Trying out baked black bean cake

I wanted to try a black bean cake without meat this time. So I started with some black beans and all precooked ingredients, and see how it goes. Since this time all the ingredients are already fully cooked, I have much less concern about undercooking. What I get is a bean cake with crispy crust and soft moist fillings. Using mixed spices, herbs and a thick ham stock, I get very rich flavors.

Recipe: Baked black bean cakes (make 6)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups of fully cooked black beans, soaked overnight in 1.5 cup of liquid from cooking
- 1/2 cup ham stock (salty)
- 2 tablespoons (TB) flakes of rosemary, savory, basil, marjoram, thyme
- 1 teaspoon (tp) garlic powder
- 1 tp onion powder
- 1 tp black pepper
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 TB oil
- 1/3 cup fine bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup wheat bran

Procedure:
1. Re-boil cooked black beans in its own cooking liquid until the beans are very soft and the liquid is thick. Use a spoon to mush all the beans in the liquid to form a thick smooth paste.
2. Mix in the herb flakes, garlic and onion powders, and black pepper. Add the herbs and powders in small batches. For each batch, stir the mixture until the spices are uniformly incorporated.
3. Add in the chopped onion and oil. Mix until uniform.
4. Add bread crumbs and mix. Since the bread crumbs absorb water, add some ham stock whenever the bean mixture becomes too dry (showing sign of cracking).
5. After all the ingredients are well mixed, add ham stock to moisten the mixture into a smooth thick batter-like texture. To test for good thickness, a spoon can scoop out easily a lump of the size of a tennis ball. When the spoon is inverted, the lump will fall off very very slowly.
6. Prepare a medium plate with wheat bran. With a spoon, scoop out a ball of mixture (about 2" diameter). Allow the ball to drop onto the wheat bran. Sprinkle wheat bran on the top and the sides of the ball. Flatten each ball to 3/4"-thick round disc shapes. Place in baking pan. Bake at 375F for 10 minutes. When the top of the cakes show cracks, flip the cakes and continue baking for another 10 minutes. Take out of oven and allow to cool to room temperature. The cakes will harden slightly when cooled.