Cornmeal Pound Cake with Strawberry Sauce

When I worked for the restaurant we used to serve a Cornmeal Pound Cake with Roasted Strawberries for dessert.  So I thought that this would be a great recipe to "Veganize" and make it healthy.  The original recipe's ingredients included:  butter, eggs, buttermilk, white sugar, all purpose flour and high fructose corn syrup.  No wonder that we have an obesity epidemic in this country, along with soaring rates of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  I can't believe that I ever ate this way--seems so foreign to me now.  

Even though that this is SO MUCH HEALTHIER (and just as delicious), I still eat sweets in moderation.  Sugar is sugar is sugar, but at least I know that this is made with whole grains, has no cholesterol, almost zero saturated fat and uses fresh seasonal fruit!
 

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups whole grain spelt flour

1/3 cup cornmeal, finely ground

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks (slightly melted)

4 tsp Ener-g Egg Replacer (found in health food stores)

1/3 cup filtered water

2 tbsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup almond milk

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

Note:  I use whole grain or whole wheat flours in my baking because they have more nutrients and protein than regular all purpose flour, especially spelt. However, using whole wheat products produces a darker grain, which I happen to prefer.  If you want your pound cake to be a little lighter in color then switch to a white spelt flour instead. 

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a standard loaf pan with canola spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
• Add flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
• In another bowl, combine maple syrup, melted butter, vanilla extract, almond milk and lemon zest and blend with a hand mixer.
• In a small bowl, whisk Ener-g Egg Replacer with the filtered water and add to the liquid ingredients and combine.
• Using a spatula or hand held mixer on low add wet ingredients to dry and mix until combined.
• Pour into prepared pan and bake on the middle rack for about 30-35 minutes.  Check for doneness at 25-30 minutes.
• Remove cake from the oven and let sit on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

Strawberry Sauce:

1 pound Organic Strawberries, rinsed and quartered (save several of the them for garnish)
1/4 cup Agave syrup
1 tbsp red wine
1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of black pepper

Method:

• Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan, bring up to a boil, reduce heat and cook on low for about 5 minutes until strawberries are soft.
• Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
• Strain sauce through a fine mesh strainer and chill in the refrigerator.

Serve with sliced fresh strawberries and Organic So Delicious Dairy Free Creamy Vanilla.  Enjoy!