Kidney Bean Chocolate Cake with Avocado Frosting

Oh I love chocolate cake – who doesn’t? But there’s a catch with chocolate cake: SO. MUCH. ADDED. SUGAR.

But why is sugar so bad for us? We need to make a clear distinction between processed sugars and natural contained sugars in fruits and vegetables. The biggest difference is how our body processes and metabolizes them. Most processed sugars are a mix of glucose and dextrose, so be careful when you can’t find the word "sugar“ but "dextrose“ or "glucose“ on the ingredient list on your groceries.

Those really quickly degisted sugars are "empty calories“. They contain no nutrients, no proteins, no enzymes or minerals and no healthy fats at all. They actually pull important minerals from your body while digested.

Naturally contained sugars in contrast are well balanced by the vitamines, fiber and other healthy components of the fruit, which help your body managing the sugar digestion. So don’t be afraid of having fresh fruits in your daily diet.

Back to the processed sugars - they have a lot of harmful effects on our body and fat metabolism.

Here are just a few:

• It increases bad cholesterine
• It overloads the liver with fructose and turns it into fat
• It’s bad for your teeth
• It can cause insulin resistance which can turn into diabetis
• It’s highly addictive and promotes sugar cravings

I have some bad and some good news. The bad news ist that sugar is so damn yummy!

The good news is that there are a lot of alternatives and yummy recipes which don’t include sugar.

Here is my super delicious sugar free low carb chocolate cake:

What you need for a small, 20 cm (8 inch) baking tin:

For the dough:

1 can (250-300 g) red beans

1 egg

1 ripe banana

75 g ground nuts

100 ml milk (or dairy free milk)

3 tbsp raw cocoa

3 tbsp honey or maple syrup

1 tbsp hazelnutbutter or almondbutter

1 tsp baking powder

For the chocolate cream:

1 ripe avocado

1-2  tbsp honey or maple syrup

2 tbsp milk (or dairy free milk)

1 tbsp raw cocoa

The dough:

Clean the beans very thoroughly and mix them with the banana in a blender. Add all the other ingredients and stir until you get a smooth and yummy dough. Now you can fill the chocolate dough in the baking tin. I recommend to use baking paper instead of greasing the tin with fat for an extra healthy cake. ;) Bake it for 25-35 minutes at 180°C or until it's solid. You can prick the cake with a fork to see if it's ready.

The chocolate cream:

When the cake is ready, let it cool down. Meanwhile you can make the chocolate cream. Smash the avocado with a blender or a hand held mixer and add the cocoa, honey or syrup and milk. Mix it until it’s a smooth mixture. Spread the frosting on the cooled down cake. There are many toppings, which match to the cake: nuts, seeds, chocolate, eatable flowers and many more. Be creative with the decoration and enjoy!