Low carb chocolate cake . . yes, I'm serious.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in an earlier post, but my boyfriend has decided to give Keto a go along with me and its, well, frustrating for him. He was a self-admitted tortilla addict prior to starting this diet, everything he ate was put on a tortilla - he calls them his "vehicle for food." Then there's the fact that a woman in his lab at work is a cupcake artists and is constantly bringing in her evil concoctions for others to try. Needless to say we exchanged this text message the other day while he was at work:

If its not obvious, we're fat enablers. We are avid fans of our local ice cream shop's buy-one-get-one-free deal on Tuesdays and have been known to attend the farmers market simply for it's cupcake stand rather than the wide selection of organic produce. Just thinking about my boyfriend (who we will simply refer to as "boyfriend" from now on) makes my stomach growl thanks to my strong association between him and food. 

Regardless, he's doing well so far so I thought it'd be nice to make a fun keto "cheat" meal for him - and me, of course. So tonight we're having low-carb pizza (the recipe will be in the next post) and low-carb chocolate cake. Now, normally I have found that most low-carb desserts are seriously lacking in authenticity and typically aren't worth the frustration or the expensive ingredients that are needed to make them. Well, that all changed after I learned about Chocolate Bean Cake. I first heard about the recipe here - a fantastic blog for low-carb sweets, and was immediately intrigued by the photos of the final project. 

The recipe does call for Pure Stevia Extract, which can get a little pricey (~$14), but once you've bought that you'll be able to make Chocolate Bean Cake whenever your heart desires, which will be always.  Remember, the cake does have about 12-20 grams of carbs per slice* (depending on size) - which make it less than ideal for someone who is still trying to get into ketosis or is still in the induction phase. Just as chocolate cake is saved for special occasions on a normal diet, chocolate bean cake should be treated the same on a Keto diet.  

*check out the link to the original recipe and my advice at the bottom of the blog for some alternative sweetener combinations to get the carb-count a little lower

I got so excited about the cake that I started

cutting it up and plating it before taking pictures

of the final results. 

Still, you get the point. This cake is delicious, 

there is absolutely nothing beany about it. 

So here's the complete list of what you'll need to make this delicious indulgence (cake and frosting): 

- 1 15 oz can of unseasoned black beans

- 5-6 eggs 

- 14 Tablespoons of butter (1 stick plus 6 tablespoons)

- 3/8 Cup of honey

- 1/2 cup of splenda

- 2 tsp stevia

- 11 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda 

- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream

- 1 Tablespoon + 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt (regular salt is fine if thats all you have)

Set oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9" circular cake pan. 

Rinse the beans in a colander and add to a blender along with 3 eggs, 1 TBSP vanilla and 1 tsp stevia into blender and blend on high until its super smooth. Set mixture aside. 

In a separate bowl mix together 6 TBSP cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda. Set this mixture aside. 

In a mixing bowl cream together 6 TBSP of softened butter, 1/2 cup splenda and 1/4 cup honey.

 Once blended well, add the blended black bean mixture until fully incorporated.  Once mixed, add the cocoa/ baking powder/baking soda mix and mix for another 2-3 minutes. 

Poor into greased cake pan. Tap pan on hard surface to release any bubbles. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes until cake is firm on top and cooked through. 

For the Frosting: 

Cream 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) softened butter with 1/8 cup of honey and a pinch of stevia extract (you can add more later if you want it to be sweeter). 

Slowly mix in 5 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 2 TBSP of heavy cream, 1 tsp vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. If you want the frosting to look for glossy, add 1 egg yolk. 

Allow cake 20-40 minutes to cool before frosting. 

Once frosted, its ready to eat! Although, if you leave it in the fridge overnight any beany-flavor will disapear. Still, Boyfriend and I ate it right after frosting it, while it was still warm, and we both thought it was delicious!

The complete nutrient information is listed below. 

Enjoy!

Nutrient Information per slice (8 slices per cake): 

Calories: 352

Fat: 16.2 grams

Protein: 9.8

Net Carbs: 20 grams*

*the easiest way to reduce the amount of carbs in this recipe is to cut out some of the honey and replace it with more splenda or stevia. Remember, a little Stevia goes a long way and the effectiveness of 1/2 a cup of honey is about equal to about 1/4 cup of Splenda (in my opinion). The cake tastes best if you have a mix of at least three sweeteners, however you can use Xylitol or Erythritol instead of honey if you really wish to reduce the carb count even more.