Black Bean Brownies: Vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free
I have had the most outrageously chocolatey week. Not only did I decide on brownies for this week's recipe, but by sheer coincidence I then received surprise Norah's Brownies in the post from my lovely friend Jo (aka Eddie & Bee), AND my local, Leaf & Bean Cafe, put vegan brownies on the menu for the first time which I had to sample (obviously)!
I've tinkered around with this recipe quite a bit. It's loosely based on the chocolate decadence cake by Flo & Grace which was the first cake I ever made using black beans (utterly delicious), but I wanted the brownies to be lighter. I have also, by request of our friend Ben, made a salted caramel frosting for the top.
After having a little bitch at Tom for never acknowledging Valentines Day, him buying me a beautiful plant, and then not making any effort to acknowledge it myself, mmmm, these are for him. I even cut a few into heart shapes, and not just for a pretty picture....honest!!
RECIPE: Makes 8 brownies
INGREDIENTS
BROWNIE
80ml coconut oil
100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
60ml agave or maple syrup
2 tablespoons vanilla essence
250g black beans, cooked weight
100g cashews, soaked overnight
50g coconut flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
120ml water
1 teaspoon baking powder
FROSTING
150g cashews, soaked overnight
1/2 teaspoon salt
50g pitted dates, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
60ml coconut oil
60ml coconut milk, just the hard top
60ml maple syrup
METHOD
BROWNIE
Preheat the oven to 180°c (fan)
In a small pan, melt the coconut oil on a medium – low heat
Add the chocolate pieces and stir occasionally until melted
Remove from the heat and stir in the agave and vanilla essence
Put the beans, cashews, coconut flour, salt, cocoa powder, water and melted chocolate mixture into a blender and blitz until really smooth
Add the baking powder and blitz for a few more seconds
Line a baking dish, around 20 x 30cm, and pour in the mixture
Bake for 40 minutes
Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. It may seem undercooked but will firm up on standing
Wait for it to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting, or leave it to cool completely if you want to frost it
FROSTING
While the cake is cooling, make the frosting
Put all the ingredients apart from the cashews in a small saucepan and simmer on a medium heat, stirring constantly for about five minutes
Remove from heat and leave to cool a little, I put mine outside for 10 minutes
Put cashews and date mixture into a high speed blender and blitz until really smooth, I use a Nutribullet
Scrape into a bowl, cover and place in the freezer for around 45 minutes
Remove from the freezer and whisk with an electric whisk for around three minutes, or until stiff peaks form
Either spread the frosting onto the brownies with a spatula or spoon the frosting into an icing bag fitted with a nozzle and get creative!
TIPS
If you don’t have time to soak the cashews overnight, soak them in boiling hot water for at least an hour
The longer you leave the brownie to cool the easier it is to cut, especially if you want to use a pastry cutter. If you're short on time, bung it in the fridge for half an hour.
If the frosting doesn’t form stiff peaks after 3 minutes of whisking, place it back in the freezer for 15 minutes and repeat the process
Once iced, unless being eaten immediately, its best to keep the brownies cool so the frosting doesn’t melt