The Spunky Coconut's Incredibly Moist Coffee Cake

 I was looking for a good gluten free cake recipe to make for my husband on his birthday a couple of weeks ago, and luckily I came across this one. Not only does he love coffee cake, but this one is made with white beans in place of most of the flour, so it is higher in fiber and lower in carbs than a birthday cake has any right to be. The ingredients are very pure and minimally processed, and it's free of refined sugar. We ate this for breakfast several mornings in a row and I didn't feel one bit guilty about it. Hats off to Kelly of The Spunky Coconut blog for coming up with this one. It was my first experience baking with beans, and after getting such excellent results, it will definitely not be my last. The beans made the texture of the cake incredibly moist and buttery rich, and the flavor was superb. This is a very authentic coffee cake, both in flavor and appearance. Please don't let the strangeness of baking with beans deter you from trying out this recipe. It was well worth the effort, and actually quite simple to make. Whenever the food processor is involved, things tend to be simpler. God bless that appliance :)

I made a few substitutions because I was out of vanilla creme liquid stevia and I prefer to bake with raw agave nectar. Everything worked out great so I'm going to share my version of the recipe with you. For the original, visit The Spunky Coconut blog.

Cake Ingredients

2 cups cooked white beans (I used cannellini, but any white beans should work)
6 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract (I use Frontier alcohol free vanilla flavor)
1/3 cup raw agave nectar

1/4 cup stevia in the raw (this brand is granulated, not a powder, and can be substituted equal parts for sugar)

1/4 cup unrefined coconut oil, liquified
1/3 cup coconut flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp baking soda (note: I didn't realize that my baking soda was stale and it affected the leavening somewhat. from what I read, 3 months is the age limit and it should be kept sealed for best results)
1.5 tsp baking powder

Crumble Topping Ingredients

3 cups of walnuts
2 tbsp unrefined coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut sugar (I found this at Whole Foods, but it can also be ordered online, The Spunky Coconut has a link)

1 tbsp cinnamon

 

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

If you're using a food processor, you may want to process the crumble topping first. I find that it's easier to brush the crumb topping into a bowl and then continue following the instructions for the cake batter. Once the crumble topping is pureed to the desired consistency and removed, puree the first 5 cake ingredients. In a small separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder and baking soda. Add the remaining ingredients, including the powder/soda mixture, to the batter and puree until smooth. Pour the cake batter into a 9" x 13" (or something close to that) pan, sprinkle crumble topping over top and swirl into the batter with a fork. I also sprinkled some extra cinnamon lightly over the top of the cake right before placing it in the oven.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes, but don't expect the knife to come completely clean. The beans make the cake very moist. Once the topping is slightly browned the inside of the cake should be done as well. 

Kelly recommends leaving the cake out for the first day and storing it in the refrigerator after that. I did the same. By the way, it is absolutely fantastic cold. Enjoy!