A Different Kind of Chocolate Cake

From a tin of red kidney beans, found floundering in the pantry and not quite out-of-date, came this scrumptious chocolate cake. Gluten free, moist, dark and chocolaty! The red kidney beans replace the flour one would normally incorporate into a cake batter. After it's been baked though, you'd never know!

Different but soooo good!

The recipe for this different kind of chocolate cake was developed by Sarah Wong over at Clever Cook.  I'm not sure what inspired her to make chocolate cake with red kidney beans ... perhaps she had a tin of these beans that needed using up too! She calls her creation the Magic Bean Cake. I think that's an apt description of the alchemy that happens while this cake bakes.  There's no trace of those kidney beans (and believe me, my son would soon uncover them if they were there).  

While her recipe is written for the Thermomix, it would be very easy to make this cake with a food processor. The red kidney beans just need to be whizzed up well with water, egg and vanilla until smooth. The butter and sugar can be creamed with a simple hand mixer or by hand. And a bowl and wooden spoon would work just as well for mixing in the dry ingredients.  Add a luscious icing, like this easy and velvety Chocolate Fudge Icing, and you have a cake worthy of doing birthday cake honours!

Adding the finishing touches!

(With candles it was even more special!)

I hope there's a piece of cake waiting for you somewhere in your weekend. I'd share a slice of this one with you but the only evidence left by birthday boy and his friends were their smiles ... and a few crumbs!

Meg