Legumes Used To Create Unusually Moist – And Nutritious – Cakes

A Washington State University catering service has developed cakes that use unconventional – but healthy – ingredients from the Palouse, a region in the Northwest U.S. that comprises parts of Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The unusual cake ingredients include two legumes: garbanzo beans and lentils. According to the pastry chef of the university caterer, you can’t taste the legumes in the cakes, but they contribute to their moistness and tenderness, and make them high in fiber and protein. The secret lies in the preparation of the batter. The lentils or garbanzo beans are cooked, pureed and folded into the batter. The legumes' natural sugars and gums are hydrophilic: “they love water and bind it to the cake system," making the cakes unusually moist.