Healthy Vanilla Bean Pound Cake

©: Amy's Healthy Baking

Yields: 1 cake, 12 slices

This is one of my all-time favorite pound cakes! It’s supremely tender and full of rich vanilla flavor. The drizzle may be optional, but it adds a pretty finishing touch! The pound cake will keep for at least five days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

for the pound cake
2 ¾ cups (330g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
3 large egg whites, room temperature
5 tsp vanilla bean paste (see Notes!)
1 tbsp (15mL) liquid stevia (see Notes!)
¾ cup (180g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 ¼ cups (300mL) nonfat milk
for the drizzle (optional)
5 tsp confectioners’ style erythritol
1 ½ tsp nonfat milk
¼ tsp vanilla bean paste

Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
To prepare the cake, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla bean paste, and liquid stevia. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in ¼ cup of milk. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and remaining milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.)
Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes or until the top feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring the pound cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
To prepare the drizzle, just before serving, stir together the erythritol, milk, and vanilla bean paste in a small bowl. Transfer the glaze to a small bag, cut off a tiny piece of one corner, and drizzle on top of the cooled cake.

Notes: Do NOT use a hand-held mixer or stand mixer to make the batter. This will result in a dense or tough cake. Use a whisk where instructed, and use a fork for everything else.

Whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted in place of the white whole wheat flour. Regular whole wheat flour may be substituted in a pinch, although the cake will be less tender and have a distinct wheat-y flavor.

The cake requires 3 full egg whites. The whites contain the majority of the protein in eggs, and that protein is required to ensure the cake maintains its shape and texture while cooling. Without all 3 egg whites, the cake will collapse while cooling and turn out much denser.

This is the vanilla bean paste that I used! It’s much more affordable than buying regular vanilla beans, and it’s completely shelf-stable. Each teaspoon is the equivalent of one full vanilla bean! I bought it online here. For a stronger vanilla flavor, increase the vanilla bean paste by another 1 teaspoon.

You may substitute regular vanilla extract for the vanilla bean paste, but the vanilla flavor won’t be quite as prominent.

I do not recommend substituting for the liquid stevia, if at all possible. (It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!) I buy mine online here because that's the cheapest price I've found. For the best results, use the same liquid stevia that I did! Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so they're not always a 1-for-1 substitution.

However, if you really prefer to omit the liquid stevia from the cake, substitute 1 ¼ cups (240g) granulated sugar and reduce the milk to ½ cup + 2 tablespoons, but the cake will no longer be clean-eating friendly. You may substitute 1 ¼ cups (240g) coconut sugar and reduce the milk to ½ cup + 2 tablespoons to keep the cake clean eating friendly, but it will be much darker in color. The baking time may vary with either of those substitutions as well.

Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.

In the drizzle, this is the confectioners’ style erythritol that I used. In a pinch, regular confectioners’ (powdered) sugar may be substituted for the confectioners’ style erythritol. However, regular powdered sugar is more absorbent, so start with ½ teaspoon of milk and add more as necessary to achieve the desired consistency.

I do not recommend baking this cake in square or round cake pans. If baked in either of these pans, the center of the cake will likely collapse because of the lack of sugar and how this cake is sweetened with stevia instead. (Sugar actually plays a role in cake’s structure — it’s not just there for sweetness!) For the best taste and texture results, use a loaf pan as instructed.

GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: For the gluten-free flour, use the following: 1 ½ cups (180g) millet flour, ¾ cup (90g) tapioca flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, and 2 teaspoons xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends (like this one!) will work as well, if measured like this.

{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low sugar, higher protein}

Recipe by Amy's Healthy Baking at https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2018/02/14/greek-yogurt-vanilla-bean-pound-cake/