Chocolate Chickpea Cake with Avocado & Cacao Icing

This chickpea chocolate cake is gluten free, refined sugar free, dairy free (with the alternative icing option), butter free, oil free and if we’re pushing things it could probably even pass as one of your 5 serves of veggies each day!

It’s also high in protein which is pretty remarkable for a delicious and indulgent chocolate cake.

This recipe is aligned with our health and food values here at KOJA HQ because it’s made from wholefoods, it’s largely plant based, it’s free from added refined sugars and refined bleached flours, and most importantly, it’s seriously delicious.

There's a few options when serving the cake. The recipe will make the cake pictured above. But if you're in the 'going all out' mood then you can make two separate cakes, double the icing and put it together like a sponge (icing in-between the two cakes) for an extra decadent dessert. 

Ingredients: 

Cake Base:

• 80g Dark Chocolate (we love loving earth 85% or if you can't get that, Lind 85%- the darker the better!)
• 1 of tin Organic Chickpeas, drained and rinsed with water
• 3 Tbs Chia seeds
• 3 Tbs Coconut Oil 
• 2 Tbs Cacao powder
• ½ cup of Honey (or Rice Malt Syrup)
• 4 Eggs (we always choose free range, organic)
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Icing:

• 1 Avocado
• ½ Cup of Dates
• 3 Tbs Raw Cacao
• ½ Cup of thickened full cream (or coconut cream) 

Method:

Preparation:

Start by soaking the dates in ½ cup of water, and leave in the fridge overnight, or at least 4 hours. Alternatively, use bowling water and soak for just 20 mins or until soft.

For the cake: 

1. Melt the chocolate in a double saucepan until smooth.
2. In a food processor, add the chickpeas and melted chocolate and blend until combined.
3. Add all the remaining ingredients except the eggs and blend until very smooth.
4. Separate the egg yokes from the whites. 
5. Add the yokes to the chocolate mixture
6. Place the egg whites in a bowl and whisk, then fold into chocolate mixture
7. Pour into a lined cake tin and bake at 170 degrees for 40 mins, or until just set in the center. The cake will only rise by about 1 cm so you can almost fill the tin.
8. Set aside to cool.

For the icing:

1. Whisk the cream until just thickened.
2. Separate the dates and the water they’ve been soaking in, keeping the water aside. (This will be sweet from the dates and can be gradually added to the icing)
3. In a food processor, add the avocado, the dates, about 2 Tbs of the date water, and the cacao powder. Blend until combined. Add more date water if possible but make sure it doesn’t get too thin.
4. Fold in the cream and spread over all sides of the cooled cake.

Store in the fridge for 1-2 days. Best eaten on the same day as it’s made. It won’t keep for more than 2 or 3 days.