I love shocking people with desserts.

The reaction I get from friends and family after indulging in what they thought was a decadent treat, that turned out to be healthier, always excites me. It’s truly the best part of baking for someone.

I’m pretty sure my husband is the funnest person to bake for. When he’s experiencing a dessert that I’ve made, he closes his eyes and takes it all in. You get the ‘Mmmm‘s and the ‘Oh my gah‘s. For a while, I shocked him with my crazy ingredients like black beans, tofu and dates, but now he’s an insider and knows the tricks of the trade.

Luckily, he had a birthday last month and I’ll take any excuse to bake a cake! His favorite is always chocolate raspberry (Forest Cake I made one year), so this year I had to take it up a level.

Since we’ve just moved back near family, we had a big gathering where everyone was able to try the (what they thought was decadent) healthier cake! We got the Ooo’s and the Ahh‘s and then we let them in on the secrets.

Logan chose to make his wife happy have his birthday dinner at Basil, our favorite local Thai place (THE best pad thai I’ve ever eaten). And you better believe I embarrassed myself by taking my piece of cake and ice cream over to the window and placing it on the floor, along with my napkin to get the following photo. I had to show you what was inside! And by the way, how cute are these candles I got at Hallmark! Totally expensive, but they’re supposed to last for a long time.

The cake was moist and delicious. The pops of raspberries in every bite were perfect and the rich chocolate frosting pushed it over the top.

I’m pretty sure this has become my favorite cake.

Thank you to my dear husband for having a birthday and for inspiring this amazing cake!

I hope you all get a chance to make it and dive into the chocolaty goodness yourself!

Healthier Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake

cake from Chocolate & Carrots, filling from Recipe Girl

Ingredients

• 2 (15.5 oz) cans of reduced sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 eggs
• 2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup date paste (or sugar)
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• (filling) 10 ounce bag frozen raspberries, thawed
• (filling) 1/4 cup sugar
• (filling) 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 batch of Two Ingredient Chocolate Frosting
• (Optional extra filling) 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• (Optional extra filling) 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

How-To

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line three 9″ round cake pans with parchment paper on the bottom. Spray the cake pans with cooking spray.
3. Blend the beans, eggs, vanilla, sugar, butter, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda in the blender (or food processor) on high until completely blended, about 1-2 minutes.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for 5 minutes in the pans before careful flipping out onto cooling racks to cool completely. For extra speedy cooling, place the cakes in the freezer.
5. In the meantime, in a small pot over medium heat, stir the raspberries, sugar and cornstarch together until it begins to boil. Continue to stir as it thickens. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool completely.
6. (Optional extra filling) In a small pot, heat the heavy cream until almost boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Allow to cool completely or refrigerate until spreadable.
7. To assemble the cake, lay one cake on your plate. (Spread half of the optional chocolate on top of the first layer.) Spread half of the raspberry filling on the first layer. Top with the second layer. (Spread the other half of the chocolate on top of this layer.) Spread the other half of the chocolate on top of this layer. Lay the third cake layer on top. Decorate with the tofu chocolate frosting on the top and sides.