Utter Cake Failure

I don’t know if I have ever had such an epic failure in the kitchen before, but this cake is definitely not what I was planning on! Oh well, failure is important every once in a while to keep us humble, right?

I was attempting to make my own variation on Joy the Baker’s White Bean Bundt Cake recipe, incorporating lemon for a fresh, spring flavour. I added the zest of 2 lemons instead of almond extract, and made a lemon glaze with the juice to replace the frosting. The first tricky thing that I ran into was that the recipe called for 1 can of beans, and I was using dried beans. After some online research, it seemed that a 15.5 oz can of beans should be about 450 grams. Taking into account the water they are packed in, I decided that about 400 grams for pureed beans would be about right. I’m not sure if that was my problem, or if I did something wrong in baking the cake, but it definitely didn’t turn out as expected.

When I took the cake out of the oven after the recommended baking time, it was nicely browned on the top, and a toothpick inserted into the centre came out clean. I let it cool for a half hour in the pan, and then went to turn it out onto a rack. When I did, it came out easily. However, after I removed the pan, I could see that the centre of the cake was oozing away! Unlike the outside ring which had baked firm, the inside edge was almost completely uncooked, and batter slowly oozed its way down onto the cookie sheet. Good thing I didn’t do this on the counter!

I have never had this happen before, so I’m not too sure what I did wrong. The only other possibility that my husband could think of is that because I put the bundt pan in the oven on the cookie sheet, it may have blocked the circulation of hot air through the centre of the pan? It makes sense as a possible explanation, but I’m hesitant to use the pan without a sheet underneath, because it’s a silicone one, and I’m worried that it’s just not sturdy enough to sit in the oven on its own. Anyone with more experience now if this could be the case?

The next morning, the cake had oozed even further out:

Totally gross. I’m undecided on whether I will try this one again. I loved the brownies I made with black beans in them, but I’m also completely stumped on how to fix this cake. I might look to another base as the inspiration for creating a great cake using white beans.

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