Last Updated on September 3, 2016
As far as the ganache goes – it’s a long story and I won’t bore you to death. Here’s the shortened version: In preparation for Thanksgiving, I have tried – to no avail (yet) – to perfect my beloved pecan pie recipe with adjustments to accomodate our diet. What have I learned? It’s difficult to substitute one cup of brown sugar and one cup of maple syrup with healthy ingredients without it tasting….well, different. I’ve lived in the south long enough to know that pecan pie needs to be saweet – sticky saweet – syrupy saweet. I’ll keep at the drawing board in hopes of perfecting it by Christmas – but I’m not making any promises.
Anyhoo, I make a chocolate sauce to serve with my pecan pie….because… well, we like gilding lilies around here. The original recipe is one part melted chocolate mixed with one part heavy cream. On a whim, I thought I’d try my hand at making it dairy free (in the hopes it would make the failed attempts at pecan pie taste better). At least we came up with one winner! (phew)
- 3 cups cooked white navy beans (soaked 24 hours, cooked well and drained)
- 6 extra large eggs
- 1 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- ¾ cup blanched almond flour (I use Honeyville)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- FOR GANACHE
- 1½ cups Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
- 1½ cups cashew milk
- Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour bundt pan. (I use almond flour.)
- In food processor, process beans, eggs, honey, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and coconut oil. Scrape sides and process again until smooth.
- Meanwhile, in separate bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
- Add dry ingredients to wet and pulse to combine. Scrape down and pulse again.
- Pour into prepared pan and tap pan on counter to remove air bubbles.
- Bake according to above instructions and your baking pan.
- To make ganache:
- In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips. Add cashew milk and stir constantly until well mixed and smooth. (Mixture will start off with "flecks" of chocolate and then become smooth.)
- Remove top of double boiler and allow to cool. Mixture will thicken some as it cools.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated and end up becoming a thick frosting-like ganache. It can be reheated at this point or whisked and used as a frosting.
