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    Home » Recipes » Black Bean Chocolate Cake

    Black Bean Chocolate Cake

    LAST UPDATED: February 6, 2021 | PUBLISHED: February 5, 2021 | BY: Kim

    black bean chocolate cake piterest makeover

    This healthy Black Bean Chocolate Cake, is deliciously rich and moist and you can't taste the black beans. 

    Jump to Recipe
    half a Black bean chocolate cake on a plate

    This black bean cake is full of fibre, easy to make for beginner bakers with simple ingredients.  Best of off, its naturally sweetened with no added sugar, has a little hit of coffee with thick luscious sugar free frosting. 

    Checkout my Dairy Free No Added Sugar Chocolate Black Bean Brownies  and my Low Calorie Sugar Free Chocolate Cake for easy chocolate sweet treats. 

    If, like me you have a slight chocolate addiction, you’ll love my Ultimate Chocolate Avocado cake with thick chocolate frosting. 

    Why This Recipe Works  

    • There's no flour so its perfect for sensitive tummies 
    • Its sweetened with juicy plump dates like my Chocolate Date Cake 
    • It's dairy free and nut free 
    • That frosting is so creamy and delicious you won’t be able to stop eating it  
    • Thanks to the black beans and dates its full of fibre so one slice will keep you fuller for longer 
    • You can't taste the black beans at all, not even a hint! 
    • It keeps longer than regular cakes made with flour, and actually gets better each day! 
    • Its extra moist because of the dates and won't dry out 
    • It’s a cake, but can also be served as a dessert 
    • There's no weird ingredients, you can buy everything at your local supermarket 

    Check out these easy Chocolate Black Bean Muffins for a lighter version!

    Cake Ingredients 

    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. 

    ingredients to make a black bean chocolate cake

    Frosting Ingredients

    chocolate frosting ingredients

    Note:   there is no flour in this recipe, which makes this a gluten free chocolate cake, which makes it a perfect dessert choice if you are gluten free, or even if you have a wheat intolerance. You may also want to check out this Almond Meal Chocolate Cake  or these cute flourless chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting if you prefer cakes with flour alternatives. 

    Ingredient Notes 

    • Black Beans:  Pre cooked canned black beans work best.  Make sure to drain off excess liquid and wash them with tap water in a strainer before using.   
    • Dates:  Medjool dates are best – they big, plump, juicy and have terrific flavour, and its ideal that they be at room temperature so they blitz properly in the food processor.    Medjool dates are located in the fresh fruit and vege section of Coles and Woolworths in Australia.  Make sure you've removed the seeds from the dates before you put them into your food processor (you can buy already pitted medjool dates with seeds removed) 
    • Vegetable Oil:  Alternatively any other neutral oil would work like, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil. 
    • Eggs:  eggs at room temperature work best for baking.  The eggs help to bind the recipe together. 
    • Coffee:  the coffee adds flavour to the cake and gives it that richness.  If you aren't a coffee drinker you can leave it out, or you could replace it with 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence. 
    • Cocoa Powder:  The cocoa powder gives this cake its chocolate flavour.  I prefer to use unsweetened cocoa powder which I find in the health food aisle of Coles and Woolworths.   
    • Maple Syrup:  The maple syrup is to add additional sweetness and flavour.  There are a few options here.  You can use regular Pure Maple Syrup, or Lakanto Maple Syrup (a sugar free naturally sweetened low lard/low calorie version).  I've made it with both and it doesn’t make that much difference which you use.  Using the lakanto option, will reduce the overall sugar content and calories.  If you’re not into maple syrup, you could use a natural honey.  Alternatively you could replace it with a granulated sweetener like monkfruit or stevia – it will add the sweetness, but not additional flavour. 
    • Bicarbinate of soda/baking soda:  these help the cake to rise. 
    • Avocados:  I love using Hass or Shepard avocados.  Whatever variety you use, make sure they are ripe.  If you don’t use ripe avocados they wont blend properly and it will be hard to get a silky smooth frosting. (It doesn't matter if the flesh has a few brown spots as you won't see that anyway once the frosting is made) 

    How To Make 

    Cake 

    Preheat fan oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. 

    1. Add the drained black beans, pitted dates and oil together in a food processor and blitz on high until a paste is formed. 
    blitzing black beans and dates in food processor
    1. Add rest of ingredients to the food processor and blitz until everything is well incorporated. 
    blitzing eggs and dry ingredients in food processor
    1. Pour into a 20cm springform cake tin lined with baking paper on the bottom.  Smooth over the top of the cake with the back of a spoon.  
    chocolate black bean cake batter  in cake tin before cooking
    1. Bake for 45 minutes fan oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.  Cake is cooked when a skewer can be inserted into the centre and it comes out clean. 
    2. Cool: Once cooked, remove cake from oven, let it sit in the tin to cool for 10 minutes.  Then, release spring on tin, take cake out and place on a wire rack, over with a tea towel and let it come to room temperature.  

