BLACK BEAN CAKE

CAROLYNF'S BLACK BEAN CAKE
15 ounce can unseasoned, unsalted black beans, drained and rinsed
4 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream, ricotta cheese or softened cream cheese (see my comments below)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
2 teaspoons LC-Sweet 12X Concentrate (equivalent of 1/2 cup sugar)
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put the rinsed and drained black beans in a food processor with the chopping blade inserted. Process until as smooth as you can get them, scraping down the sides occasionally. Add the remaining ingredients and process for about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides a couple of times. Pour the batter into a greased 8x8" baking pan. Bake at 350? 30-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes 9 servings

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 165 Calories; 10g Fat; 6g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 4.5g Dietary Fiber; 8.5g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 159 Calories; 10g Fat; 6g Protein; 11.5g Carbohydrate; 4.5g Dietary Fiber; 7g Net Carbs

I got a free can of black beans at the store today so I decided to try a popular recipe at Low Carb Friends. I wouldn't normally make anything quite so carby for dessert but I had no other use for the black beans and I thought my husband might like a treat. I had some sour cream to use up so I used that in place of the ricotta or cream cheese called for. However, I goofed and put in 1/2 cup instead of 1/4 cup. I also adjusted the amount of cocoa and butter. I didn't have any unsweetened chocolate on hand so I used more cocoa and butter instead. I used half liquid Splenda and half LC-Sweet 12X Concentrate to combat the bitterness of the Splenda and cocoa combination. I didn't want to use all LC-Sweet because it has a lot of fiber.

My cake came out with a very spongy texture which is pretty typical of low carb cakes. I'm not sure how much of that was due to the extra 1/4 cup of sour cream though. I baked mine for just 30 minutes because it tested done but I probably could have added another 5 minutes. I'm not sure if it would have come out any more cake-like though, just drier. It tastes OK but a lot of the sweetness disappeared with baking. I tasted the batter before baking and it was almost too sweet. Now it's not nearly as sweet but still sweet enough that you can tell it's supposed to be cake. I'm not sure if I'd make this again but it wasn't expensive to make since the beans were free and I had all of the rest of the ingredients on hand. I recommend cooling the cake completely before serving it. The flavor and texture are much better that way. Click the photo to see a close-up.

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