Cool Beans!

I guess I’m showing my age with the title of today’s post.  The Urban Dictionary: Cool beans: “A slang term that actually began its use in the late 60's/early 70's. Popularized by the pop culture of the time. Used to describe something very favorable or pleasing. Great. Very nice.”

I recently had the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful dessert, guilt free.  This dessert was a rich chocolate cake made with…black beans!  I’m sure many of you have heard of cake made with beans, I had, but I had never given it a second thought until recently.

Lately I tend to browse through low-carb blogs looking for alternatives to higher carb foods that I enjoy.  Although I don’t really crave cake that often I do miss having my cake and eating it too.  When I came across a recipe for black bean cake I decided to give it a go.

I SO wanted to make this cake without my husband knowing what was in it but he saw the ingredients sitting on the counter and asked what I was up to.  I could tell by his reaction that getting him to try this new delight wasn’t going to be easy.

What I liked about this cake:

·       Super easy to make!

·       NO flour!

·       It’s moist and stands alone without frosting or any type of addition.

·       Using my adjustments there are only about 11.5 gr. carbs per 1/8 cake and 3 gr. of fiber!!!

What I don’t like about this cake:

·       …I got nothing.

This. cake. is. awesome.

The recipe I followed said that the cake is best after it has been allowed to sit overnight.  “I promise this cake will not have a hint of beaniness after letting it sit for eight hours!”  This woman didn’t lie.  I actually “mmmMMMMmmm”nd at my first bite.  Ray, although somewhat reluctantly, took a bite and liked it!  I even got my 94 year old mom to try it with success (although she didn’t understand why there wasn’t any frosting.)  This. cake. is. awesome.  Did I say that already?

Here is a link to the original recipe and below is my version.

Black Bean Chocolate Cake

·       1 15 ounce can of unseasoned black beans

·       5 large eggs

·       1 Tbsp vanilla extract

·       ½ tsp salt

·       6 Tbsp butter

·       ¾ cup C&H Blend (the original recipe calls for other sweetener options)

·       6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s 100% cacao Special Dark)

·       1 tsp baking powder

·       ½ tsp baking soda

·       1 Tbsp water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray a 9” cake pan with cooking spray and dust cocoa all around tapping to evenly distribute.  Cut a round of parchment paper and line the bottom of the pan, then spray the parchment lightly. (I followed this exactly although I’m not sure why you have to waste the cocoa on the bottom of the pan if you’re going to cover it with parchment.)

Drain and rinse the beans, shaking off excess water.  Place beans, 3 of the eggs, vanilla and salt in a blender.  Blend on high until the beans are completely liquefied. No lumps! (who likes a lumpy cake?)  Whisk together cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder.  In another bowl, beat butter and sugar blend 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 mixture and water and beat the batter on high for one minute until smooth.  Pour batter into pan, smoothing the top.  Rap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles.

Bake for 40-45 minutes.  Cake is done when the top is rounded and firm to the touch.  Let the cake cool for 10 minutes then turn it out onto a cooling rack.  Once the cake reaches room temperature, cover with plastic wrap or cake dome.  (I used a large Tupperware bowl.)  Let it sit overnight and…Voila!

As I said above, this cake has about 11.5 gr. carbs per 1/8 cake and 3 gr. of fiber using the C&H.  The original recipe gives some other sweetener options if you’d like to lower the carb content further.  I personally prefer some real sugar in my baking but use the sugar blend to lower the carb count.

Someday I may try topping this cake with a ganache but it is simply lovely all by itself.  I also plan to try cupcakes.

I next tried making a lemon garbanzo bean cake because I adore lemon desserts, but it was a dismal failure.  The cake was good (Ray is eating it) but my meter was more than unhappy when I tested it.  You just have to add too much sweetener when making a lemon dessert.  I may try another garbanzo cake (without the lemon) to see how it does for a yellow cake. 

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