Chocolate Bean Cake - Phase I
1 15 oz can black beans (drained & rinsed)
4 large eggs, seperated
1/2 cup Splenda (to taste, use 3/4 cup max)
3 TBSP baking cocoa (4 TBSP if you use the extra splenda)
2 TBSP strong coffee (or 1 TBSP espresso powder or coffee dissolved in 1 TBSP hot water)
1 tsp baking powder
2 TBSP Smart Beat spread or canola oil (I used smart spread)
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP chopped walnuts or hazelnuts-optional
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare an 8x8 baking pan by spraying it with Pam.
Blend the egg yolks,splenda,baking powder, Smart Beat (or oil), vanilla, coffee, & cocoa in a blender or with a stick blender. Add the rinsed & drained beans & puree until smooth. Transfer bean mixture to a bowl if using a blender.
In a seperate bowl, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Mix 1/3 of the egg whites into the bean
mixture to lighten the bean mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites in two portions. It's OK if some white streaks remain in the batter.
Pour the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle the top with chopped nuts if desired. Tap the pan on counter a couple of times to release any air pockets. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes before slicing.
Makes 16 2"x2" servings.
Variations: Chocolate peanut butter: add 2 TBSP natural peanut butter to the bean mixture. Sprinkle top with chopped peanuts if desired.
Chocolate hazelnut: Add 1 TBSP sugar-free hazelnut syrup or 1/4 tsp hazelnut extract to the bean mixture. Sprinkle the top with chopped hazelnuts if desired.
Note: coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate & makes it more chocolately, you don't taste the coffee.
From Tracy: This was really good! If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't have known it was made mostly of beans! For garnishes, You can also sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top if you choose to just use FF cool whip as a topping (which is also delish)... I turn the mini chips upside down and pushed them slightly into the cake while it was warm, when I microwaved it they melted and tasted like chocolate chip cake
Another tip is to make sure it's pureed enough, as smooth as you can get it.. (i put mine in my Magic Bullet, and it worked great)
For the strong coffee, I dissolved 2 TBS of instant coffee in 1 TBS hot water, worked wonderfully
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pkg. 1/3rd less fat cream cheese
1/2 to 1 Cup Splenda (to taste)
1 or 2 tsp. vanilla (again to taste)
Any DaVinci SF syrups to taste
Nuke the cheese until soft. Blend in Splenda & vanilla.
Just throw in some cocoa or peanut butter to change the flavour...
From Tracy: I only used 1/2 cup of splenda, I love the taste of the cream cheese, I also added 1/2 cup cool whip to "fluffy" it up
