Swoonworthy Grainless Wonder: Chocolate Mocha Blender Cupcakes

Yup, you heard me. Blender cupcakes.  Rich, dark chocolatey cake, topped with a tower of unctuous mocha cream cheese frosting, these are everything our little grain free hearts can desire. Especially since they taste just like the cupcakes from the best baker you know. Just don't tell your friends until after they finish swooning that they're made with black beans. And all natural non-sugar sweeteners. Far better than all those gluten-free cakes made with 36 different odd foods ground into powders.

Everything gets mixed in the blender. No mixer for the cake part, just the blender and a small bowl to mix some of the dry ingredients.  You will need a mixer for the frosting, but the recipe makes a lot, and you can console yourself by eating the extra fabulous frosting while no one is watching.

All I could do to not just dive in. 

Grain Free Chocolate Mocha Blender Cupcakes
Adapted from the recipe for Healthy Chocolate Cake from Healthy Indulgences

Note: I keep seeing in other recipes that if you can detect a beany taste in the cake, it will disappear after they stand 8 to 12 hours. What I've actually found is that there is no discernible bean taste after they cool, if you choose very bland beans. For these I suggest organic black soy beans (Eden Brand), although regular black beans will work fine. The soy beans are also very low in carbohydrate compared to other beans, and makes this already low carb recipe still lower. My husband, who is a Type 2 diabetic can also indulge in one of these since the alternative natural sweeteners don't seem to impact his blood sugar. You body may react differently if you have blood sugar issues.

1 15 ounce can of black soy beans, drained and rinsed
5 large eggs
1 T pure vanilla extract
6 T melted unsalted butter, cooled slightly
1T instant espresso powder
3/4 cup granular erythritol,
1/2 tsp. pure stevia extract
6T Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Place 12 cupcake papers in the cups of a cupcake pan, and spray the inside of the cups with oil cooking spray. Set the pan aside.

In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder, the baking powder and the baking soda, then set aside. Into the blender container, place the drained beans, the eggs, the vanilla extract,  and the melted butter. Puree, scraping down the inside of the blender jar as necessary. Next add the espresso powder, the erythritol and the stevia. puree again. Last add the cocoa mixture from the bowl and puree until it's all mixed evenly.  Pour the batter evenly among the 12 prepared cupcake cups, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until domed, and a toothpick stuck into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then carefully remove them to a cooling rack to fin isn cooling to room temperature.

Chocolate Mocha Cream Cheese Frosting
Note: to keep the granular texture of the sweeteners from being noticeable, I suggest placing the erythritol, the xylitol and the stevia in a food processor and blending them together until the texture resembles powdered sugar. if you are lazy, like me, just use them as the come out of the package but be warned, there will be it bit of an undissolved sugar texture in the finished frosting. No one has minded so far here. They just scarf them down.

1 8-oz block of cream cheese, softened at room temp
3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
3/4 cup granular erythritol
3T granular xylitol
1/4 tsp. pure stevia extract
1 T instant espresso powder
1/4 cup hot tap water

Stir the erythritol, xylitol and the stevia into the hot water, then stir in the instant espresso. Stir to dissolve the sweeteners as much as possible. In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, whip together the cream cheese, the melted chocolate, the vanilla and the salt. When well blended, mix in the Espresso mixture, and whip on high speed for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy. Pipe or spread generously on the completely cooled cupcakes. Garnish with 90% dark chocolate shavings, or dark chocolate covered coffee beans. Makes enough frosting to cover a dozen cupcakes generously, plus a bit for the cook to eat from the bowl. Ahem.