Cannellini Vanilla Sponge Cake with Chocolate Avocado Frosting - by Hemsley and Hemsley

Ingredients

Cake:

125g butter or coconut oil, melted, plus extra for greasing
3 x 400g tins of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
9 medium eggs
1 Tbs vanilla extract
220mL maple syrup
5 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
90g coconut flour
2 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
150g punnet of fresh raspberries, to decorate

Chocolate Avocado Frosting:

4 medium ripe avocados (banana's work as well)
5 Tbs (about 75g) coconut oil, melted
8 Tbs raw honey (to taste)
10 Tbs cocoa powder
1 Tbs vanilla extract
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp orange extract (not essence)
A pinch of sea salt

Method

Pre-heat the oven to fan 180 C/gas mark 6, then line the bases of two 25cm-diameter cake tins with baking parchment and grease the sides with butter or coconut oil.

Chocolate Avocado Frosting:

Blend all the ingredients for the frosting together in a food processor until smooth, adding a dash of cold water if needed. Taste, adjusting the flavourings to taste, then transfer to a bowl and set aside in the fridge.

Cake:

Add the cannellini beans to the cleaned food processor bowl with the eggs, vanilla extract and maple syrup and blend until smooth. Add the remaining cake ingredients, except the raspberries, and blend to combine.

Divide the cake batter between the prepared cake tins, spreading out evenly and smoothing the surface.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until well risen and lightly golden on top.(Check the cakes after 25 minutes and swap the tins between shelves, if necessary, as they will cook at different rates.)

Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely in the tins before turning out.

While the cakes are cooling, gently wash the raspberries and dry them carefully using kitchen paper or leave to air dry. (they must be thoroughly dry before adding to the cake.)

Spread half the frosting on one of the cooled sponges, top with the other sponge and spread over the rest of the frosting. Store in the fridge and bring to room temperature to serve. Decorate with the fresh raspberries just before serving.

Credits: Extracted from Good + Simple by Hemsley + Hemsley (imprint). RRP $55 available now.

Photo Credits: Extracted from Good + Simple by Hemsley + Hemsley (imprint). RRP $55 available now.