Egg-less chocolate cake and black bean soup

Egg-less chocolate cake
The chocolate cake recipe is an adaptation from one in the New Zealand Food Allergy Cookbook. I added the jam and linseeds because I thought the jam would be yummy and the linseeds, of which we have many in the fridge being used too slowly, might fit in as well.

1 C sugar
250g melted butter
1-3 t of ground cloves/mixed spice/ground cinnamon
3 T cocoa powder
1 C warm water
1 t baking soda
2 C plain flour
1 dessertspoon of jam
1 dessertspoon of ground linseeds

Mix sugar, spices and cocoa. Dissolve baking soda in the water and add to the spice mixture. Sift the flour and add to the wet mixture. Mix the linseeds and jam together and then add to the cake mixture. Mix well and then tip into a greased round cake tin, about 20-22cm. Cook at 180 degrees celsius for about 45 minutes.

We had friends over for dinner last night and served the cake with yoghurt for pudding. I have no idea how long it keeps for as ours got eaten very quickly.

Black Bean Soup
This comes from Nigella Lawson's How to Eat. I love this book, both her writing and her lovely hedonistic joy in food. Serves eight, makes great leftovers.
450 g dried black turtle beans
2 bay leaves
200ml extra virgin olive oil
2 large red peppers, seeded and chopped
2 shallots, chopped
2 onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1 T ground cumin
2 T ground dried oregano
zest of 1 lime, plus more limes for serving
0.5 T sugar
1 T salt
2 T dry sherry
1 red onion, diced, to serve
coriander, chopped
250 ml sour cream to serve

No need to soak the beans, cover with 2 litres of water, add bay leaves and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 1.5-2 hours until soft but not squishy, adding more water if necessary to keep well covered. (Could do this bit in the pressure cooker - I did last time but forget for how long)

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan and saute the peppers, shallots and onions until the onions are translucent - about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, oregano and lime zest and cook for a further 5 minutes. Put in a blender and puree until smooth.

When the beans are almost tender, add the pureed mixture, sugar, salt and sherry. Serve with bowls of sour cream,`limes, red onion and coriander so that people can add as they wish. Tabasco goes down well also.

Things I have found out: we love sour cream with this. We never seem to have coriander at the right time which is a shame as it is lovely. Good without though or with parsley instead. I always put lime zest in, but not always on the table due to cost. All onions is fine if you don't have shallots. I don't always bother with red onions on the table. Next time I'm going to try it without bothering to puree the red pepper mixture. Given that I don't seem to have a kitchen fairy, a meal which involves the pressure cooker, the frypan AND the food processor is a little overkill on the dirty dishes front. This is very filling. You could fit in dessert if it is a special meal, but not a main course as well. Definitely main course soup imo.