WIC Kitchen: A healthy and delicious birthday cake for WIC’s 50th anniversary

This is the 50th anniversary of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, a federally funded nutrition plan for eligible pregnant and postpartum mothers and children up to age 5.

To celebrate, the Monongalia County Health Department WIC program will host birthday parties at some of our six regional offices, including Monongalia, Preston, Marion, Harrison, Doddridge and Taylor.

And what’s a party without cake? So for this month’s WIC Kitchen, we’re making one and, of course, we’re throwing in as many healthy ingredients as possible.

We made this yellow cake by slightly modifying this recipe from Jessica Seinfield’s “Deceptively Delicious” cookbook, which she compiled after working to create delicious yet nutritious foods for her children.

Adding pumpkin and yogurt to the cake not only provides additional protein, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and minerals (pumpkin) and calcium, zinc, B vitamins and probiotics (yogurt), but it makes also the cake softer. The fruit on top makes it pretty and colorful and also has more nutritional value.

And if you can sneak carrots into a fruit punch, why not?

Wondering if you qualify for WIC? See the Generous Income Guidelines at monchd.org/departments-programs/pages/wic-eligibility-guidelines.

And remember, adoptive parents or family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) raising their grandchildren who have been certified as “kinship care” by the Department of Health and Resources West Virginia Human Rights (DHHR), are automatically eligible for WIC. Some pregnant women who lose income due to missing work may also do so. To find out, call 800-675-5181.

Items marked with an asterisk

are available through the Monongalia County Health Department WIC. Please contact us at 304-598-5181 for more information.

YELLOW CAKE

Non-Stick Cooking Spray

A box of yellow cake mix

1 cup canned pumpkin puree*

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

2 large eggs *

1 large egg white*

6 ounces fat-free lemon, banana, or vanilla yogurt (we used lemon)*

Preheat the oven to

350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray and lightly flour.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cake mix, pumpkin puree, water, oil, eggs, egg white and yogurt. Beat until smooth, one to two minutes.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool and decorate.

FRUIT PUNCH

2 cups raspberry puree*

1 cup pineapple puree *

1/2 cup carrot puree*

2 cups of cold water

1/4 cup sugar

Ice cream, to serve

To make a puree, add desired fruit/vegetable to small amounts of water and blend until desired consistency.

Combine the raspberry, pineapple and carrot purees, water and sugar in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Serve over ice and enjoy!

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