Clean Chocolate Cake

This happens to be my favorite chocolate cake!  It has a very surprising ingredient and if you didn't know what it was, you would probably never guess.  This is a flourless cake, but has the consistency of a traditional fluffy crumb and is super moist due to ... black beans.  What?  I know, it sounds crazy, but this is a great swap for refined white flour in chocolate cakes and brownies.  You can use a can of unseasoned black beans (drained, rinsed, and pureed) for every cup of flour.  I found a similar recipe at LowCarbFriends and tweaked it to make it processed free for my family.  Trust me when I say you will never know the flour is gone - you won't miss it!

1 (15oz.) can unseasoned black beans
5 eggs
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted organic butter or coconut oil
1 to 1 1/4 cups sucanat or coconut sugar
6 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. water

Mint Chocolate version: 2 tsp. pure mint extract in place of the vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 9 inch round cake pan or an 8X8 inch pan with coconut oil.  Drain, rinse, and puree the black beans in a blender.  Add 3 of the eggs, vanilla, and salt and blend until everything is completely liquefied - no bean lumps.  In a separate bowl, mix the the cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside.  In a larger bowl, beat the butter/coconut oil with the sucanat/coconut sugar until well incorporated and fluffy.  Add the remaining 2 eggs beating each one at a time.  Add the bean mixture and beat together.  Finally, add the cocoa powder mix and water and beat on high for another minute until smooth.  Scrape batter into the pan and smooth out the top.  Bake for 40-45 minutes.  Cake will be done when it is firm to the touch.  Let the cake cool completely and then cover with plastic wrap.  If you want turn it out, wait 10 minutes after you take it out then flip it out onto a cooling rack.  For the best flavor, make this cake in the morning or let it sit overnight - it won't have even a hint of beans.  You can cut and stack this cake or make these into cupcakes instead.  Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

I purposely showed this without frosting because there are so many options.  I like a clean cream cheese, a clean chocolate, a clean version of a ganache or even an avocado frosting (I'm working on that recipe right now - it's almost perfected and ready to post.)  So frost how you want or eat as is with a scoop of clean ice cream (recipe here.)  I hope you love it as much as me and my family.


For cupcakes, fill these pretty full as they won't rise much.  You'll probably get anywhere between 15 to 18 cupcakes.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  You can also try using a hotter oven temperature and baking them for less time.  In theory, this should help them rise a bit more.