Chocolate & hazelnut cake

SERVES 6-8

Recipes for cakes made with beans have been around for a while. If you haven’t baked one yet, I’d urge you to try this. It’s moist, rich and healthy to boot!

400g can black beans, drained

and rinsed

100g coconut oil (you can use

butter if not avoiding dairy)

4 heaped tbsp coconut sugar (or use raw or demerara sugar)

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

100g dark chocolate

(70% cacao)

1 tbsp coconut oil

¼ cup toasted hazelnuts,

roughly chopped

1 Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 20cm springform cake tin.

2 Puree the black beans in a food processor until smooth.

3 Cream the coconut oil and sugar until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla. Sift in the cocoa and baking powder, then stir in the bean puree. Mix until well combined and pour the batter into the tin. Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

4 Cool for 5-10 minutes in the tin before turning out and cooling completely.

5 For the topping, gently melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a small saucepan, whisking until smooth. Pour over the cooled cake and sprinkle over the hazelnuts.