That’s right, lentils! You read that correctly :). Canadian Lentils is hosting the Lentils Recipe Revelations Challenge (check out all the entries on Pinterest and vote for your favorites!) and in a purely impulsive “I can do anything” moment, I registered and accepted the challenge. And then, when I actually stopped to think about it, realized I hadn’t the slightest clue where to begin. I’d never baked with lentils; I’d never had a dessert with lentils in it; in fact, I’d never even heard of lentils being in a dessert.

So, I began my lentil baking education where I begin most things these days, with some googling. To my surprise and delight, there are quite a few desserts out there featuring the lentil and I was inspired and impressed with how people were incorporating them in. It was an eye-opener for sure, and got my creative blood zipping as I began to imagine all the possibilities.

I had a lot of ideas, cakes and flavor combinations to try out, and then snow began falling. And it kept falling. And it’s still falling. The idea of going to the grocery store to get ingredients seemed like I was planning a trip to mars involving lots of shoveling. And then, once all shoveled out, would I be able to get my car out of its parking space? Would I be able to drive down the street without sliding into a snow bank? Once at the store, would there be parking? Would they even have what I needed? Oh, the joys of being in New England! I was in Somerville, Ma for the last big storm; here’s a glimpse of the crazy snow there:

I did make a few cakes though, some good, some not-so good, and then I hit upon the idea for this one. I wanted something cheery, to contradict the depressing gloomy cold, something to remind me of the beach and brilliant sunshine, and nothing says tropical sunny warm wonderful-ness to me like the combination of pineapple and coconut, with some cherries on top!

So here it is, Flourless Pineapple Coconut Lentil Cake with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting. It is made with almond meal, so it is gluten-free. There is also no dairy (I used vegan cream cheese, but you can use regular). There is about 3/4 cup cooked red lentils in this recipe, and while you can’t necessarily taste them, their nuttiness contributes wonderfully to the cake.

The cake itself is only lightly sweet, while the frosting is quite sweet and is what makes it a real dessert. It is also great without the frosting, as more of a breakfast or snack cake.

If you can’t find almond meal at the store, you can also easily make your own with a food processor and raw almonds. Just pulse the almonds until they are fine and mostly ground. The consistency of the homemade almond meal may be coarser than the store-bought one, which will affect the texture of the cake, but I’ve made it with both types and it is delicious both ways!

Flourless Pineapple Coconut Lentil Cake

1/2 cup red lentils

1 1/4 cup water

2 cups almond meal +2 tablespoons

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons ground flax seed

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup crushed pineapple

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese, vegan or other, room temperature

1/2 cup butter, vegan or other, room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon crushed pineapple

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Morello cherries for decorating

Cake: In a medium pan, combine the lentils and water, bring to a simmer, then let cook for 20-25 minutes on med-low heat until lentils are mushy and fully cooked. Stir every few minutes to prevent sticking to the pan. Remove from heat and let cool. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a springform pan and use the 2 tablespoons of the almond meal to flour it. In a large bowl, mix the 2 cups almond meal, baking powder, flax seed and coconut. To the cooled lentils, add the pineapple, both sugars, and vanilla and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together until fully incorporated. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, until top is golden brown. Cake will still be a little moist and that’s ok. Let cool completely. Frosting: While the cake is baking and cooling, you can make the frosting. The frosting gets a little soft in the making, so having time to chill it in the refrigerator is important. With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the vanilla and crushed pineapple and mix well. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating each addition in before adding the next. Let chill in the refrigerator until ready to frost cake. Assembly: Carefully remove cake from springform pan (or leave it on there as a serving plate), spread with frosting and use cherries to decorate. Enjoy!