Dark chocolate cake with raspberries

This cake has the intense chocolate flavour and fudgy texture that's so appealing in a rich flourless chocolate cake, but it contains a fraction of the saturated fat. Put your skepticism about the unconventional ingredient — canned black beans — aside. You can't taste them, and the fibre and protein from the beans help balance the carbohydrates.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 35 to 45 minutes

Serves 16

• 250 g (8 oz) bittersweet (60 to 70% cacao) chocolate, chopped, or 375 g (1 1/2 c) bittersweet chocolate chips
• 500 g (2 c) drained canned black beans, rinsed
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 250 g (1 c) granulated sugar
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) baking powder
• 10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
• Icing sugar
• 2 kg (8 c) fresh raspberries, rinsed, or sliced strawberries or orange sections

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Coat a 23 centimetre (nine inch) round layer cake pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper or wax paper.
2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, stirring often, over hot (not simmering) water.
3. Purée the beans in a food processor. Add the eggs, sugar, baking powder and vanilla. Process until smooth and creamy, stopping several times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the chocolate and pulse several times until thoroughly blended. Scrape the batter into the pan.
4. Bake until the top springs back when touched lightly, 35 to 45 minutes. (The cake will look cracked.) Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for five minutes. Loosen the edges, invert the cake onto the rack and peel off the paper. Let cool. Dust with icing sugar. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature for the fudgiest texture, accompanied by the raspberries. One serving is a sixth of the cake and 125 grams (1/2 cup) of raspberries.

For a special presentation, place a paper doily over the cake before dusting with icing sugar. You can also create your own stencil with strips of wax paper.

Nutritional information per serving: 193 calories, 4 g protein, 36 g carbohydrates, 6 g fibre, 6 g total fat, 3 g saturated fat, 53 mg cholesterol, 195 mg sodium.