Rich, moist, and decadent Black Bean Chocolate Cake with creamy sweet potato chocolate frosting is here for those of us who love baking with whole foods! You’d never guess the secret ingredients!
Would you like to try this delicious chocolate cake I made out of beans and potatoes?
Great!
It may sound like a hoax, so I’ll cut to the chase.
Imagine the most delicious chocolate cake with perfect light texture, incredible rich chocolate flavor and the creamiest, dreamiest sweet potato chocolate frosting melting in your mouth.
This is precisely what we’re diving into right here!
The cake is made with black beans and the frosting? Sweet potatoes.
Inspired by my Double Chocolate Black Bean Brownies, this black bean chocolate cake recipe is simply the cake version. The main difference? I add some flour and a little additional oil to make a cake version with a perfect tender crumb texture.
Don’t panic. You can’t taste the black beans or the sweet potato. Just the pure blissful flavor of chocolate, driving your taste buds berserk.
All characteristics pooled together, we end up with a slice of chocolate heaven that no one would venture to guess is made out of legumes and veggies.
But don’t take my word for it! Feed it to your friends and family and report back with their reactions!
Now, I know this is a bit of a mind blow, so let’s go over the basic ingredients for black bean chocolate cake in detail.
Black Bean Chocolate Cake Ingredients:
Canned Black Beans: The main ingredient! Taking the place of most of the all-purpose flour, we use a can of black beans, which provides the starch for the recipe.
If you cook your own beans, great! You’ll need 1.5 cups, or 9 ounces of cooked beans.
You can also use different beans such as chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or white beans instead of black beans.
Eggs: We need a couple of eggs to bring fluffy texture to the cake. I have tried flax eggs as a replacement, but the cake turns out dense with a raw like consistency in the center, so I don’t recommend an egg replacement.
Avocado Oil: The much needed fat to bring a moist crumb! I like using avocado oil because it has a neutral flavor and contains a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. You can replace it with melted coconut oil if you’d like.
Pure Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla adds warm flavor for a layer of nuance. Skip it if you don’t have it on hand.
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: While black bean brownies don’t require flour, black bean cake does. In order to achieve the right texture, we need to add a little bit of some form of flour.
I use gluten-free all-purpose flour, but regular all-purpose flour works too. You can also use oat flour here.
Granulated Sweetener: We need some form of granulated sugar to sweeten the cake. My sweetener of choice is coconut sugar because it is lower on the glycemic index than cane sugar and has a lovely caramel flavor.
You can use white sugar, brown sugar, or sugar-free sweetener such as monk fruit sweetener for a sugar-free cake.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: The chocolate portion of this healthy chocolate cake! Pick your favorite cocoa powder.
I use raw cacao powder because it has a creamy, less bitter flavor. I’m not a fan of Dutch process cocoa powder in this application, but you do you.
Baking Powder: The leavening agent. Baking powder helps the cake batter rise and bake evenly for that delightful tender crumb.
Instant Coffee Granules (optional): While instant coffee granules are optional, I love adding them because they bring a subtle coffee flavor that enhances the chocolate flavor too.
Chocolate Chips (optional): Pick your favorite chocolate chips to add pockets of melted joy to the cake! I use semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, sugar-free chocolate chips and dairy-free chocolate chips are all great options.
If you skip the chocolate chips, I really recommend adding the frosting (or your favorite frosting).
Sea Salt: Be sure to add the salt, as it boosts the flavors here!
Sweet Potato Frosting:
I have a whole dedicated post on my Chocolate Sweet Potato Frosting recipe, so you can read all about it there!
Now that we’ve covered the simple ingredients for black bean chocolate cake, let’s make it!
How to Make Black Bean Chocolate Cake:
Bake the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
Note: you can also use an 8-inch round cake pan or a springform pan. Just be sure to line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper or spray liberally with cooking spray.
Drain the can of beans into a colander and rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water. Give the colander several shakes to allow the excess water to drip off.
Transfer the black beans to a high speed blender (or food processor).
Add all of the remaining ingredients except for the chocolate chips to the blender.
Blend until a smooth batter forms. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth it into an even layer using a rubber spatula.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20-23 minutes, or until the cake has set up and has risen.
