Brownies a la bean

I really like using surprising ingredients that add a healthy twist to a recipe without compromising taste or enjoyment. After a couple of trials of a brownie recipe that included canned beans (original recipe from My darling lemon thyme) as its main ingredient, the below came out as my best version and voted as amazing by 100% of people. It's fudgy, sweet and delicious.

Brownie a la bean

1 tin of beans - white beans, black beans or kidney

3 eggs 

4 tablespoons oil - coconut or macadamia
1/4 c sugar

1/2 c Xylitol (starch based natural sugar)
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/2 c LSA (like almond meal but more cost effective)

3 heaped dessert spoons flaxseed meal (works to bind in the absence of flour)
1 t vanilla essence
1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

Optional

2T espresso and 1T coconut flour. Coconut flour is like a sponge - so if your mixture is too wet this will bring it back (use sparingly)

Chopped chocolate

Nuts 

Whatever other tasty additions you like. You could also ice with the avocado icing from here

Preheat oven to 180 and grease a loaf pan or small square tin. Line with paper if you like.

Mix your dry ingredients together in a small bowl.
Tip beans into the bowl of a food processor and blend to form a smooth paste. Add all the wet ingredients to the beans and pulse to combine. Add sugar to bean mixture and combine.  

Pour bean mixture into a mixing bowl and slowly mix in the dry. Stir through whatever delicious additions you have.

Pour into your tin and bake for 30-35 mins - it should be a fairly wet mix. the top should spring back when done.
Cool in the tin

This is seriously good and you will want to eat it all.

Yet another chocolate cake posting

You can never have too many chocolate cake recipes. Like shoes, you need them for every occasion.  This chocolate cake is rather like my pair of Nike sneakers - fast and popular.

This recipe makes one layer. Either make two separate layers and sandwich together, or make a double mixture like I did this time and cut in half to sandwich with cream.

50gms butter
1T golden syrup (do not leave this out - gives the cake a super delish factor)
1 egg
100gms sugar
1c flour
1t baking soda
1t baking powder
3/4 c milk
1 T cocoa

Preheat oven to 180c, grease an 18cm round pan.

Melt butter and golden syrup in a large pan, as this will be your mixing bowl.

Take off heat and measure out other ingredients while cooling. Then stir beaten egg and sugar into the butter mixture. Beat well. Sift in flour, baking powder and cocoa. Add warm milk with baking soda stirred in.

Batter should be quite runny. Bake aprox 30 mins.

I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Another chocolate cake

Since I'm being transient at the moment - the rental housing market in Auckland is ridiculous with up to 200 people turning up to viewings - everything is in storage and I am sans cook book. So when a dear friend asked for a chocolate cake recipe I did not have my usual to hand. And didn't till after the fact remember that the recipe is right here on this blog. Anyway this ended up as a happy discovery of a new and delicious way to make chocolate cake. The secret ingredient is sour cream - no butter required just sour cream. This means no beating of butter and sugar and less time till cake eating can commence.


I recently made this as a treat for my lovely hosts Mark and Sam, who are kindly looking after me in my backpacking phase. I think of this cake as American style, must be the sour cream and the giant size of the cake.


Sour cream chocolate cake


3 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups sour cream
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa

1 tablespoon of instant coffee
1/3 cup water (or espresso if not using the instant above)


Beat eggs and sugar together until light; add sour cream and dry ingredients. Dissolve cocoa and coffee in warm water and add to batter.

Pour into a large baking tin. This recipe makes a big, very moist cake.

Bake at 180°F until the cake springs back about 40mins or so?  I didn't ice this puppy. 

Since my camera is in storage here's a pic taken on my computer's camera.

Next time - this cake would make a great layer cake, big enough for three layers sandwiched together with cream and topped with Choc icing and whole strawbs.  Also I might try using melted chocolate in place of the cocoa to get some more flavour in there.

On the cake decorating missions

Yeah so I'm nannering it up, baking cakes then decorating them.

Here are some pics of what I've been up to.  All rather beginner at the mo - but I'm well inspired and will be completeing another this week.

PS sorry the blog looks ugly.  Must fix.

Final cake decorating class cake

Abel's third B'day cake

Cake wrapped in chocolate with chocolate sea shells

Tony's B'day cake

If anyone needs a cake made let me know!  Ingredient cost only.

Best chocolate cake

This is the very best chocolate cake recipe ever.  Fullstop. Can't believe I'm sharing this little beauty.  I've had it for over 10 years and it never fails to impress.
Enjoy.


Best chocolate cake


125 gms butter
1c sugar
2 eggs
2 T golden syrup
1t baking soda
2c flour
1/4c cocoa
1t baking powder
1c milk
1t salt


Cream butter and sugar, make that butter white.  Add golden syrup and eggs, try and keep all the ingredients at room temp - to avoid curdling the batter.  In a separate bowl sieve the flour, cocoa and salt.  Warm the milk and add the baking soda.  In batches add the flour mix and milk mixing gently in between.  Finally stir through the baking powder.


Don't over mix. Pour into a greased pan and bake at 180 for 45mins.  Or until the cake springs bake lightly.
Don't forget the cake will continue to cook with its latent heat once it's out of the oven, so don't overcook.


Favourite butter icing


I also made proper butter style icing for the first time.  Totally worth it.  Get your beater out again and get 50gms of butter all creamy.  Add a cup of icing sugar and 1/4 cup of cocoa, large pinch of salt and some vanilla.  Keep beating as it will combine to a creamy texture after awhile, it will look like it's not going to happen but keep beating. You can then add milk a teaspoon at a time til you get the required consitancy.  This mixture is forgiving, add more cocoa or icing suar or milk to get the consistency you want.  Do not leave out the salt, the juxtaposition of it and the chocolate and sugar is mouthwatering.


Wrap that icing around the cake in a delicious chocolatey hug.


Slice up and delight your friends and family.


xx