried to reintroduce regular milk, she can't take it.
Yoghurt, however, as the dairy product with the least amount of lactose, is another story. (Ice cream she seems to handle pretty well too:)).
In the cause against dairy I picked up from my natural energetic cooking course, I have been trying to find alternatives to yogurt that they might like. Here's a recipe my teacher concocted especially for people who have a hard time letting go of yoghurt:



Apple-banana compote
Ingredients:
apples
bananas
rice or oat (or other non-dairy) milk
1/2 vanilla bean, cut open and scraped with a knife
milled almonds

Boil the apples and bananas for 30 minutes with the vanilla bean and only a tad of water. Remove from heat, strain and add non-dairy milk and milled almonds to taste. Blend with a hand blender and pour into individual bowls or cups.

I even took the trouble to save and recycle individual glass yogurt containers (packaging is very important with kids). The first time was a failure. Bruno ate it because he'll eat anything, but clearly didn't enjoy it as much as his regular daily yoghurt. Olivia didn't bother to give it the time of day, she just sniffed it and pushed it away. But as kids are creatures of habit and usually don't like things on the first try, I insisted and today I prepared it again. This time was a success, yeah!
Personally, I thought it was a perfect dessert. I've never liked yoghurt (except briefly while traveling in Greece, but Greek yoghurt is another category in itself). My parents never forced me to eat dairy products or drink milk, even though the "Drink Milk" slogan was on full blast when I was growing up in the States (my father, pediatrician and neonatologist, didn't think it was that important. Cheese was a big thing at home, though.). And I find that even today most young people drink gallons of it and are convinced it's good for their health.
Anti-dairy believers argue that milk, and dairy products in general, are not suited for human consumption. Mammals need milk during their growth stage, but not aftwards. But the milk of a different species containts elements that are specific to the development of their own offspring, and not to another species' (for instance, cow's milk has three times more calcium, protein, and sodium than human milk, and five times more phosphorus, but only half the carbohydrates). Why drink milk and eat dairy products, then?


Milk's big marketing slogan is based on dairy as a source of calcium, an important mineral for growth and health of bones and teeth and to prevent osteoporosis.
But other non-dairy products are also great sources of calcium (even better than milk), only they haven't benefitted from such a successful marketing scheme.

Here are some good healthy sources of calcium and facts on its availabilty. The National Academy of Science recommends 1000 milligrams of calcium per day in adults age 19-50, but the results of recent studies question such a high intake as really making a difference in long-term health of bones and teeth. (Source: Harvard School of Public Health):

Food	Amount	Calcium (milligrams)
Collards, boiled	1 cup	357
Spinach, boiled	1 cup	291
Black-eyed peas, boiled	1 cup	211
Canned salmon	3 oz	181
Calcium-set tofu	3 oz (¼ block)	163
Trail mix	1 cup	159
Baked beans	1 cup	154
Iceberg lettuce	1 head	97
Green peas, boiled	1 cup	94
Oranges	1 cup	72
Almonds	1 oz (24 nuts)	70

I like to sprinkle sesame seeds (ground in the suribachi) on almost any meal; not only is sesame a good source of calcium, it also tastes great!