After I sent this particular recipe to a friend today, it prompted me to share with Smallest Smallholding readers! It’s one of my favourite cakes to bake, as it’s exceedingly quick and easy to make, as well as the fact that I am a wholehearted champion of chickpeas. Being vegetarian, for me they’re a great source of fibre and protein. And a whole tin only costs around 34p (even after prices have gone up), which is definitely a bonus in these credit crunch-riddled times.
This particular Lemon Chickpea Cake recipe is one that Mum passed onto me a few years ago. When we had a surplus of eggs - oh, how long ago that seems - it was also great way to use eggs up that were close to their ‘use by’ dates (that goes to show what a backlog we would sometimes have). Actually, thinking about it, when I cook my sponges I always opt for 3 large free range eggs, but this is a nice alternative as it also uses 3 eggs.
So - here it is, in all it’s simplistic glory:
Lemon Chickpea Cake
For 8in/20cm Cake Tin
Ingredients:
420g chickpeas drained and rinsed (approx. 1 large can)
3 eggs
7oz/210g caster sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
3oz/90g sultanas or raisins
icing sugar and cinnamon
Method
1. Pre-heat oven to gas mark 4 (180C/350F).
2. Greast and line tin with baking parchment.
3. Blend chickpeas until smooth with blender in bowl.
4. Add eggs, sugar, baking powder and lemon zest.
5. Mix until everything is combined.
6. Stir in Fruit.
7. Turn mix into cake tin.
8. Bake 35-45 mins, or until golden.
9. Spoon lemon juice over cake and cool for 10 mins in the tin before transferring onto wire rack. When cake is cool, dredge with icing sugar and cinammon OR sugar and lemon juice gently boiled to a syrup consistency,then drenched into holes in cake.
Ta da!
Please do let me know if you have a go at this recipe, and how you got on. I’ve found that it produces a gorgeously moist cake and will definitely be baking one in the near future.
Tags: cheap recipe, credit crunch, eggs, free range eggs, lemon chickpea cake, recipe
January 8th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I’m really intrigued by this recipe and have bookmarked it.
January 11th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Wow…I’ve heard of a cake using veggies like parsnips before, but never pulses. This would be a great way for me to shoehorn extra pulses into hubby without him knowing or moaning about me trying to make him healthier!
January 15th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
This sounds interesting. I have just started trying to incorporate more veggies and no meat into my diet so I will have to try this. thanks
January 16th, 2009 at 9:19 am
After reading your recipee I went right into the kitchen to bake the cake. Because one of my daughters gets an immediate headache after eating sugar I used Amazake instead. Amazake is a millet/rice-product and has a bit custardlike structure so the cake perhaps turned out a bit moist, but it tasted delightful. I’ll make another perhaps with some less Amazake or I’ll leave out an egg. But I will sure make some more, it will be a great gift for a friend of mine who is on a gluten-free diet. thanks!!
January 16th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I tried it this evening
UNFORTUNATELY on a bid to save energy by cooking a fruitcake alongside it and took out wrong one - leaving the chickpea cake in for 90 minutes!!!! t however not totally ruin and underneath the crispy top (oops) there was a really, really tasty cake!!!!! I’ll be trying it again when I have more ingredients!!!
January 20th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I have the same husband problem as Steelkitten, so I’ll definitely be trying it. Many thanks, I’ll let you know how I get on!
January 27th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Tried this cake and have to say wasn’t expecting it to be quite as nice as it was ! a good way of getting the kids to eat chickpeas.
February 2nd, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I’ve just tested the finished product and it’s a gorgeously moist cake. It almost tastes like it’s been seeped in alcohol! To be honest mine took more like 60 minutes and it’s still very moist. But well done to you! It’s an usual recipe and I’ll definitely pass it one.
May 2nd, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I saw this recipe in a weight watchers book & decided to look for it, so given it a go, was very runny & needed longer to cook but turned out ok very moist, my boyfriend loved it & we drenched it in lemon & orange syrup which was amazing, can’t see there being any left at the end of the day. Mmmm
January 24th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Just made this cake and have to say its so tasty and moist. The only reason I made it was because I had been given a large bag of chickpeas, didn’t know what to do with them and then found this recipe, happy I did and will now be buying more chickpeas in future just to make this cake. Try it its worth it…
May 2nd, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I have made this cake several times now, but have recently realised that some of the conversations between metric and imperial are not the correct… i.e 3oz suger = 90 grams.
March 7th, 2011 at 5:38 pm
Tried this recipe but it didn’t work for me. Probably because I put the lemon juice into the batter. Also, the cake didn’t rise. Not sure if it is supposed to rise. However I did bake it till no crumbs stuck to my skewer. I turned the cake over onto a rack, gave it a shake and the whole cake fell out into bits. Boy, was I sad! The cake was moist and had a nice lemony taste. The chickpea taste came through slightly. I’ll have to try it again.
May 22nd, 2011 at 1:46 am
My daughter (7) and I have always loved a variation of this cake. I made it for her birthday party today — she’s young enough not to be fatally embarassed by a chickpea birthday cake — and it was fun to watch her friends react. One refused to try it. Two more didn’t like it. Most had no opinion. And two thought it was great, and wanted more.
My version: separate the eggs. Blend the yolks with the rest of the ingredients, but whisk the whites until foamy, and then gently fold them into the batter just before baking. Makes the result a bit lighter.
It’s true that sticking to the pan is a particular problem for this cake. No gluten, so it’s weak and delicate. I’ve learned to grease the pan and wax-paper liner quite carefully to avoid having the cake break up once it’s done. Sticking with the nondairy theme, coconut oil tastes good for this.
I’ve also accidentally added the lemon juice to the batter, and the result is a bit “wet”. I tried it with chickpea flour once, and the result was very different (and very dry). Seems like that would be quite a different project.
May 25th, 2011 at 5:01 am
I made this cake yesterday. But because I had another very similar recipe, I added the lemon juice in the cake batter. After 40 min it came out lovely. I then added more lemon juice on top. It was absolutely smashing! I do think the trick is though to wash the chickpeas thoroughly - my friend made a similar cake and said it tasted ‘meaty’. But this one is absolutely fabulous! Thanks.