    Frosting 

    1. Scoop the flesh out of the avocados and add to food processor, along with the cocoa powder and maple syrup.  Blitz until smooth and creamy. 
    2. Spoon the frosting onto cooled cake.  Store cake in fridge in an air tight container.  It will keep for upto 5 days. 
    overhead chocolate black bean cake with frosting

    Expert Tips 

    • Rinsing Black Beans  Make sure to shake out any residual water leftover from the rinsing before adding them to the food processor.  Rinsing and washing the black beans is important to remove the salt and brine form them. 
    • Use Fresh Dates:  over time dates can become tough and the sugars begin to crystalise and they're just not nice.  For best results, make sure that you’re using dates that are fresh. 
    • Soften your Dates:  If you keep them in the fridge, take them out  1 hour before making the recipe and sit them on the bench.  Room temperature dates blitz better than ones straight out of the fridge.  Make sure to remove the seeds from the dates as well 
    • Cake Tin:  Don't forget to line the cake tin with baking paper/parchment paper to stop the cake from sticking and it makes it easier to get out.  Line the bottom and sides. 
    • Let cake cool completely before frosting:  if you try to spread the frosting onto a warm cake it will slide off. 
    • Storage:  Keep this cake in the fridge in an air tight container for five to six days. 
    • Freezing:  You can freeze this cake without the frosting uto 3 months.  Freeze the whole cake to frost later, or skip the frosting and slice up into portions to grab and go. 
    • Optional additions:  you could add ½ cup of sugar free chocolate chips if you're a die hard chocolate fan, or you could increase the amount of instant coffee added as the current amount of two tablespoons is subtle.  I wouldn’t recommend adding more than 4 tablespoons of coffee. 
    a slice of black bean chocolate cake on a plate

    Your Questions Answered 

    Can you taste the Black 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.  Chocolate is the predominent flavour.

    Can I substitute the black beans for another bean? 

    No, as this is a black bean cake, I recommend only using black beans.

    Can I skip the dates and use Stevia or Monkfruit instead? 

    The dates provide sweetness as well as volume in this recipe, so they really need to stay in. 

    As this cake uses black beans instead of flour, it helps keep it fresh and moist, making it a pretty darn awesome flourless chocolate cake. 

    a slice of chocolate black bean cake on a plate

    Black Bean Chocolate Cake

    Kim
    This healthy Black Bean Chocolate Cake, is deliciously rich and moist and you can't taste the black beans. Its dairy free, flourless, nut free, and sugar free.
    4.14 from 65 votes
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    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 45 mins
    Total Time 1 hr
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Australian
    Servings 12 slices
    Calories 242 kcal

    Ingredients
     

    For the cake

    • 1 x 400g can Black beans - drained
    • 2 tablespoons Pre made Instant coffee - cooled to room temp
    • 12 large Medjool dates - pitted
    • ¾ cup Vegetable oil
    • 2 medium Eggs
    • ½ cup Cocoa powder
    • 2 teaspoons Baking powder
    • 2 teaspoons Bicarbonate of soda
    • ½ cup Maple syrup
    • 1 teaspoon Sea salt

    For the Frosting

    • 2 very ripe avocados
    • 6 tbsp cocoa powder
    • 6 tbsp maple syrup

    Instructions
     

    Cake

    • Preheat fan oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. Add the drained black beans, pitted dates and oil together in a food processor and blitz on high until a paste is formed.
    • Add rest of ingredients to food processor and blitz until everything is well incorporated.
    • Pour into a 20cm springform cake tin lined with baking paper on the bottom. Smooth over the top of the cake with the back of a spoon.
    • Bake for 45 minutes fan oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. Cake is cooked when a skewer can be inserted into the centre and it comes out clean.
    • Once cooked, remove cake from oven, let it sit in the tin to cool for 10 minutes. Then, release spring on tin, take cake out and place on a wire rack, over with a tea towel and let it come to room temperature.

    Frosting

    • Scoop the flesh out of the avocados and add to food processor, along with the cocoa powder and maple syrup. Blitz until smooth an creamy.
    • Spoon the frosting onto cooled cake. Store cake in fridge in an air tight container. It will keep for upto 7 days.

    Notes

    1. Black Beans:  Pre cooked canned black beans work best.  Make sure to drain off excess liquid and wash them with tap water in a strainer before using.   
    2. Dates:  Medjool dates are best – they big, plump, juicy and have terrific flavour, and its ideal that they be at room temperature so they blitz properly in the food processor.    Medjool dates are located in the fresh fruit and vege section of Coles and Woolworths in Australia.  Make sure you've removed the seeds from the dates before you put them into your food processor (you can buy already pitted medjool dates with seeds removed) 
    3. Vegetable Oil:  Alternatively any other neutral oil would work like, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil. 
    4. Eggs:  eggs at room temperature work best for baking.  The eggs help to bind the recipe together. 
    5. Coffee:  the coffee adds flavour to the cake and gives it that richness.  If you aren't a coffee drinker you can leave it out, or you could replace it with 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence. 
      • **Extra note on making the coffee**  Make the coffee using 2 tablespoons instant coffee powder dissolved in half a cup of hot tap water.  Let the coffee come to room temp, then use 2 tablespoons of the coffee for the cake.  Discard the rest.
    6. Cocoa Powder:  The cocoa powder gives this cake its chocolate flavour.  I prefer to use unsweetened cocoa powder which I find in the health food aisle of Coles and Woolworths.   
    7. Maple Syrup:  The maple syrup is to add additional sweetness and flavour.  There are a few options here.  You can use regular Pure Maple Syrup, or Lakanto Maple Syrup (a sugar free naturally sweetened low lard/low calorie version).  I've made it with both and it doesn’t make that much difference which you use.  Using the lakanto option, will reduce the overall sugar content and calories.  If you’re not into maple syrup, you could use a natural honey.  Alternatively you could replace it with a granulated sweetener like monkfruit or stevia – it will add the sweetness, but not additional flavour. 
    8. Bicarbinate of soda/baking soda:  these help the cake to rise. 
    9. Avocados:  I love using Hass or Shepard avocados.  Whatever variety you use, make sure they are ripe.  If you don’t use ripe avocados they wont blend properly and it will be hard to get a silky smooth frosting. (It doesn't matter if the flesh has a few brown spots as you won't see that anyway once the frosting is made) 
    10. Freezing:  You can freeze this cake without the frosting uto 3 months.  Freeze the whole cake to frost later, or skip the frosting and slice up into portions to grab and go. 
    11. TIPS:
      • Rinsing Black Beans  Make sure to shake out any residual water leftover from the rinsing before adding them to the food processor.  Rinsing and washing the black beans is important to remove the salt and brine form them. 
      • Use Fresh Dates:  over time dates can become tough and the sugars begin to crystalise and they're just not nice.  For best results, make sure that you’re using dates that are fresh. 
      • Soften your Dates:  If you keep them in the fridge, take them out  1 hour before making the recipe and sit them on the bench.  Room temperature dates blitz better than ones straight out of the fridge.  Make sure to remove the seeds from the dates as well 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 242kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 2gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gFiber: 3gSugar: 15g

    Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners.

    Keyword black bean chocolate cake
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    Hi there! I’m Kim and I'm passionate about living a life infused with mindfulness, simplicity and self-care. Here I share my recipes, tips, insights and wisdom for eating well, slowing down and reconnecting with the things that matter.

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    Comments

    1. Eva

      July 16, 2021 at 3:59 pm

      My question is about the coffee.
      You say 2 tablespoons of instant coffee, but you don't say dry powder, but you do say 'cool' meaning you make instant coffee with hot water, but you don't say how much water is added to the 2 tablespoons of coffee? Is it preference as in weak or strong, please clarify. I am a perfectionist, always like to know specifics.
      Thank you, Eva Marton

      Reply
      • Kim

        July 19, 2021 at 9:31 am

        Hi Eva, To clarify, make the coffee using 2 tablespoons instant coffee powder dissolved in half a cup of hot tap water. Let the coffee come to room temp, then use 2 tablespoons of the coffee liquid for the cake, and discard the rest. The 2 tablespoons of coffee provides a subtle flavour to the cake rather than a strong noticeable coffee taste.

        Reply
    2. Leanne

      March 05, 2021 at 9:31 pm

      5 stars
      A really yummy cake, can’t believe how you can’t taste the beans or avocado, 2nd time I’ve made it in a week. Everyone loves it, thank you

      Reply
    3. Amie

      February 22, 2021 at 2:34 am

      I'm so confused with your recipes. This one in particular has 15 grams of sugar, yet you claim these are sugar free (hence the name "My Sugar Free Kitchen). What am I missing??

      Reply
      • Kim

        February 22, 2021 at 9:02 am

        Hi Amie,

        My recipes focus on using natural sweeteners over highly processed white and brown sugars. This means, my recipes include dates and maple syrup as seen in this recipe, other times I use Monkfruit or Stevia. The sugar in the nutrition panel represents the natural sugars found in the dates and maple syrup.

        Reply
    4. Teah

      February 09, 2021 at 12:33 pm

      Can you make these into cupcakes instead?

      Reply
      • Kim

        February 09, 2021 at 1:20 pm

        Yes you could make them into 12 cupcakes using a muffin tray with paper inserts, or a non stick silicone muffin tray. You'd have to reduce the baking time as well - I'd suggest 25 to 30 minutes in a fan oven at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. (By the way - These won't rise like normal cupcakes to get that dome on top but when you slather them with the frosting you can't tell anyway!)

        Reply

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