Do you get intrigued sometimes by slightly odd recipes? - with slightly unlikely ingredients? – (especially if they turn out to be surprisingly yum) Well then here’s a little corker for you. My friend and fellow cake enthusiast Justine Blore shared this recipe with me recently. I’ve adapted it to low/almost zero sugar and tweaked it with a little additional flavour to compensate for the subtler sweetness.
As well as appealing to any cake weirdos out there, this recipe provides another string to your bow if you’re avoiding wheat/grains or nuts. And most importantly, it makes a lovely little brownie. We’ve enjoyed scoffing it as a dessert, with blueberries and a little crème fraiche. But its just as good and satisfying on its tod too.
200g chocolate (I used 100g Montezuma 100% cocoa solid plain chocolate and 100g Sainsbury’s No Added Sugar Plain chocolate) 100g melted butter 3 eggs 1 x 400g can black beans (strained) 70g chopped walnuts 4 ½ tbsp granulated alternative natural sweetener (see options below)* Pinch of salt Small pinch of cayenne pepper 2 tsp caramel essence 1 tsp vanilla paste
Pre heat oven to Gas Mark 3/ 150C Drain the beans and mash them thoroughly. A food processor is ideal for this. Otherwise mash them down to a paste with a potato masher. Blend the mashed beans well with the eggs, sweetener, cayenne, salt, and flavourings. Meanwhile break up the chocolate and melt it along with the butter in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once the choc and butter have melted, add to the cake mix and blend well. Stir in the chopped walnuts and turn the mix out into a cake tray, lined with baking paper. (I used a 23cm square cake tin). Smooth the top of the cake batter with a spatula Bake for around 35 minutes. To check the brownie mix has cooked pull out the tin and gently shake it from side to side. If the cake batter wobbles in the middle, its not quite done. Keep cooking and checking 5 minutes at a time until the middle has set and the cake has started to come away a little from the sides of the tin. Let the brownie cool in the tin. Cut into squares and store in a container in the fridge.
*Granulated natural sweetener options could include xylitol, erythritol, allulose. See Alternative Sweeteners page for more info. Each will have slightly different levels of sweetness. Adjust to taste.Posted in:
