Chocolate and peanut butter. My all time favorite combination of foods.
My husband can attest that if given the option, horizontal gravity always takes over and I will gravitate to the chocolate and peanut butter.
For example, we have an abundance of frozen yogurt shops that have recently popped up around both Columbia and Charleston. I’m pretty sure there are about 5 shops within 10 minutes of our house. This is not a good thing when I am armed with coupons for these fro-yo shops and am armed with the knowledge that there will be an abundance of chocolate and peanut butter toppings and frozen yogurt to choose from. Logan can testify that I always get one or more of the following flavors:
- cookies & cream
- peanut butter
- chocolate
and one or more of the following toppings:
- peanut butter cups
- m&m’s
- chocolate chips
- oreos
- hot fudge
- chocolate syrup
- snickers
Mmmm…so good. But, one thing better than chocolate and peanut butter frozen yogurt creations is this chocolate peanut butter cake.
The stars of this show are black beans! I never in a million years would have guessed that a cake made from black beans would be so moist and tasty. I served it over the weekend to both my family and my husband’s family. I didn’t, however, reveal the main ingredient until they had tasted a bite and had raved about how wonderfully delicious it was. Sneaky, sneaky!
You definitely cannot taste any hint of black beans. It is pure chocolately and peanut butter goodness.
Check out the approximate nutrition facts for the cake (without the peanut butter frosting or chocolate ganache). I’m pretty sure there we dissected this cake into about 17 slices.
That sounds good to me when indulging in a delicious chocolate cake! 
To assemble the cake:
- Bake the black bean chocolate cake.
- Let the layers cool.
- Make the chocolate ganache.
- While the ganache is cooling, make your peanut butter frosting.
- Spread the reserved chocolate ganache (along with some chopped peanut butter chocolate candies) in between the two layers.
- Spread the peanut butter icing over the cake.
- Pour the chocolate ganache over the cake.
- Decorate as preferred!
Black Bean Chocolate Cake {Gluten-Free}
adapted from a hippie with a minivan
Ingredients
- 1 (15.5 oz) can of reduced sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, or coconut oil
- 3/4 cup cane sugar
- 5 tablespoons special dark cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
How-To
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Spray a 6″ round cake pan with cooking spray with flour in it. Also, I used a bake even strip.
- Blend the beans, 2 eggs, vanilla and sugar in the food processor (or blender) on high until completely blended.
- In a small bowl combine the cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter/coconut oil until fluffy.
- Add the remaining two eggs and beat well after each egg.
- Beat in the bean mixture.
- Beat in the dry ingredients.
- Beat for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Flip the cake out onto a cooling rack.
- Pour cold water in the pan to cool it completely.
- Pour the remaining batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Flip the cake out onto a cooling rack.
- Allow for both layers to cool completely before icing.
Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Kitchen Runway
Ingredients
- 8 oz 1/3 fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
How-To
- Cream the cream cheese and peanut butter together.
- Add in the powdered sugar and beat until blended.
- Spread on cake.
Note: I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough peanut butter frosting so I added more peanut butter and powdered sugar to the original recipe. However, if I made this again, I would either make the recipe straight from Kitchen Runway or just double the recipe. The icing was challenging to work with because of the peanut butter oils.
Dark Chocolate Ganache
adapted from Baking Bible: From the oven to the table cookbook
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup 60% cacao Ghirardelli chocolate chips
How-To
- Bring the heavy cream to a boil.
- Remove from heat and add in the chocolate.
- Pour into a bowl and let cool.
- Pour a enough to put in between cake layers into a small bowl and chill for 1 hour.
- Remove from fridge and whisk until fluffy.
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I’m drooling. Do you sell these for birthdays and weddings? Because I’ll take one but I can’t promise that it will serve more than just me.
Haha…me too! This is a keeper. I’m making this again, really soon. I’ve never sold cakes before, but I’m getting my cake decorating professional certificate right now. Eeee So, you never know! ;-D
are you kidding me right now?! this is unreal. omg.
Haha! It is amazing. You NEED to make it.
This looks fantastic! Such a pretty cake, and I’m sure it’s delicious, too!
Thank you Melissa! It was fabulous! A sure crowd pleaser.
this is an absolutely decedent looking cake! you are incredible
Um, wow? Now that is a cake!!! And gf to boot, I love it!
I am the SAME way at froyo shops, the cookies & cream especially! That cake is gorgeous- love the trio of pb cups. I’ve gotta try this!
Wow, the black bean is a surprise ingredient. I’ve had black beans in a dessert before and I loved it so I’m curious as to how it would taste with chocolate and peanut butter, I’m sure it’s very tasty.
