Artsandcraftsapalooza | Bake Me Healthier

Black Bean Chocolate Cake

Happy Birthday, pretty Jenn!

As you may be able to tell from the caption above, it was my coworker’s 29th birthday last week. We have gotten so close working together this summer, and she is such a great mentor. I’ve learned far beyond what I ever could have expected working in the dental clinic with her and the rest of the dental professional. I feel that this is a great step for me as I await matriculation into dental school.

Anyway, since Jennifer has been so wonderful, I wanted to make her birthday really special, especially since she actually came to work on it. She noted, “You know you’re a true adult when you don’t take off for your birthday anymore!” Sadly, that’s true. I mean even I am scheduled to work on my birthday. It’s a Wednesday this year though, so I don’t know if I’d really want to take that day off anyway.

Back to the topic at hand: the cake and Jennifer’s birthday. So Jenn is super fit. She was a gymnast for almost her entire life and likes to eat well and stay in good shape. You would never believe that she’s actually 29. Because she really cracked down on her eating habits in July, she asked me to find a healthy cake recipe but let me in on a little secret that her favorite is chocolate.

We searched online for healthy chocolate cakes. I had seen black bean based desserts before but was always too weary to try them until now. The black beans take place of the flour and instead of using sweetened chocolate bars with tons of other additives, I used pure cocoa powder to give it that chocolatey taste.

Now Jenn is a dental hygienist and since I just learned how to make my own homemade fondant, I really wanted to design her a dental-themed cake. This is our little patient here. The food coloring from the lips and tongue leaked a bit on those pearly whites, so I just like to say our patient is in the middle of receiving scaling and root planning. For all you non-dental folks out there, that just means he’s getting a deep subgingival cleaning, which if he has tartar built up can be quite bloody.

I guess that’s not really something you’d want to hear prior to eating, but that stuff has absolutely no effect on my appetite anymore. I could see some terribly dirty teeth at 11:30 and be more than happy to eat my lunch at noon. I guess that’s the life of a healthcare provider.

Well, enough about me already. I’m sure you just came for the recipe. Here it is!

Ingredients:

15 oz. can of black beans, drained
4 eggs
1 T vanilla extract
2/3 c granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 T water
6 T unsweetened 100% pure cocoa powder

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Drain and rinse beans, shake off extra water
Place beans in a mixer and puree (Make sure beans are as broken down as possible, or else you will be able to feel the texture when you eat it, especially the skin of the beans)
Transfer bean to a large bowl
Add remaining ingredients
Use hand mixer to mix ingredients completely
Spray 9″ circular baking pan
Pour mixture into pan
Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes, or until completely solid (This cake does not rise too high, so it may actually be cooked thoroughly before you think)

Now, since this was a “healthy” recipe with low sugar and all that good stuff, I have to admit that it was definitely not the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had, nor does it even come close. However, in its category of being a healthy and gluten free chocolate cake, my coworker admitted that it’s pretty high caliber. So if you want to be healthy, yet still indulge a bit, this is a great cake to try.

Jenn and I out to lunch with our favorite dentist and boss, Dr. Mendoza!

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