I saw this recipe on my Instagram feed, and since I was craving chocolate figured it was worth the shot. If you are intrigued by what the secret ingredient is I’m about to blow your mind. It’s BLACK BEANS! The recipe comes together super fast in a blender/food processor and doesn’t taste like beans in the slightest. I made our version with vegetable oil, but next time I’m going to try butter. This time I paired it with the one minute frosting from my Depression Cake, which was delicious, but perhaps a tad too rich so I’ll switch to a lighter frosting when I make it again. Recipe and photo courtesy of thepancakeprincess.com.

• 1 15.5 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed* or 1 3/4 cups cooked black beans
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 5 tablespoon melted butter or oil of your choice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 5 tablespoon cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line 2 6-inch round cake pans* with parchment paper. In a high speed blender or food processor, puree the beans, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until completely smooth. Add the cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda directly to the blender and blend until smooth. Divide batter equally into prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top springs back. Let cool for 5 minutes before flipping the cake onto a cooling rack. Make the frosting as the cake cools completely. Frost with the frosting of your choice.

*If you are like me and don’t have two 6″ pans, you can use a 8×8 or 9×9 and it works just as well.