Indeed. If someone made this cake for me and didn’t ever tell me that that was the star of the show, I would have never guessed it.
Very tasty indeed.
Wow – that is an impressive cake. I would have never guessed the secret ingredient.
OMG Caroline Girl you never cease to amaze me!!! Well, guess what I am doing this weekend??? Making this CAKE!!! It looks like heaven on a plate. I am curious though, no flour? Also 6″ cake pan? Haven’t seen that size. I have 8″ & 9″ so is 8″ too big? What is your suggestion or tips for the peanut butter frosting if you had trouble? Thanks!!!!!
black bean? i never in a million years thought so too!! I mean, we use black beans for nutritional soups, but not cakes, or anywhere near that.. cool!
Hi Caroline! Yes, I am SO excited to make this! We LOVE chocolate/peanut butter combo ANYTHING LOL! Hhmm wonder if I could pour the entire batter in a springform pan and bake and then cut in half??? Are the 2 individual 6″ layers very big/tall? What do you think? Also if so, wonder about the baking time? Sure it would be a little longer. Also, I just bought extra virgin coconut oil yesterday at the store for the first time, yay! Excited to use it and get my money’s worth cuz boy it is not cheap
Wooww Caroline!! It’s really delicious!!! And the presentation is very nice!!!
Greetings!
Carol
Thank you Carol!
It is indeed delicious!
The cake looks de-lish!! I am going to make this for my husband’s birthday, who absolutely hates beans. I will tell him later…thanks for sharing.
awesome. I love it! We’ve got to sneak those beans filled with protein in there somewhere. Why not in cake?!?!?
Happy birthday to your husband! He’s lucky to have a wife that would make such an awesome cake. 
As someone who is trying to figure out whether or not I have a gluten allergy…I’ve been missing my cake for almost a month! You can believe I will try this! Possibly even this weekend when family is in …and not tell them about the black beans!
Awesome! I love it! Just wait until after they’ve licked their plates and rave over how good it is and then watch the doubt on their faces when you tell them what the secret ingredient was.
Best wishes in solving the allergy mystery! 
I made it! We’re in love! Next time I’m going to use parchment in the bottom of the pan (I didn’t use the spray with flour to avoid the gluten…) to prevent sticking. My uncle couldn’t believe it was black beans! The true test will be today with my picky sister in law!
Next I’ll be trying a black bean brownie recipe!
Thanks for sharing!
Aww! Yay! I’m so glad! Let me know if you find a good black bean brownie recipe…I’d love to try it!
Chocolate and peanut butter are my favorite combo as well! This cake looks so amazing and I can’t believe you did it with black beans. I have used them for brownies before, but this would be a nice change!
That’s my next challenge with black beans…brownies. Good call.
Hi Caroline
Not sure if you saw my last question? Sorry, don’t mean to be a pest, lol! Are the 6″ pans easy to find? If so I may just get one before Saturday. If not, I was wondering if I baked the batter in a springform and then cut in half. But then I was rethinking it because I like the way yours looks! It looks taller and if I did a 9″ springform, mine would be shorter. Also, I wanted to tell you that when I first saw your blog yesterday and the cake I was in AWE! I was hoping it was not a cake you bought and that there was a recipe to follow! My daughter thought the same thing. You did such a great job decorating it that it looks very professional! Great job!!!
Sorry about that Lori. You are not a pest at all. I love to help!
Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with! 
I agree with you completely that the 6″ looks better because it’s taller. If you have a cake or party store where you are, that would probably be your best bet on finding a 6″ pan. Otherwise, maybe you could try Walmart. I know Walmart sells the 6″ online, as does amazon and many other sites. I hope you’re able to find it before the weekend.
In regards to baking it in a 9″ springform. I can’t tell you for sure whether or not it would work. I bet it would, but you might want to lower the oven temperature just 325 degrees and cook it longer (just keep checking the cake with a toothpick or metal cake tester to come out clean). The cake is pretty delicate, so if you cut it in half, you may want to use dental floss to cut it.
Good call on the coconut oil. I got some the other day too…crazy expensive. I can’t wait to bake with it!
Thank you so much for your sweet comments.
Happy Baking!
Hi Caroline
Thanks for the tips 
I got my pan yesterday and it seems so tiny, haha. I thought at first that your cake look big/normal size, then got my pan and thought oh wow this is small! So, I assume it makes a fairly small cake. Can’t wait to make it tomorrow!
Aww, yay! I’m excited to hear how it turns out! Yeah, it’s a baby cake, but it is rich enough to only need small slices.
