I don't like avocado. I grew up with avocado trees in my own yard and all my neighbors' yards, and never, ever, ever (did I mention EVER?) could I stand the taste of avocado, no matter how it was presented to me. I figured, I probably wasn't missing out on anything anyway. Even at Mexican restaurants, while everyone dug into the guacamole with gusto, I enjoyed the salsa on my chips just fine without the green stuff.
Imagine my surprise, when I started learning about good nutrition and healthy cooking and discovered I was in fact missing out. I learned that avocados are high in monounsaturated fat, which is said to help lower cholesterol, or keep it low. They're also a great source of potassium, fiber, folate — all good for your cardiovascular health!
So here I was, wondering if I'd ever find a recipe using avocados that would actually make this fruit palatable to me (yes, it's a fruit!). I wasn't necessarily going out of my way to find a recipe, but serendipitously, as I clicked through various websites, I came across this recipe for a chocolate avocado cake on Joy the Baker's blog, and the curiosity of baking with this healthier fat source instead of butter was too strong to resist. Plus, I love chocolate.
Monika Woolsey and I have been talking about this cake — and about baking with avocado in general — for weeks now. Today was the day. I didn't follow the recipe to the letter, because I didn't have enough powdered sugar, but really, it could use a little less anyway! Also, I used macadamia nut oil instead of whatever the recipe called for.
The outcome was REALLY surprising, in a good way! The cake itself is moist, but not greasy, definitely chocolatey, without even a hint of avocado. Instead it has a hint of macadamia nut! YUM!
The frosting is another story. I couldn't leave it green, the way it is in the original recipe — 3 avocados and powdered sugar = green frosting. It looked like the slime from Nickelodeon and the sight of it turned my stomach. So I added 3 tbsp cocoa powder, crossed my fingers and turned on the mixer one more time. The result: chocolate frosting. Unfortunately, the frosting doesn't taste as good on its own as the cake does, so I wasn't wild about licking the spatula.
The combination of the two, however, was very good! I will definitely play with this recipe a little more and maybe even make some cupcakes or a batch of brownies like this!
And yes, there are still several cups of sugar and 3 cups of flour, so it's not a miracle food that's great for your health. However, it could work with a little less sugar, and all the good stuff from the avocado bring it up a notch or two in the"good for you" department.
By the way, if you'd like to learn a little more about the avocado, check out the World's Healthiest Foods website — it's a great resource!
Here's the recipe, I'll note my deviations in parentheses…
Chocolate Avocado Cake, with Avocado Frosting
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used macadamia nut oil)
- 1/2 cup soft avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado (I ended up needing two since the ones I had were so small)
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch rounds. Set aside.
2. Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar. Set that aside too.
3. Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super mashed avocado.
4. Add sugar into the wet mix and stir.
5. Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth.
6. Pour batter into a greased cake tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Let cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.
Avocado Buttercream Frosting from Alton Brown
(honestly, it's FAR from resembling buttercream!)
- 8 ounces of avocado meat, about 2 small to medium, very ripe avocados (I used 3 small avocados, which only yielded 6.5 oz)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice (I didn't have lemon juice so I used lime juice)
- 1 pound powdered sugar, sifted (I only had 1/2 pound of powdered sugar, so that's what I used, 8oz)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
***NOTE: I also added 3 TBSP of unsweetened cocoa powder to get rid of the green color, but if you like the green, skip the cocoa!
1. Peel and pit the soft avocados. It’s important to use the ripest avocados you can get your hands on. If the avocados have brown spots in the meat, avoid those spots when you scoop the meat into the bowl.
2. Place the avocado meat into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment. Add lemon juice and whisk the avocado on medium speed, until slightly lightened in color and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and beat. Add vanilla extract until combined. If not using right away, store in the refrigerator. Don’t worry. It won’t turn brown!
***NOTE: The stand mixer didn't do a good enough job of making this even remotely close to frosting-like, so I took out my handy immersion blender and went to town on it. The result was a really smooth and shiny frosting with no visible bits and pieces of avocado!