Hmmm another food post with not-so-wonderful results? Yep! I was tempted by this pin on pinterest awhile ago (surprise surprise) but can’t copy the image here due to a disclaimer so you will just have to hop on over to her blog to appreciate why I was tempted!
Of course, I had only about a half of the ingredients when I checked the pantry last night to begin with, so I had planned to just make a normal cake instead of her gluten free version. On opening the can of coconut cream to put in the fridge overnight so I could at least claim to have followed the recipe somewhat, I found it to be solid like coconut oil! A quick check on google (how did we ever survive without google?) revealed it to be somewhat normal, to just heat the can in hot water to incorporate it back to cream. Which worked but on getting it out of the fridge this morning it was rock solid again. I persevered & scraped out the cream(solid) part & tried to beat it into submission whipped cream…as your average Kiwi would say “yeah, nah” , the bits that managed to stay in the bowl turned more to cottage cheese at which stage I swore delicately objected to it’s failure to comply & stuck it back into the fridge. (Curry may just be on the menu this weekend)
As I had no intention of getting dressed (I still had on my pjs, don’t judge me) & dragging all 3 of us out to the shop for proper cream, I decided to just make icing & shove that into the middle. So by now, the relatively “better for you” recipe was no longer gluten free, dairy free or anything resembling healthier for you! I hopped onto pinterest again (any excuse) & searched out a flourless chocolate cake. Found this Chocolate Black Bean Snack Cakes recipe that looked doable (I’ve made black bean brownies in the past with relative success so I was cocky hopeful)
Firstly, don’t get cocky when the only black beans in the pantry are these!!!
Nothing a good rinse wouldn’t fix, right?WRONG! Without tasting the beans after their little ‘shower’, I threw them into the food processor with all the other ingredients.
The recipe as it appears on her blog:
Ingredients:
15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 eggs
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 medium banana
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup honey
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a food processor.
Process until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan
Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the top cracks slightly and a few moist crumbs stay attached to a toothpick inserted into the middle.
Let cool completely.
Remove from pan and cut into 8 or 16 squares
Nutrition Information Per Serving (16): Calories 100; Total Fat 4g; Total Carb 14g; Fiber 3g; Sugars 6g; Protein 4g
Nutrition Information Per Serving (8): Calories 200; Total Fat 8g; Total Carb 29g; Fiber 6g; Sugars 12g; Protein 7g
After blitzing this into it’s glory, I tasted it…yep, it tasted of chilli beans! I added some maple syrup to try & sweeten it up a little lot, which kind of worked but I could still taste the beans. But, I soldiered on & poured into cupcake molds and hoped for the best. Maybe the heat would magically eliminate that bean taste….right? WRONG!
Now let me point out that this recipe would definitely be successful with normal black beans NOT soaked in chilli sauce. The cupcakes are moist & the perfect texture in my humble opinion. So don’t be put off trying this or something similar.
Not willing to admit defeat, I carried on with making the icing for the middle, adding raspberry essence to try & overpower compliment the slight chilli bean flavour. It definitely made them more palatable, both kids devoured one so it was a hit there at least
yum!
brotherly love
Of course, I had neglected to check my chocolate chip stash, which was zero as it turns out…how did that happen!?Moving on. So I raided Hubby’s lunchbox snack container…score, I found a few mini bars of Whittakers milk madagascar chocolate to which I added a little coconut oil & dipped the remaining cupcakes into it. Messy, & I probably should’ve used more chocolate or less oil as it was a little thin so you can still see where I put the icing in.
not the prettiest of pictures…
photographing food is definitely not my hidden talent!
I had to, of course, taste 1 straight from the oven, 1 with just icing in the middle & then 1 completed with the chocolate. I have had heartburn ALL afternoon, damn you chilli beans!
I don’t think I’ll even offer one to Hubby…although he does like chilli so I may be surprised. The rest are packed away in the fridge ready to take to work tomorrow (anyone from work if you’re reading this, I expect you to taste at least 2 of these suckers & declare them delicious!!)
The actual Ding Dong recipe I was wanting to try as it appears on Homemade Diva (I will definitely be trying this again but following her recipe exactly!)
Homemade Diva (Ding) Dongs
*Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Delicious*
Ingredients: (For the Cake) (Cake recipe adapted from here!)
1 c. Bob’s gluten free flour (or whole wheat pastry for non GF)
1/4 c. cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
dash of salt
1 1/2 TB. cornstarch
1/4 c. melted coconut oil
1/4 c. applesauce (room temperature)
1/2 c. non dairy milk(room temperature)
1/4 c. maple syrup(room temperature)
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. dates + 1/4 c. water pureed together to form a paste. (you can do this with a blender or food processor)
Ingredients: (For the Filling)
One can full fat coconut milk, top open and covered with plastic wrap, that has been sitting in the fridge over night
sweetener of choice-maple syrup, stevia, honey, agave, powdered sugar
Ingredients: (For the Coating) (Double amount for thicker coating)
1 -85% cocoa chocolate bar (you can do sweeter if you prefer, but I love dark chocolate) (3.5 ounces) (about 1/2 c. chocolate)
1/8 c. coconut oil
1 TB. sweetener of choice (I used agave) (optional)
As if anything else can’t make this day more like a comedy show…I set the fire alarm off while cooking dinner & writing this post! AFTER I had turned everything off! Who knows!!!
UPDATE: Hubby did eat one & declared it edible, the girls at work devoured them & this week I made them again with normal black beans, no icing or chocolate covering & they were MUCH better
AfricanKiwi 