Saturday, June 27, 2009

~ Garbanzo Bean Flourless Chocolate Cake

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Adapted from:
Allrecipes

Description:
Gluten-free, oil-free, high protein chocolate cake~

Ingredients:
200 g 70% chocolate chunks, melted
15.5 ounce can of garbanzo beans (~300 g dry weight), drained and mashed
3 eggs
55 g white sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp vanilla essence
Cocoa powder for dusting tin
Icing sugar for dusting cake

Directions:
1) Grease a 9" round tin and dust with cocoa powder.
2) Whisk eggs and sugar till fluffy, before adding in baking powder, baking soda and vanilla.
3) Beat in beans till well-mixed, and blend in chocolate. Pour batter into tin.
4) Bake in a preheated oven at 175 deg for 10 min, then bring down the temperature to 160 deg for another 60 min, or till cake is done (when cake has doubled in size and that a skewer through the centre comes out clean). Cool for 15 min before cutting. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Remarks:
This cake gave off the most amazing aroma when it was in the oven, it activated my salivary glands and made me so compelled to open the oven door and take a bite off the cake. The temptation was so great that while it was being cooled, I pinched some off to taper my strong desire to sink my teeth into the soft wholesome cake... hmm hmm...

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Ok, fine fine I am just exaggerating =x I'm not that desperate for chocolate cake for now. The reason why I had baked this is out of curiosity. I've heard of flourless chocolate cakes, but one that incorporates chickpeas?? Nope. The whole process was rather simple as seen from above methods, and yes the whole house smelled great when the cake was baking. Turned out that cake took a longer time to bake than expected, and I had cut the sugar content by half as I used bitter chocolate (Cadbury Old Gold 70%) that came with a rather high content of sugar. Taste-wise, it was delectable! The crust was crisp due to the roasted chickpea bits on the surface, and the cake was fudge-like and moist with the perfect amount of sweetness (do not take anything sweet before eating the cake, if not you'll desensitise your tastebuds and the cake will no longer taste sweet). Do take sufficient water after eating this, for the chocolatey taste can give you a bad sorethroat!

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A sidenote: I used S&W canned chickpeas, and the chickpeas still had their seed coats on. I do not really remember seeing those in some organic low-sodium chickpeas I've previously bought for my chickpea pasta. To remove the coats, just place the chickpeas in a big bowl of tap water, swirl around with a slotted spoon to free the coats and to remove them. After which, drain off the water and mash the naked chickpeas using the same slotted spoon. A single spoon, a 'thousand' uses!

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Oh ya my parents went to pick durians, mangosteens and rambutans from Upper Pierce Reservoir in the morning while I was baking (shhh don't tell the authorities!). This is the first time I've tried fresh durians as durians sold in Singapore have been shipped a long distance from neighbouring countries. Unlike the durians sold outside, the Singapore durians were creamy and were sweet with a slight tinge of bitterness. I can really savour the freshness from the taste. There were plenty of seeds in each compartment, and the flesh was substantial. The aroma (some people simply detest it though) of the fruits still lingered on my hands after I've licked the flesh clean off my fingers. Yummy!

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My dear Lao Pa and Lao Ma, when are you guys going over to get some nice Singapore durians for your durian-starved daughter again?

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