What a crazy week this has been, from waiting on the answer to a job interview to be an assistant pastry chef at a new upscale dessert bar/lounge in Charleston to getting an unexpected and quite hefty grant to attend Le Cordon Bleu this April. Now my search to find a place to live in Orlando has officially begun, doing some hardcore Craigslist searches. Against my better judgment, I signed up on a roommate finder website. I can only imagine the responses I will receive. Is there a "no creeps" filter? For me, stress leads to one thing- baking. More specifically, baking chocolate things and drinking a glass of wine. I live about a mile from a killer little specialty wine shop. It allows me to give in to my obsession with red wines from Puglia, Italy. It let me pair that wine with a flourless chocolate cake today. As for my stress.....what stress? More cake? Yes.
The twist in this flourless cake is garbanzo beans. Yes, chick peas, garbanzos, those little things that get ground up to put in hummus. You may be familiar with the idea of beans in baking, it's a newer trend, mostly seen in black bean brownies or chickpeas in blondies. I'm my own worst critic when it comes to my baking and I am convinced- This. Is. Amazing. You would never know this contains chickpeas. It is so moist and light with a hint of dark fudgy texture. It is my dream cake. If you don't believe me, make it yourself, and then bring it over to my house and share it. I'd share mine with you.
You will need:
19oz can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 bag 60% cacao dark chocolate or darker, I used Ghiradelli
3/4 cup raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
1 teaspoon Madagascar vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9 inch round pan. Use dark cocoa to flour the pan rather than white flour, if you have it.
In a double boiler, melt the dark chocolate chips until smooth. Set aside.
In a food processor, blend the garbanzo beans with the eggs until smooth. Add in the baking powder, sugar, and vanilla. Blend again until completely combined.
Pour batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. When done baking, let the cake sit in it's pan for 10 minutes before flipping it onto a serving platter.
This cake is so decadent it can be served as is, or you can dust powdered sugar on top and garnish with fresh blueberries like I did. Any delicate berry would work on this dessert.
Stay tuned for a recipe for miniature apple-fig turnovers...........
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