Raspberry Bakewell Magic Bean Cake (or Cherry Bakewell) - includes Thermomix method

Easy to make, moist and delicious, NO taste of beans (no, really!), and incredibly versatile.

And if you just can't decide whether to go for raspberry or cherry, the beauty of this is that you can make it half and half!

Cherry Bakewell on the top tier, Raspberry Bakewell below (all cooked in the same cake tin).

Moist and almond-y, this makes a great traybake cake and you'll have fun getting people trying to guess what the 'secret ingredient is'! (They won't).This would also be excellent with plums, apricots, nectarines or peaches (cut into quarters or eighths, depending on the size of the fruit) when they're in season, as stone fruits all go really well with almond flavours. The type of fruit you use will dictate how dense the cake is, and what kind of rise you get - e.g. cherries naturally sink towards the bottom and the top rises more, whereas raspberries sit on the top, weighing the cake down more and giving you a more dense, moist result - more of a 'slice' (as you can see above). This is best made in a 9 inch / 22.5cm square tin (or rectangular tin of a similar area).

Cherries to the left, raspberries to the right!

 Another great bonus of this cake, is that not only is it gluten free and grain free, you can also make it dairy free if you want, by using coconut oil (the solid white variety, preferably extra virgin) instead of butter. It's good as a hot dessert too, and needs less cooking time for this (see method).

 This cake gives you 16 portions from 210 calories per serving; or cut into 20, for 168 calories per portion.

If you wish to bake it as a round cake in a smaller,, taller tin, pour in half of the batter, scatter the raspberries over that (I'm not sure I'd recommend trying this with cherries), then pour the rest of the batter on top and adjust the cooking time accordingly. Alternatively, bake as individual little cupcakes / muffins and reduce the cooking time to around 20 minutes - pushing the raspberries into each muffin (or even stir into the mix) before baking rather than leaving them on top. [Calories in square brackets below]


Ingredients
400g tin butter beans (235g rinsed and drained, or pretty much any cooked white beans/chickpeas of your choice, e.g. canellini beans - chickpeas are a little stronger though) [256 calories]
120g softened butter, salted (or use extra virgin coconut oil, the solid white variety if you want to make it dairy free and increase the calories and add a pinch of salt) [884]
170g golden caster sugar (or your preferred sweetener in appropriate quantities, e.g. rapadura, coconut sugar etc.) [680]
5 eggs (UK medium, i.e. 58g each) [438]
1/2 tablespoon (7.5ml) good vanilla extract [22]
1/2 to 1 x 15ml tbsp almond extract (to taste, I use 1 full tbsp) [135]
100g ground almonds [645]
1 teaspoon (gluten free) baking powder [3]
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Small pinch of salt
250g raspberries or cherries (or half of each if you can't decide!), frozen and defrosted is fine (you could use a reduced quantity of French glacé cherries if you want an enormous sugar hit, and don't mind the extra calories, but they're a bit sweet for my taste!) [81 or 130]
35g flaked / slivered almonds [220]

Optional
Icing sugar to dust (or you could drizzle lightly with icing)

You will need
Something to whizz the beans up in, e.g. a food processor or blender. A 9 inch / 22.5cm square tin, or rectangular tin with a similar area and greaseproof baking paper to line it, or muffin tin and paper cases (see method).

Method
See below for Thermomix method (in italics)
Pre-heat oven to gas mark 4 / 160C fan oven, and line your cake tin with greaseproof baking paper (use a smear of the butter or coconut oil to hold the paper in place, and use enough paper to overhang the edges slightly on two sides to make it easier to get out, unless you have one with a removable base). Remove the pits from the cherries, if using and halve them.

Cream the butter and sugar together - easiest done with a hand mixer, or in an electric mixer or food processor - until pale and fluffy. Lightly beat the eggs and add the vanilla extract and almond extract to them; then gradually pour into the butter / sugar mixture whilst beating. Don't worry if the mixture begins to look slightly curdled.

Next, you need to add the beans. If you're not using a food processor or similar to mix your ingredients, then you need to use it to blitz up your beans in one as fine as possible, then add to the mixture and combine thoroughly. If you *are* using a food processor, then add your (rinsed and drained) beans into the mix, and blitz it all together until as smooth as possible.

Add the ground almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, small pinch of salt, and mix together until well combined, making sure any mixture from the sides is scraped in.

Pour the cake batter into the lined baking tin (or paper cases in a muffin tin) and scatter the raspberries or cherries (or other fruit) on top. Lightly push the fruit pieces down with your fingertips so they are sitting just in the batter, rather than on top (less necessary if using cherry halves, as they will sink anyway), then scatter with the slivered/flaked almonds.

Bake in the centre of the oven at gas mark 4 / 160C fan oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes (around 35, if making cupcakes) for a tray bake cake. If you would like this as a hot pudding, it will only require 45 minutes in the oven (the centre will have risen, and a skewer will come out clean), however at this point it will be too moist to be cut into squares which will hold their own (if you feel it is too moist when you take it out of the oven, it's perfectly fine to put it back in again for a bit longer - the fruit content means this is quite a moist cake). Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes, before very carefully taking out of the tin, so you don't crack it, and cooling on a wire tray. Fully cool before cutting into portions with a sharp knife. Enjoy, with a nice cuppa (and beware, they're a bit more-ish!).

Tips
If you liked this, why not have a go at the chocolate 'Magic Bean Cake', the recipe is here - or try my Coconut and Lemon 'Magic Bean Cake' here.

Thermomix method 
Pre-heat oven to gas mark 4 / 160C fan oven, and line your cake tin with greaseproof baking paper (use a smear of the butter or coconut oil to hold the paper in place, and use enough paper to overhang the edges slightly on two sides to make it easier to get out, unless you have one with a removable base). Remove the pits from the cherries, if using and halve them.

Blitz butter and sugar, Speed 5 / 15 seconds, then scrape down and repeat. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and blitz Speed 4 / 15 seconds, then scrape down.

Add beans, Speed 7 / 20 seconds, then scrape down.

Add ground almonds, baking powder bicarbonate of soda, pinch of salt and mix Speed 4 / 20 seconds, scrape down (don't worry if it looks a little curdled) and then Speed 5 and a half / 15 seconds.

Pour the cake batter into the lined baking tin (or paper cases in a muffin tin) and scatter the raspberries or cherries (or other fruit) on top. Lightly push the fruit pieces down with your fingertips so they are sitting just in the batter, rather than on top (less necessary if using cherry halves, as they will sink anyway), then scatter with the slivered/flaked almonds.

Bake in the centre of the oven at gas mark 4 / 160C fan oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes (around 35, if making cupcakes) for a tray bake cake. If you would like this as a hot pudding, it will only require 45 minutes in the oven (the centre will have risen, and a skewer will come out clean...serve with Thermomix custard, yum!), however at this point it will be too moist to be cut into squares which will hold their own (if you still  feel it is too moist when you take it out of the oven, it's perfectly fine to put it back in again for a bit

longer - the fruit content means this is quite a moist cake). Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes, before very carefully taking out of the tin, so you don't crack it, and cooling on a wire tray. Fully cool before cutting into portions with a sharp knife. Enjoy, with a nice cuppa (and beware, they're a bit more-ish!).

Tips
If you liked this, why not have a go at the chocolate 'Magic Bean Cake', the recipe is here - or try my Coconut and Lemon 'Magic Bean Cake' here.