Gluten Free Flourless (Garbanzo Bean) Chocolate Cake

You are not going to believe how yummy this is!  A mostly healthy, fluffy, moist, and super easy to make flourless chocolate cake!  It’s got a secret health weapon inside!  Beware: this secret weapon MUST stay under cover or you might scare away the hopeful eaters!  Well, that might not be such a bad thing…..  hmmm….  Anyways, on with the recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 eggs- preferrably as fresh as the very morning i want to use them provided by the free-to-roam-about-wherever-they-please-chickens i one day hope to have free-roaming my yard!!  but now i am very thankful for organic free range eggs!
• 1/2 cup rapadura or  sucanat with honey (evaporated can sugar) –you can substitute any other sweetener you choose at equal measurement.  I get my organic sucanat from amazon.com. 
• 1/2 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
• optional add ons make it pretty: 1 tablespoon cocoa powder for dusting and chocolate chips or raspberries or nuts—whatever you like!!…. My favorite topping is cocoa powder sprinkled over coconut milk whipped cream recipe

Directions

1.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.  I prefer to use coconut oil.  

2.      Place chocolate chips in a pan on stove top to melt over medium heat stirring frequently until chocolate is melted and smooth.  

3.      Combine the beans and eggs in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth.  (the smoother the better!!  You can see in this batch i had lumps!!!)  Add the sucanat and the baking powder, and blend.  Because sucanat is granular and coarse, it will require a bit more time to blend, so continue blending until it is smooth.  Pour in the melted chocolate and blend until smooth, scraping down the corners to make sure chocolate is completely mixed. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan.

4.      Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  The baking time will really depend on the size of your cake pan.  When I use a small round pan (8 inch), it can bake for 40 up to 55 minutes…. but 40-45 minutes has been good for my oven lately.  My best advice is to start at 40 and check it every 5-10 minutes as needed. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Top with coconut milk whipped cream.  Dust with cocoa powder (or confectioners' sugar) and chocolate chips, nuts, strawberries, sliced banana, or raspberries… just before serving.  

Enjoy!!!

Please let me know what you think (comment below) and if you've modified/improved this recipe in any way we would all love to hear about it!!!  

And if you're looking for truly gluten free recipes, please read your labels.  I was able to make this recipe gluten free, but please check your labels to make sure there are no surprises!