Magic Chocolate Cake

Last night's 'Wholefoods Thermomix' class was a delight.  Firstly, a joy to be able to sample EVERYTHING on the menu without questioning every ingredient and secondly an amazing selection of fresh and fabulous recipes that just make you feel good ... from carrot top pesto to chicken liver pate to steamed asian snapper.  I'm pretty sure you could impress at any dinner party with that selection on offer!  However, it was the magic bean cake that really got my attention and a chance to sample it before I baked at home.

This gluten free cake has been on my radar for a while now but I just hadn't gotten around to making it.  Having watched its creation last night I had to try it out first thing this morning (around 7.30 am while the rest of the family were watching the latest world cup match).

The recipe is on the Thermomix community here and it really is easy to whip up.  Blitz the kidney beans, water and vanilla paste (or extract) until smooth, chuck in the rest of the ingredients and mix.  Mine took a little longer than the 30 minutes to bake, however, I think my cake tin was smaller so an extra 10 minutes and it was done.  Just check it with a toothpick to make sure it's cooked through in the centre.

I used a chocolate ganache recipe from the EDC to top my cake using Whittaker's dark chocolate (no gluten allergen or cross contamination statements) but you could drizzle with a variety of dairy free options using avocado ganache, Jo's date and almond milk ganache or, as the girls in the Manly Thermomix team did last night, a little blitzed rapadura sugar sprinkled over the top.

I look forward to serving this up to the children and friends this afternoon and getting them to guess the magic ingredient!!

Of course the silver lining of the evening was winning a Thermomix brush - I knew knowing the Varoma cooking temp would get me somewhere!!