Healthy Strawberry Protein Bundt Cake with Strawberry Protein Glaze

Hi, friends,

Yes, I am posting yet another strawberry recipe! Because…(I have to explain myself yet again) there’s been no getting away from the strawberries for me lately! It IS the strawberry season! And yes, I did think about making one of my favorite blueberry cakes, but it looks like that cake will have to wait a bit since all that I could find in the local grocery store that looked nice and was reasonably priced were… yes, the STRAWBERRIES!

But here is what I really like about this particular recipe: as the name of this cake states, it is (naturally) high in protein and paleo, since the bean flour that I replaced the wheat flour with is very high in protein. The good amount of Greek yogurt in the recipe adds another boost of protein to it. And so I have all the reasons to call it a “protein punch dessert”.

But there is also something important that I want to clarify for you, my dear reader, about my cooking and my general lifestyle philosophy.

• I do not believe in Paleo dieting.
• Or in being strickly Vegan.
• Or Gluten-Free.
• Or Micro-Biologic.
• Or any other trendy new way of eating that we’ll soon certainly learn about.

And here is what I do believe in:

1. Balance. To me balance is about eating a good variety of healthy foods and mixing them up according to your taste (some people like strawberries, others like apples. But consuming either is good for us!). And yes, this cake IS Paleo and high in healthy protein. And that’s great! I’ll have a protein punch for dessert for a few days. But then I’ll MAKE SURE that I’ll  add some healthy grains that contain the important vitamin B to my diet.
2. There are cases when people NEED to stick to a certain diet due to their conditions. For example someone who is allergic to dairy and eggs HAS to have vegan desserts. Someone with a gluten-intolerance MUST NOT eat stuff that contains wheat. But otherwise… No, no and no! I very much believe that restricting your diet for no apparent reason, except for just the “fun” of it, or because it’s “trendy” could only result in problems that you haven’t had, but may develop from the lack of proper nutrition…

OK, so now that I said all that, I’m still going to brag (because I guess that’s what the bloggers do) about all these healthy features of this cake:

It is:

• Paleo
• Gluten Free
• Grain-Free
• Low Fat
• No processed sugar added
• All-Natural
• Low Calorie

And of course it is also sweet and pretty…

Did I brag enough? 🙂

OK! So… here is the recipe for it…

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Healthy Strawberry Protein Bundt Cake with Strawberry Protein Glaze

Servings: 16 servings

Author: Liza

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 2 cups garbanzo bean flour
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2/3 cup honey
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups plain non-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 cups strawberries pureed
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the Strawberry Glaze:

• 1 cup strawberries
• 1/3 cup honey or other sweetener of your choice*
• 1/4 cup ground chia seeds*
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Mix the flours with the salt and baking soda.
3. Beat the eggs. Add honey, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract. Beat everything together. Add the pureed strawberries.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture. Mix everything up and pour into a well-greased bundt cake pan.
5. Bake for approximately 1 hour checking with the toothpick for doneness in the last 15 minutes of baking.
6. Cool the cake before glazing it.
7. To prepare the glaze preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the whole strawberries for about 20 minutes until they are baked through. (I don't like using fresh strawberries to glaze my cakes because fresh pureed berries may spoil very quickly. If you bake the berries, the glaze will last for a good few days).
8. Cool the strawberries, put them in the blender with honey, vanilla extract and the milled chia seeds. Blend until the mixture is smooth. Let the mixture sit for a few hours or overnight for the chia seeds to expand and thicken the glaze.

Recipe Notes

*The 1/3 cup of honey was more than enough to satisfy my sweet tooth, but if you like your glaze to be sweeter, just add some more sweetener. I recommend tasting the prepared glaze before topping the cake with it and adjust its sweetness according to your taste.

*The chia seeds are optional. They act as an emulsifier, making the glaze more "puddingy". They also add to the cake's protein content as they are high in good fats and protein. Additionally if using them you won't have to use as much sugar to thicken the glaze. It's important to use the ground chia seeds because if you use the whole seeds, you will end up with a crunchy chia pudding instead of a glaze. If you don't have the milled chia, just use a little more sugar to thicken the glaze.

*You can also bake two smaller bundt cakes or loaves and freeze one of them since the unglazed cake freezes very well. (I always keep a stash of my left-over cakes in the freezer so that I can thaw one of them out if I am not in the mood to bake).