I hope you and your family enjoy all of your hard work!
MMmmm yummy!!! Made the cake today and it is very delish! Question…was your ganache sorta loose? I was expecting it to be more “firm” and have made ganache before that was definitely more solid than this turned out. Anyways, it was very good and NO hint of black beans
Thanks again!!
It was loose until it cooled down to room temperature. Also, I saved a bit of it to spread between the layers and put it in the refrigerator until it was the correct consistency to spread. I’m so glad it turned out well!
Um. YUMMY~
My sister-in-law made a black bean-chocolate cake for her GF husband awhile back. It was *awesome*. So rich and decadent without a trace of black bean flavor.
Your cake looks AMAZING. So beautiful!!
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I have had black bean brownies before and you would never know there were beans in them. This is a work of art…not just a cake! Absolutely beautiful!
Thank you so much Sarena!
My next black bean baking challenge will be to conquer brownies. Mmm!
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Amazing job on this cake. I’m going to have to try this out just to taste it.
Definitely. To this day, my family still raves about that cake.
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I can’t wait to make this. I have so many recipes for cookies and brownies made with white beans or black beans by Rocco Dispirito so I know it’s got to be good. I’m obsessed with chocolate and pb too so I’ll blame you after I devour this entire cake next week!
Haha! I’ll take the blame on that one.
It’s worth it!
Just finished reading the responses re the decadent-looking black bean chocolate cake. Only one person mentioned the “cooking spray with flour in it”. Not a wise choice for celiacs. My brother-in-law is celiac and even using a toaster that has previously toasted regular bread will set him off. Gluten-free recipes should be completely gluten-free, right down to the cooking spray. That said, I hope to make this cake for the next family gathering. Hope it looks as good as yours! And I am sure from all the feedback, that it will taste as good as it looks! Thanks.
Thank you so much Jean. I’m very new and not learned enough to celiac disease, so I tend to forget when they can/cannot eat. I have edited the instructions of the cake to just say ‘cooking spray’ and I bet it wouldn’t hurt to dust it with a little gluten free all-purpose flour too…or line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper. I really do appreciate you bringing that to my attention.
I hope you enjoy the cake! It is indeed delicious!
Since it’s a chocolate cake you could also butter/oil the pan and dust it with cocoa powder (that’s what I did since my mother tries not to eat any wheat at all).
Oh my oh my! this looks completely amazing! I was on the hunt for a choc and peanut butter layer cake for my brother-in-law’s birthday tomorrow and if only I had all the ingredients in my cupboard, I would have defo made this one! but it looks delish all the same, glad I found your blog!
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Just wanted to say that I made this the other day and it was wonderful! My sister is allergic to peanuts so we substituted hazelnut butter for peanut butter. Thanks for posting this!
That’s awesome! Thanks for letting me know!
So happy that it turned out well and that you found a tasty substitution for peanuts. Yay!
I am in awe of this cake. Truly.
This looks UHmazing! Thanks for sharing, friend!
I have made this twice and it is by far my favorite chocolate cake recipe…even made it for my gluten eating friends and they raved!!!! Thank you JoAnn
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This looks so wonderful and i plan on trying to make this for some picky eater friends of mine.
I am wondering what tools I would need to help decorate it. Obviously some pipping bags…but your frosting is so smooth!! Any tips?!
You are an amazing baker!
You’re so sweet! I would definitely make sure to have the cream cheese at room temperature. Also, since making that cake, I made these: http://chocolateandcarrots.com/2011/05/chocolate-peanut-butter-cupcakes-gluten-free and the icing was a WHOLE lot smoother and would look fabulous on your cake. Happy baking!
Omg!! Those look so delicious!!! Thank you!!
i have made this for my friends and they absolutely LOVE this!
its been quoted as “the best desert ever made!”
Wow…that’s awesome! I’m so glad that everyone liked it. That has to be one of my favorite desserts too!
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made it. so awesome. works well with a generous spill of ganache on top.
boyfriend chomped down half a pan. still wondering whether to tell him about the secret ingredient. i probably shouldn’t as he’ll never trust my baked goods again!
This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it! My only question is – is it okay to use regular peanut butter instead of natural? I live abroad and pretty much my only option is imported regular Skippy. You said the icing was tricky due to the peanut butter oils and I wonder if it would be affected this.
Thanks for an amazing recipe, I am making it for my flatmate’s birthday!
I think you’ll be fine just using the regular peanut butter. I just use the Skippy Natural kind (because there’s not hfcs). You have a lucky flatmate!
Happy baking, Deb!
