INGREDIENTS
Vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, or cooking spray, for greasing
2¼ cups (10 oz.) cake flour, such as King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour Blend
¾ cup (6 oz.) sugar, divided
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup water
6 oz. vanilla almond milk “yogurt,” such as So Delicious Dairy Free
1 Tbsp. baking powder
3 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
1 pint fresh strawberries, stemmed and quartered
1 tsp. lemon juice
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish
PREPARATION
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with the margarine and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, œ cup sugar, vegetable oil, water, yogurt, baking powder and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Mix until the batter is smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed pot, heat the strawberries and the remaining Œ cup sugar over medium-high heat. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the strawberries soften and their juices release and thicken.
• Remove the sauce from the heat, stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and the lemon juice. Using an immersion blender, purée the strawberry sauce. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
• To serve, drizzle 3 tablespoons strawberry sauce over each cake slice and garnish with the fresh mint.
This article appears in May 2015.