The first time I saw this cake recipe, I was intrigued. This chocolate cake is made with organic black beluga lentils, it has no butter, no oil, no flour and it’s very low in sugar. It’s one healthy piece cake!

I’ve made this cake three times. The first time I made it, my husband John wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. The second time I made it, John brought it to his office and his colleagues all loved it. Many came back for second or third helpings and several have asked for the recipe. They were impressed that a healthy snack could taste so good. The third time I made it, I added cinnamon to the ingredients and John, who is not a big fan of chocolate, said: “It’s not bad!”

The author of this cake is Catherine Katz, wife of world-renowned expert in nutrition and Director of disease prevention at Yale University, Dr. David Katz. I invite you to visit Catherine’s website at cuisinicity.com and discover some interesting recipes along with her passion for loving food that loves you back!

Catherine’s chocolate cake

Author: Catherine Katz

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1(15 ounces or 425 grams) can organic black lentils , well rinsed and drained*

, well rinsed and drained* 4 eggs

½ cup (100 gm) sugar ( here, I use half fine white sugar and half fine light brown sugar cane to make ½ cup of sugar and I add 1 heaping teaspoon of cinnamon )

( here, I use half fine white sugar and half fine light brown sugar cane to make ½ cup of sugar and I add 1 heaping teaspoon of ) 1½ cups bittersweet chocolate chips – 60% cocoa (In Switzerland, I use 375 grams dark cooking chocolate – 64% cocoa; almost two bars broken in chunks)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 8-10 inches (20-26 cm) springform pan (moule à charnière) with a little canola oil and line the bottom with wax or baking paper that is pre-made to fit or the kind you can cut yourself. Place chocolate chips or broken pieces of chocolate in a small microwavable bowl, heat on high for 1 minute to melt and stir until smooth. Place drained lentils and eggs in the bowl of a food processor. Process until creamy and smooth (I use a hand held blender). You will see bits of crushed lentils. Add the sugar and process again briefly. Add melted chocolate and wisk by hand to blend until smooth and creamy. Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes — do not over bake!

Fruit sauce

You can serve it with a drizzle of fruit sauce on top. In a blender, food processor or hand held blender purée one pint or 12 ounces (340 grams) fresh or frozen berries, thawed (e.g. rasberries or strawberries). Add 1 or 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice. You can strain the sauce through a fine mesh or serve it as is.

* As suggested by Catherine, I cook the lentils from scratch. I boil 3 cups of water, then add ⅓ cup (65 grams) dry black beluga lentils and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until tender and some of the water has evaporated. Rinse and drain. It will make 1 cup cooked lentils or the equivalent of a 15 ounces can. If you use canned lentils, check the salt content and make sure you use the one with the lowest sodium content, then rinse thoroughly to rid of as much sodium as possible, before draining.

Enjoy!

Photo credit: Cuisinicity