Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Chocolate Black Bean Cake!

Check it out. There are two food bloggers that I follow consistently, and others whose blogs I occasionally wander off two. One of the two is Lauren, who has a blog called "Healthy Indulgences"-- absolutely chock full of amazing recipes, many of which are candida-friendly.

This chocolate cake, which entirely follows the candida diet with no changes made, is absolutely, without a doubt, to die for. Yes, it has black beans in it. Just trust me on this one, okay? It's cheap to make, and it's good for you, so there's no reason not to try it. This was a nice relief after spending an arm and a leg on almond flour recently, and holy crap does it feel good to eat chocolate cake and not feel guilty about the sugar. Although it's not at all shy on butter...

Lauren's also a carb counter, so for those of you who care about carbs it's ~65g net carbs for the whole cake with icing. So if you eat 1/10 of the cake you're at 6.5g carbs. I'm not a carb-counter, so that means nothing to me, but there it is.

For those not omitting sugar, replace the stevia/erythritol with regular sugar in the cake and powdered sugar in the icing if you wish. For those using the substitute sweeteners, a note: I used a looot more stevia in the icing than she recommended, so be sure to taste as you go. And salt is a necessity for the icing. An absolute necessity. Without it, it tastes bitter.

Here's my cake. I was feeling lazy and took the picture with my camera phone, so it's not that pretty. Once my digital camera can email my computer, I'll use it more often, but the whole USB process generally means I go for low quality pictures for things like blogging about cakes.

But man is it delicious.

You can see that I added almonds on the top. They really add a lot to the cake- I highly recommend this. I took regular whole, unsalted almonds, crushed them up, threw them on a cookie sheet under the broiler for a couple minutes, and scattered them on top.

Here's the recipe, taken from her blog.

Chocolate Cake Made with Black Beans

Makes a single 9" layer cake, which can be halved and stacked for the taller cake you see here!

Ingredients:
1-15 ounce can of unseasoned black beans
OR 1 1/4 cup cooked beans, any color
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons unsalted organic butter OR extra virgin coconut oil
3/4 cup erythritol plus 1/2 teaspoon pure stevia extract OR 1/4-1/3 cup honey plus 1 teaspoon stevia
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon water (omit if using honey)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9" cake pan with extra virgin olive oil cooking spray, or just grease it with a thin layer of butter. Dust cocoa all over the inside of the pan, tapping to evenly distribute. Cut a round of parchment paper and line the bottom of the pan, then spray the parchment lightly.

Drain and rinse beans in a strainer or colander. Shake off excess water. Place beans, 3 of the eggs, vanilla, stevia (if using) and salt into blender. Blend on high until beans are completely liquefied. No lumps! Whisk together cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat butter with sweetener (erythritol or honey) until light and fluffy. Add remaining two eggs, beating for a minute after each addition. Pour bean batter into egg mixture and mix. Finally, stir in cocoa powder and water (if using), and beat the batter on high for one minute, until smooth. Scrape batter into pan and smooth the top. Grip pan firmly by the edges and rap it on the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles.

Bake for 325 degrees for 45 minutes. You may need a little longer, as my oven runs hot. Cake is done with the top is rounded and firm to the touch. After 10 minutes, turn out cake from pan, and flip over again on to a cooling rack. Let cool until cake reaches room temperature, then cover in plastic wrap or with cake dome (I use an overturned plastic chip bowl). For BEST flavor, let cake sit over night. I promise this cake will not have a hint of beaniness after letting it sit for eight hours! If you are stacking this cake, level the top with a long serrated knife, shaving off layers until it is flat and even. Frost immediately before serving.

Healthy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Makes enough to thickly cover one layer, or fill and frost a halved stacked layer

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted organic butter, softened, OR 7 tablespoons nonhydrogenated shortening
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon erythritol, OR 1/4 cup xylitol, powdered
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons half and half OR coconut milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
Good-tasting pure stevia extract, to taste

Optional addition for a glossy finish:
1 fresh organic egg yolk

Preparation:
Cream the butter in a small bowl until fluffy. Powder erythritol or xylitol in a coffee grinder or Magic Bullet for a minute or two, until extremely fine. Let sweetener settle in grinder before opening the top. Stir powdered sweetener into butter with a spatula, then beat until smooth. Slowly blend in the cocoa powder (unless you want to redecorate your kitchen), vanilla, and sea salt. Beat in the half and half and egg yolk, if using. Add stevia, starting with 1/16 teaspoon. You'll probably use less than 1/4 teaspoon. Just keep tasting and adjust sweetness to your liking.


Enjoy!!!

-Jess MINIFAD: Chocolate Black Bean Cake!Tweet this!

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