Apple Cornbread French Toast Cake With Roasted Strawberries [Vegan, Gluten-Free]

Cornbread is pretty perfect on its own, but what happens when you mix it with apples, roasted strawberries, AND French toast? Even more perfection! This makes a uniquely awesome brunch dish or autumn dessert.

Ingredients You Need for Apple Cornbread French Toast Cake With Roasted Strawberries [Vegan, Gluten-Free]

Apple Cornbread:

1/2 cup almond flour plus 2 tablespoons almond flour
1/2 cup dry polenta
2 tablespoons gluten-free oat bran
2 tablespoons aquafaba (brine from a can of beans)
1 banana, mashed
2 small or 1 medium apple, grated
1 tablespoons chia seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons water and left to gel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup sweetener/sugar of choice
Pinch salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Optional: nuts to fold in

French Toast Soaking Mixture:

1/2 cup aquafaba
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoon cinnamon

Roasted Strawberries:

2 cups strawberries, sliced in half
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons dry mint
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Sweet Mint Drizzle:

1 teaspoon sweet molasses
Pinch cayenne
2 tablespoons hot water
2 teaspoons dry mint

How to Prepare Apple Cornbread French Toast Cake With Roasted Strawberries [Vegan, Gluten-Free]

Preheat oven to 356°F and line a loaf pan.
Mix your dry ingredients together in a bowl, and your wet in another. Mix wet into dry until well combined.
Spoon into the loaf pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden on top (every oven differs).
Meanwhile, fold your strawberries in the spices and herbs and bake sliced-side down for 15 or so minutes until roasted.
Let it cool completely before removing from the pan and letting it sit for half an hour before slicing and placing in a container in the fridge.
The next day or two you can mix your soaking mixture and dip your slices in there for a few minutes on each side until moist (it won’t be super soggy like thin bread).
Spray a non-stick pan and cook for 4-5 minutes a side until crisped up.
Mix the drizzle ingredients and pour over the tops of the cornbread just as it comes off the pan and onto the plate so that it can soak in.
Serve immediately.