With the success of the (Almost) Healthy Sticky Toffee Pudding I am convinced that grating the odd parsnip or carrot into a cake is not going to diminish the flavour and will possibly add texture, sweetness and depth; it certainly is not going to do any damage and will at worse just make the mix healthier. I was chatting about this the other day and lots of other odd things in cakes cropped up.
Mayonnaise cake? I made one years ago, but it does not really count as healthy.
Beetroot cake? Lovely with chocolate and would make a lovely deep rich colour.
The third was black bean brownies, which intrigued me, black beans in brownies? Having had a quick Google I found that there are many recipes out there (and for all sorts of beans in cakes), all slightly different and that maybe the idea is not quite so mad.
I did wonder if black bean brownies with the addition of banana in place of eggs and apple sauce in place of fat may be a substitution too far? The very handy Cook’s Thesaurus substantiates these substitutions so I had a go – I was still suspecting that I would call them joyless vegan fat free brownies, but I was most pleasantly surprised, they are soft and squidgy and (considering all the healthy things that do go into them) are very delicious. They are very rich and treacly – almost like parkin but without the ginger. You can clearly taste the banana, so not one for the banana haters.
Fudgey Wudgey Vegan Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies (Makes 16 and a large pile of crumbles)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup sugar
2 bananas
¼ cup apple sauce (I chopped an apple and microwaved it until mushy)
Put all ingredients into the food processor and whizz. Meanwhile line an 8″ x 8″ tin with baking paper. Pour the batter into the tin and bake at GM5 for 30 mins until a cocktail stick comes out clean. Leave to cool and then turn out onto a rack and peel the paper from the brownies.
Notes
They are very very soft and squidgy, they do firm up when cool but will crumble when cutting up. It can be quite easy to over cook them if you are thinking they should firm up.
Variations
Add chopped nuts and fruit to the batter after mixing and briefly pulse.
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