Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake

5. September 2012 William Davis (1)

This is about as decadent as it gets around here!

Here’s a recreation of an old-fashioned coffee cake, a version with a delicious chewy-crunchy streusel topping.

I’ve specified xylitol as the sweetener in the topping, as it is the most compatible sweetener for the streusel “crumb” effect and browning.

Variations are easy. For example, for an apple pecan coffee cake, add a layer of finely-chopped or sliced apples to the cake batter and topping.

Additional potential carbohydrate exposure comes from the garbanzo bean flour and molasses. However, distributed into 10 slices, each slice provides 7.2 grams “net” carbs (total carbs minus fiber), a perfectly tolerable amount. Be careful not to exceed two slices!

Yield 10 slices

Cake:
2½ cups almond flour
½ cup garbanzo bean flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
Sweetener equivalent to ¾ cup sugar
Dash sea salt

3 eggs separated
3/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ounces butter, melted
Juice of ½ lemon

Topping:
½ cup almond flour
¼ cup pecans, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ cup xylitol
1 tablespoon molasses
6 ounces butter, cut into ½-inch widths, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 325º F. Grease bread pan.

In bowl, combine almond flour, garbanzo flour, cinnamon, baking soda, sweetener, salt, and mix.

In small bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. At low speed, blend in egg yolks, vanilla, melted butter, and lemon juice.

Pour liquid mixture into almond mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour into microwave-safe bread pan and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

To make topping, combine almond flour, pecans, cinnamon, xylitol, and molasses in small bowl and mix. Mix in butter

Spread topping on cake. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick withdraws dry.
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Comments (1) -

  • Bob Kikkert

    9/8/2012 7:31:12 PM |

    The recipes you provide are not useful to me because of the requirement to use a sweetener equivalent to x amount of sugar.  All the sweeteners I have access to do not have enough information to determine how much to use.  I have thrown out two batches because thery were not sweet enough even though I used twice the amount of sweetener I thought was equivalent.  Why can you not indicate what sweetener you use in the recipes and the quantity? Then I wouldn't have to guess....

    Cheers...Bob

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Success--Slow but sure

Success--Slow but sure

12. October 2007 William Davis (5)
John is a gentleman.

At age 76, he continues to teach at a local college. He's a delight to talk to, having written several scholarly books on religious topics. He's a fountain of knowledge on religious history and the roots of faith.

John is one of those incurably optimistic people, always greeting me with a smile and a warm handshake. I can't help but linger for a hour or so to talk with John, unfortunately disrupting my office schedule miserably.

John is another Track Your Plaque success story. Though he didn't set any records in reduction of his heart scan score, he did it simply by adhering to the program over a period of two years, succeeding slowly but surely.

John's first heart scan score: 1190, a score that carries as much as a 25% annual risk for heart attack. Among the list of causes was an LDL cholesterol in the 170 mg/dl range, along with an LDL particle number that verified the accuracy of LDL.

Among John's suggested treatments was a statin drug, since I was not confident he could reduce LDL with diet and nutritional modifications sufficiently to safely reduce both LDL and his risk for heart attack. But he proved terribly intolerant to any dose of any statin, with incapacitating and strange side-effects, like head-to-toe itching, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. It was clear: John needed to do the program without benefit of a statin drug.

I therefore asked John to maximize all efforts that reduce LDL, 70% of which were small LDL paricles despite his very slender build. He used oat bran and ground flaxseed daily, raw nuts, a soy protein smoothie every morning, and eliminated wheat and other high-glycemic index foods (including the Oreos he loved to snack on). Because the mis-adventures with statin drugs wasted nearly a year, I asked John to undergo another heart scan. Score 2: 1383, a 16% increase.

I asked John to keep on going. Thankfully, he did manage to tolerate fish oil, niacin (though it required over a year just to get to a 1000 mg per day dose), and vitamin D. With all these efforts, he did reduce LDL to the 80-90 mg/dl range. Of course, John's unflagging optimism was crucial. He did express his occasional anxiety over his heart scan score, but dealt with it in a logical, philosophical way. He understood that there was no role for prophylactic stents or bypass, and he accepted that much of his program rested on his ability to adhere to the strategies we advised.

Another year later, a 3rd heart scan: 1210, a 12% reduction.

I'm very proud of John and his success. When you think about it, he succeeded in conquering heart disease with some very simple tools, minus statin drugs. It can be done, but requires consistency and patience--and an optimistic outlook.
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Comments (5) -

  • katkarma

    10/12/2007 6:37:00 PM |

    I try to follow your regimen of Fish Oil, Vitamin D, niacin and eat oat bran w/flax seeds also, but I use whey protein shakes in the morning because of the taste.   Is  this amount of soy really helping to lower LDL?  Is whey protein ok to use?

  • Dr. Davis

    10/13/2007 1:51:00 AM |

    Yes, I believe whey is fine.

    The LDL-reducing effect of soy is very modest, usually no more than 10 mg/dl. I like it because of the protein that permits low-glycemic index foods to be created with it. I also grew up with soy products since I was a kid and am very comfortable with its many forms.

  • wccaguy

    10/13/2007 2:17:00 AM |

    Just to follow up on katkarma's question...

    Is there any reason to use soy protein rather than whey protein other than that modest LDL lowering effect?

    Any reason not to use whey protein as a surrogate for soy protein?

  • Dr. Davis

    10/16/2007 10:52:00 PM |

    To my knowledge, whey protein is fine, though without direct effects on such things as LDL/small LDL.

  • Scott Parrish

    10/17/2007 1:09:00 PM |

    Kaayla Daniel, in her book "The Whole Soy Story," makes the best for avoiding soy unless fermented. Fermented options including natto, miso, tempeh, but NOT soy protein isolate, tofu, soy milk and other popular soy forms. Problems with soy include estrogenic activity, certain mineral absorption problems, thyroid problems, increased risk for certain cancers.

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