Cardamom Scented Whole-Wheat Tofu Pound Cake – with agave

This kitchen experiment worked out fantastically well. I was pleasantly surprised that this worked on the first try. In this version I replaced the sugar with agave and reduced the salt to cut back on the sodium. I also used 50% the amount of agave and the cake is still more than sweet enough for us.

By including agave this cake cooked a little quicker than the sugar version and got browner on the exterior. I like the exterior color better on the agave version of the cake. Additionally the cake didn’t rise quite as much as the sugar version, but the texture is good so that doesn’t bother me.

Comparing the nutritional statistics of the two cakes the agave version is the clear winner. It has 80 fewer calories per serving and more importantly over 20 fewer sugar grams per serving. This worked so well I am inspired to modify some of my other bakery recipes since it is getting to be that time of year.

Cardamom Scented Whole-Wheat Tofu Pound Cake – with agave
Serves 6

Ingredients:

5 ounces of low fat silken tofu (approximately 5 big tablespoons)
1/3 cup amber agave
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup water
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 ½ cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cardamom, ground

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a loaf pan with canola oil, or pan spray and set aside.

Combine the tofu, agave, oil, water and extract in your food processor or blender and puree until completely smooth.

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cardamom and whisk to evenly distribute the leavening ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir gently to incorporate. The batter should be the consistency of cake batter (pourable). If you keep your whole-wheat flour in the freezer you will probably need to add a little water (a few tablespoons at a time) until the batter has the correct consistency. I had to add about ½ cup of water and the final cake texture was still perfect.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake for 5 minutes in the pan then move to a rack and cool completely or serve the cake a little warm.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 206.38
Calories From Fat (43%) - 87.97

Total Fat - 9.88g
Saturated Fat - 0.8g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 404.62mg
Potassium - 161.35mg
Total Carbohydrates - 25.43g
Fiber - 4.92g
Sugar - 0.71g
Protein - 5.7g

Comments:

I suffered for you all and had a little slice of the pound cake with blueberries with my lunch today. And … if you believe that I have a bridge to sell.

The texture of the cake was perfect, and no one could be more shocked by this than I am. I expected the first version to need tweaking to get the texture right, but it doesn’t it is great just the way it is.

You could serve this with a little tofu sour cream on top, or the coconut banana ice cream would be great with this. I liked the cake plain with a few blueberries but it is light and not overly sweet this way (exactly the way I like it). If you are a big fan of cardamom you can double the amount and it won’t be overpowering. Since not everyone loves cardamom the way I do, I try to keep the level down in my recipes.

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do.