I know, I know. You just read that title several times. And now you're wondering if I have lost my mind. Yes, yes, I have. However, that's very unrelated to the black bean frosting. I didn't even come up with the recipe. You can find anything on the internet, apparently. So here's how black bean frosting happened.
This month's winning Crazy Ingredient Challenge ingredients are black beans and mayonnaise. There's nothing crazy about that. If the winning ingredients aren't crazy then I usually challenge myself to do something unusual with them. There's a bit of a buzz about black bean brownies. I tried them once and they just did not taste good. I contemplated trying again and then making a mayonnaise based frosting. But I just did not want to try that brownie again.
I had finally settled on just making a savoury recipe. But one night I googled "black bean frosting" and this popped up. I took a leap of faith and tried the tiniest possible batcha and you know what? It wasn't bad! There was no black bean flavour whatsoever. You'd never guess that they were in there. My only complaint was the strong honey flavour. I am not a big honey fan though. I'd try another liquid sweetener or even just powdered sugar next time.
But why put black beans in your frosting? Really, there's no reason to. It's just a fun little experiment that doesn't taste bad. I ate most of it straight from the blender with a spoon so trust me, it's good. And hey, I guess you now have protein in your frosting?
The cupcakes are pretty good too. Very moist. Very delicious. Make them - with or without the frosting.
Cinnamon Mayo Cupcakes with Chocolate Black Bean Frosting
(adapted from Always Order Dessert; yield 12 cupcakes)
Cupcake Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the mayonnaise, milk and vanilla. Mix until combined them pour into the lined cupcake wells.
Bake 17 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Black Bean Frosting Ingredients
120 grams black beans
4 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons peanut butter
pinch of salt
vanilla to taste
enough warm water to get a smooth frosting.
Directions
Blend all the frosting ingredients until extremely smooth. Taste and adjust taste as you feel necessary. Don't use chunky peanut butter, I did and that made making it smooth harder.