Insert a digital thermometer into the center of the cake to check its internal temperature. If It reads 190 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, it is fully cooked.
Note: the baking time will be slightly less if you’re using a 9-inch cake pan, or slightly longer if using a smaller cake pan.
Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes before frosting it with the sweet potato frosting. Note: I typically only frost cakes when they are room temperature, but I’m able to frost this cake while it is still warm.
Prepare the Frosting:
While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting. Add the ingredients for the sweet potato frosting to a food processor and process until completely smooth. Set aside until ready to use.
Once the black bean cake is out of the oven, use a rubber spatula to spread the whole batch of frosting over the cake.
Cover the cake pan in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the frosting has set up, ideally 2 hours. Note: if you’d like to serve the cake right away, you certainly may. It is just easier to slice when the cake has cooled and the frosting is set up.
For clean slices, I recommend allowing the cake to set up in the refrigerator.
Slice the Cake:
Pull the cake out of the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before you intend to serve it to bring it closer to room temperature.
Pull on the parchment paper to release the whole cake from the cake pan. Place it on a cutting board.
Use a sharp knife to cut slices of cake, and serve with vanilla ice cream! Fresh fruit such as blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries are a great accompaniment too. Want to be an A+ human? drizzle with melted chocolate and experience a whole new reality.
Storage Tips:
- Store leftover cake covered in plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze cake in a large freezer bag for up to 3 months.
And that’s it! If you love wholesome treats and baking with cleaner ingredients, this amazing black bean chocolate cake recipe is for you!
Make a double batch of cake and a triple batch of frosting in order to make a layer cake for a special occasion. Otherwise, enjoy this secret ingredient chocolate cake whenever the craving strikes!
This healthy treat tastes like normal cake and is guaranteed to impress your loved ones! Truly, if someone handed me a slice of this as a birthday cake, I would have no clue it wasn’t regular cake!
Love baking with beans? Here are some of my most popular recipes that are made with beans.
More Desserts Made With Beans:
- 6-Ingredient Peanut Butter Chickpea Cookies
- Dark Chocolate Chickpea Brownies
- Flourless Chocolate Black Bean Banana Bread
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies
- Chickpea Banana Muffins
If you love baking cakes, also try out some of these reader favorites.
More Gluten-Free Cake Recipes:
- The Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
- Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake
- Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
- Healthy Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake
- Almond Flour Lemon Cake
- The Best Gluten-Free Coffee Cake
I’ve always said sweet potatoes and black beans were a match made in heaven! Drop me a comment below letting me know what you think of this healthy chocolate cake recipe!
Black Bean Chocolate Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 (14-oz) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup avocado oil
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup coconut sugar or granulated sweetener of choice*
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup gluten-free all-purpose flour **
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp instant coffee granules optional
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2/3 cup chocolate chips
- 1 batch Sweet Potato Chocolate Frosting
Instructions
- Prepare the chocolate frosting up to 5 days in advance and refrigerate until ready to use. I make my Sweet Potato Chocolate Frosting (linked above) while the cake is baking in the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
- Drain the can of beans into a colander and rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water. Give the colander several shakes to allow the excess water to drip off. Transfer the black beans to a high speed blender (or food processor).
- Add all of the remaining ingredients except for the chocolate chips to the blender. Blend until a smooth batter forms. Stir the chocolate chips into the chocolate cake batter. Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth it into an even layer using a rubber spatula.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20-23 minutes, or until the cake has set up and has risen. Insert a digital thermometer into the center of the cake to check its internal temperature. If It reads 190 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, it is fully cooked. Note: the baking time will be slightly less if you’re using a 9-inch cake pan, or slightly longer if using a smaller cake pan.
- Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes before frosting it with the sweet potato frosting. Note: I typically only frost cakes when they are room temperature, but I’m able to frost this cake while it is still warm provided the sweet potato frosting is still slightly warm too.
- Pull the cake out of the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before you intend to serve it to bring it closer to room temperature.
- Pull on the parchment paper to release the whole cake from the cake pan. Place it on a cutting board.
- Use a sharp knife to cut slices of cake, and serve!
Notes
Nutrition
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