Today, I am celebrating!

• I’m celebrating starting a new blog and having a fresh start. (To me, there’s something exciting about a white page, eager to be filled with words that are formed from my own thoughts.)
• I’m celebrating my journey back to health and back to myself.
• I’m celebrating having my creativity back.
• I’m celebrating each moment that life hands me.
• I’m celebrating food!
• And I’m celebrating the fact that I don’t need a reason to celebrate. I am celebrating for celebration’s sake 🙂 *throws confetti on self*

What better way to celebrate than with cake? Chocolate cake! Gooey, moussey, gluten-free, sugar-free, delicious, too-good to be true, phone-in-the-morning-to-book-your-slice-of-cake cake!

I found this recipe by chance and when I first read it, I thought to myself – never, ever in my life will I make a cake that contains beans as one of the key ingredients! I mean how bizarre is that? But, you know what? I’m so glad I ignored myself and tried the recipe anyway! And the customers of Doubleshot Coffee Shop in Plettenberg Bay are also really happy that I did too, because they actually phone in the morning to book a slice of cake – so scared are they to miss out on their daily fix haha. How cool is that?

Next time you find yourself in Plett, make sure you visit this little gem (in the Checkers Centre) – Doubleshot is famous for their coffee (they use Espresso Lab Micro Roasters), which they have perfected like a fine art and you might even get to taste my cake 😛 Follow them on twitter.

Healthy, Flourless, Sugar-Free Chocolate Cake

Makes a 23cm one layer cake

Ingredients:

• 1 can of unseasoned kidney beans
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 Cup Xylitol
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon water

Mint Chocolate variation:
2 teaspoons mint extract (in place of 2 teaspoons vanilla)

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
• Spray a 23cm cake pan with extra virgin olive oil cooking spray, or just grease it with a thin layer of butter. Dust cocoa all over the inside of the pan, tapping to evenly distribute.
• Drain and rinse beans in a strainer or colander. Shake off excess water.
• Place beans, 3 of the eggs, vanilla and salt into blender. Blend on high until beans are completely liquefied. No lumps!
• Whisk together cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder.
• Beat butter with Xylitol until light and fluffy.
• Add remaining two eggs, beating for a minute after each addition.
• Pour bean batter into egg mixture and mix.
• Finally, stir in cocoa powder and water, and beat the batter on high for one minute, until smooth. Scrape batter into pan and smooth the top. Grip pan firmly by the edges and rap it on the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes and then turn temperature up to 180 degrees, bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until cooked.
• Cake is done when the top is rounded and firm to the touch.
• Remove from oven. After 10 minutes, turn out cake from pan, and flip over again onto a cooling rack.
• Let cool until cake reaches room temperature
• Frost immediately before serving
• This cake just tastes better with age – so if you let it rest for about 8 hours it will be even more delicious!

Healthy Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Makes enough to thickly cover one layer, or fill and ice a halved stacked layer

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup Xylitol powdered (grind in a pestle and mortar)
• 5-6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 tablespoons plain yoghurt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt

Preparation:

• Cream the butter in a small bowl until fluffy.
• Powder Xylitol in a coffee grinder, Magic Bullet or pestle and mortar, until extremely fine in texture (reminiscent of powdered sugar). Let sweetener settle in grinder before opening the top.
• Stir powdered sweetener into butter with a spatula, then beat until smooth.
• Slowly blend in the cocoa powder (this can be a rather messy job), vanilla, and sea salt.
• Mix in the yoghurt.
• Spread over cake.

And ENJOY! Devour, lick all the yumminess from your fingers and then go back for seconds… because I know you won’t be able to resist! 😀