CHERRY AND CHOCOLATE CHICKPEA BAKE

1 HR

SERVES 8-9

You can use any chocolate for this recipe – I often use a combination of three ends of different packets, and sometimes make this with half the chocolate and a big handful of raisins to make up the difference.

– 80g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing the tin

– 1 x 400g tin chickpeas or white beans, drained and rinsed well

– 100g ground almonds – 2 medium eggs

– 6 tbsp maple syrup

– 1½ tbsp vanilla extract – ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

– 80g whole or flaked almonds, cashews or hazelnuts

– 100g chocolate (white, milk or dark), chopped into chunks

– 200g fresh ripe cherries, or well-drained tinned cherries

– vanilla ice cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas mark 5.

Grease a square or round loose-bottomed 20cm cake tin with butter.

Place all the ingredients apart from the whole or flaked nuts, chocolate and cherries in a food processor. Pulse to combine, use a spatula to scrape down the sides, and whizz again to make sure the mixture is as combined and smooth as you can get (you want to avoid having any chunks of chickpea).

Stir two thirds of the nuts and two thirds of the chocolate chunks into the cake mixture then pour the mixture into the tin.

Pit the cherries and roughly tear them in half. Distribute through the cake mixture, pushing them in. Scatter the rest of the chocolate and almonds over the top, gently pushing them in a little.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until lightly golden; if the top is getting too dark, reduce the heat to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4.

Use a skewer or knife in the middle of the cake to test whether it is cooked through. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn the cake out on to a wire rack to cool for another 10 minutes.

Slice the cake into eight wedges or nine squares and serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. It freezes well too.