This healthy Black Bean Chocolate Cake, is deliciously rich and moist, yet contains no sugar or flour, and it’s very low fat and low calorie. This is the perfect clean eating dessert recipe if you are dieting, are on weight watchers, or just looking to minimize sweets but still enjoy a treat every now and then. Chocolate bean cake has become my new favourite healthy chocolate cake!
Checkout my Dairy Free Chocolate Black Bean Brownies for another quick and easy sugar free recipe.
What’s in Black Bean Chocolate cake
There are 10 ingredients. All pretty standard and items that you can easily buy from your supermarket. There’s no need to make a special trip to the health food store.
- Canned Black Beans (obviously): these are great because they are pre-cooked and ready to use
- 3 large eggs
- Granulated sweetener that measures like sugar (for example, I use Natvia Stevia)
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Sugar Free dark chocolate (or 70% dark chocolate)
- Cooled Instant coffee for that uber rich decadent depth of flavour
- Vanilla essence
- Baking powder
- Juice and zest from 1/2 large orange
- A pinch of salt
So you might of noticed that there is no flour, which makes this a gluten free black bean cake, which makes it a perfect dessert choice if you are gluten free, or even if you have a wheat intolerance.
More Clean Eating Chocolate Desserts: Gluten Free Chocolate Mud Cake, Chocolate Cacao Bliss Balls, Velvety Chilli Chocolate Cheesecake, Choc Orange Cheesecake, Date Sweetened Choc Caramel Slice Bites.
How To Make a Black Bean Chocolate Cake
- Drain and rinse the black beans
- Blitz the black beans in a food processor or high speed blender
- Grab a bowl and whisk eggs and sweetener until fluffy
- Add egg mixture to the food processor/blender and blitz
- Add the rest of the ingredients - cocoa powder, black beans, cooled coffee, vanilla essence, baking powder, juice and zest and salt (hold the chocolate)
- Pour mixture into a lined and greased springform tin
- Chop the chocolate into rough chunks and place randomly on top (some might sink in, and some will stay on top, that’s OK)
- Bake at 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F for 35 minutes
The best type of chocolate to use
Any type of stevia sweetened sugar free dark chocolate, or at minimum 70% dark chocolate, if you can’t find the sugar free variety. I would avoid using sugar free milk chocolate. I find that you need a darker chocolate as it has a stronger flavor profile than a milk chocolate.
The other reason I like using sugar free dark chocolate sweetened with stevia is that it makes this a low GI chocolate cake which means it won’t spike you’re sugar levels as the energy is released into your system much slow, leaving you fuller for longer and without the energy slumps.
Can you taste the beans?
You definitely can’t taste the black beans in the black bean chocolate cake. Sounds kind of counter intuitive I know, since black beans are the main ingredient. Because there are so many other flavours going on – chocolate, coffee, vanilla and orange – the black beans become invisible to the eye and to the taste. Whoever thought making a chocolate cake with black beans could be so wickedly delicious!
The Benefits of Black Beans
For starters black beans are a superfood. But what does that even mean? Black beans are packed with fibre protein, vitamin B and anti oxidents.
Using black beans as the main ingredient is one of the reasons this is a low GI chocolate cake, as the black beans themselves are Low Gi. You also might not think so, but because this cake uses black beans instead of flour, it helps keep it lovely and moist, making it a pretty darn awesome flourless chocolate cake.
A Warning with this Gluten Free Black Bean Cake
It is extremely rich, and trust me you will only need one slice. Don’t be fooled that it’s only 91 calories per serve. It’s so decadent that I like to eat mine with a little cream, sugar free custard, or sugar free ice cream. Whilst this is a healthy chocolate cake, it’s still very indulgent and will absolutely cure your chocolate cravings immediately.
You won’t regret making this chocolate bean cake, and it’s the ideal sugar free chocolate cake for Valentines Day or special occasions when you’re looking to keep your clean eating lifestyle on track.
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Black Bean Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 400 g/14 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup granulated sweetener that measures like sugar
- 4 Tbsp Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup Sugar Free dark chocolate or 70% dark chocolate
- 1 tsp instant coffee cooled to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Juice and zest from 1/2 large orange
- A pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F. Use a little butter to lightly grease a 20cm springform cake pan and then line with baking paper on bottom and sides.
- In a blender or food processor, roughly blitz the drained and rinsed black beans
- Add the eggs, sweetener to a large bowl and whisk together until fluffy. Add to the black beans in the food processor/blender and blitz
- Add the cocoa powder, black beans, cooled coffee, vanilla essence, baking powder, juice and zest and salt. Blitz to combine. (it will become quite runny)
- Chop up the chocolate unto rough chunks.
- Pour cake into lined springform tin and scatter chocolate over the top. (some will sink, and some will stay on top)
- Bake for 35 minutes and then set aside in the tin to cool for 15 or so minutes.
- Remove from tin and let it cool to room temperature, covered on a wire rack.
Notes
- Store in the fridge for upto 5 days in an air tight container. It will stay nice and moist and is delicious served with a little double cream, ice cream and strawberries.
Nutrition
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hi there. Recipe says 1/2 cup of dark chocolate...is that broken, chopped up pieces that measure 1/2 cup or is that 4 ounces in weight? Thanks.
Yes, its 1/2 cup of broken chopped up pieces.