My son sent me this in hopes I could modify this recipe to use. The cake sounds great. I have questions I need to ask.I am celiac and have an egg allergy. I have modified homemade chocolate cake, old fashion molasses crumb cake recipes to be gluten free and egg free and they turned out great. But I don’t know how to modify a bean cake. I don’t know if the eggs or used for moisture,extra leavening(since it doesn”t have xantham gum in it), or moisture. Or a combinations of all three. Any suggestions?It sounds like a very healthy,easy recipe to make and I am emmensely interested in trying it.would a combinations of egg replacement recipes work?And increasing the leavening ingredients,and adding xantham gum. It is very tricky with that many eggs in it.Please e-mail me. You can also post this, in hopes it helps anothers that have both allergies.Thank you very much.
I apologise, I meant “binding “, leavening or moisture for the eggs.
Hey Dianna, I’m so glad you asked. However, I have no experience baking with egg substitutes and I am fairly new to gluten-free baking. I did find an egg-less black bean cupcake recipe that you could go off of when making your substitution: http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/12/30/vegan-chocolate-cupcakes/ Maybe just doing the equivalent of 4 eggs in substitution might work. I don’t know. I’m stumped. But, I would love to know how you modify it and if it turns out!
Good luck and happy baking!
Wow, this sounds so good! I think I’m going to make this for my mom’s birthday. She is gluten free
. Do you think this cake could be made with some type of white bean to make a vanilla cake instead of the chocolate? I was thinking of doubling the recipe to make a larger cake and would like to do half vanilla half chocolate to make a marble cake. Please let me know if you think the white beans would work out or not!
I haven’t tried white beans, but you might have good luck with black eyed peas!
It’s on my to-do list to try a white cake out with beans. If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out! Good luck and happy baking! And happy birthday to your mom! 
So I made the cake with half chocolate cake and half vanilla. I used northern white beans for the vanilla cake and the batter didn’t reach the consistency of the chocolate cake; probably because there wasn’t an ingredient like cocoa powder to add to it and thicken it up. I think for a white cake a gluten-free flour needs to be used like coconut flour so the batter thickens up. I ended up adding a little cocoa powder to the vanilla batter so it was basically an all chocolate cake which turned out DELICIOUS! Seriously so good.
My only issue was that the cakes didn’t come out of my pans well at all and fell apart a little so the assembly was kind of difficult and at first the results didn’t look very promising but the frosting and ganache fixed it up well
. Another question I have is about the ganache. I chilled it for 2hrs and it was still really runny so I beat it with a mixer to try thickening it and it ended up more like a mousse. Should I have just let it chill longer? Sorry my post is so long! :-/
Thanks for letting me know! I bet you’re right about the white cake. Some sort of thickener would be required, for sure. I didn’t think about that. :-/ But, I’m glad that it was delicious!
That’s the important part. Plus, you’ll never see me complaining about a chocolate cake! 
As for the ganache, you should have been okay. I usually never have any problem with my ganache. Did you use heavy cream and a good quality chocolate?
Yes, I used the Ghiradelli chocolate chips. It chilled for 2hrs though and was still pretty runny. I guess it probably needs to be like that in order to spread it on the cake? I was worried it would run/ooze out the sides when I put the 2nd layer on top though.
Well, if you experience that next time, try putting it in the freezer in 10 minute intervals (checking between to see if it’s the right spreadable consistency). So weird, though that it was runny. I’m stumped. :-/
This cake is so yummy looking it’s ridiculous. I could just put my face in it. Nom nom nom.
One thing I’ve learned when making peanut butter frosting is to add the peanut butter last and just mix until it is thoroughly mixed in. It does not seem to get oily if you do it that way.
Good to know! Thank you Georgia!
Came over from Taste & Tell and I will be back often! I cannot WAIT to try this for my gluten free sisters, it looks incredible! Chocolate and peanut butter really are a match made in heaven.
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any thoughts on how baking time/temp would be affected by using two 8″ pans?
I actually just made it again today. I doubled the recipe and used two 9″ pans. I used the same oven time and temperature.
It came out perfectly! Yay!
So are you saying that you are baking in 2 pans at the same time (unlike your instructions to first bake one pan, remove the cake and then refill and bake layer 2).
Is there some reason to only bake one pan at a time (like due to the flourless and bean combo)?
Nope…the only reason I baked it in one pan at a time is because I only have one 6″ round pan. If you have two, go ahead and bake both at the same time. Sorry for the confusion Alice.
It’s a most excellent cake! I hope you like it! 
Thank you!
beautiful! I love the piping and flower detail around the candies! I’ll def be trying this recipe out soon Ive got a couple cans of black bean I should use up