red bean chocolate cake

Last week I was visiting a dear friend and she mentioned something about putting beans in her cakes. Seriously--white beans for lighter cakes, red/kidney beans for chocolate cakes. I was completely fascinated with this idea and knew I would try it. Can I just say....AMAZING?!!  I have had my sister's cakes that call for soy flour and tofu, so I was not very skeptical when this idea was shared. But this cake has NO FLOUR and it is GOOD! And my 7 year old daughter who will only eat a bean if she's forced, LOVED this cake. Oh wait, it's because she had no idea there were any beans in the cake...and when I told her, she wanted more and asked if I was teasing her. "The cake with the beans in it tasted wonderful"

A food processor or HIGH quality blender (VitaMix, BlendTec) is needed for this cake. I used a Cuisinart food processor for the entire batter and it worked beautifully.

Cake Ingredients: (8x8 size)
1can or 15oz of cooked Red (Dark or light) Kidney Beans, drained almost completely--NOT rinsed (it is ok if there is a little liquid in the can still, this will help when mixing)

1 tsp hot water (to help beans blend better)

1 TBS vanilla extract

6 TBS cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil

1 cup granulated sugar

4 eggs

Instructions:
In blender or food processor, add kidney beans that are almost drained, but not completely (leaving maybe tsp of liquid) and add the hot water to the beans and process/blend until they become pretty well blended. It will be very thick. You will still see some small parts of the bean skins, but the chunks should be mostly smooth. (It will get smoother as you blend) Add vanilla and cocoa. Blend until it becomes more smooth until you can see that the ingredients are evenly mixed. Use a scraper for the sides if needed.
**If your food processor is not big enough to continue adding the remainder of the ingredients to make the batter, go ahead and transfer the bean mixture to a mixing bowl at this point. (I would continue to use the whisk attachment for mixing the batter)***
Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, oil, sugar and eggs. Mix well. Let it mix for a few minutes until it is smooth like regular chocolate batter. (Again, use your scraper if you need)

Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan or use parchment paper. Bake at 325 for about 40 minutes. A knife will come out clean.
DOUBLING?  I doubled the recipe and made two rounds and layered them. It worked well, however I would STRONGLY suggest using parchment paper if you will do this. This cake keeps its shape, but is moist and needs to be handled carefully when transferring, etc.

Let cake cool completely on racks before stacking. I put a little powdered sugar on the cake and a little frosting between layers. It was excellent! And no one had ANY idea that it had beans in it. "That would have been the LAST ingredient I would have guessed" is what one guest said. So, enjoy and experiment!