Photo: Michelle Collins- Training Camp 2017

Have you ever had pancakes for breakfast and been immediately hungry afterwards? I’m not a fan of breakfasts that won’t get you at least until second breakfast at 10:30. Especially on trip. Pancakes are a great slow breakfast when you have the luxury of an extra cup of coffee and maybe even a piece of bacon or two. But if they’re just fluffy air, they’re no good. This is where our Power Cakes come in.

Full of complex carbs good fats and tasty protein, these will keep you going for the morning no doubt.

As most of my recipes goes, I’m not actually one for following them so I encourage you also to be flexible and use up what’s in your cupboard before buying more ingredients.

Makes 4 medium cakes.

Mix all dry ingredients together:

• 2 C whole wheat flour;
• 1/3 C wheat bran;
• 1/3 C hemp hearts;
• 1 Tbsp baking powder;
• Pinch of salt;
• 2 Tbsp  whole egg powder;
• 1/2 C skim milk powder

Add Wet Ingredients to dry:

• 1 C plain yogurt OR 1 C Unsweetened Apple Sauce
  • If you do not have this – don’t sweat it. It’s a luxury. Makes them nice and moist but not necessary. Replace amount with water if not available;
• 1.5 Purified COLD water (you don’t want to see what happens if you use hot water);
• 2 Tbsp of vanilla extract

Mix together and use a preheated seasoned dutch over to bake on medium heat. Use bacon grease to fry them or coconut oil for the vegetarians. The more oil you use, the crispier the edges will get!

TOPPINGS!

Strewed Fruit

Our expeditions are loaded with fats and grains. Therefore, whenever the opportunity presents itself I like to stew fruit. Use freeze dried or dehydrated fruits such as peaches, strawberries and blueberries as a compote to make your meal colourful! 1/2 C serving of dried fruit per person or 3/4 C frozen fruit is adequate.

Equal parts of fruit to water if hydrating. Heat on medium heat until fully hydrated. If you have too much water- drink it! It’s delicious. If you don’t have enough, add more.

Maple Syrup

I don’t add any sugar to the dry ingredients because real maple syrup and adding fruit is going to be sweet enough. No need for it to be a dessert for breakfast.

Yogurt

Try bringing a small container of yogurt and bringing it in the tent the night before so it thaws. Put a dollop of plain yogurt with your fruit on top of you cake for a real treat.

Caloric Breakdown of “Power Cakes” and its Toppings

*This information is for interests sake only and may include some errors. The information gathered has been sourced from the Goverment of Canada:

Add Maple Syrup

Add Bacon!

*Bacon has a deceptive nutritional breakdown since it is measuring the amount of fat/calories BEFORE it is cooked. Since a large portion of the fat cooks off into the pan, it is only accurate if you then use this fat for cooking the power cakes.*

Combine All Of The Goodness