RECIPE: Chocolate Avocado Cake

This is a recipe I found on BBC Good Food it was actually a vegan recipe, but I chose it more for the fact I had an avocado I wanted to use up and just switched the recipe to what I had in the house, which was not dairy free/vegan ingredients.  For the buttercream icing I just used my own recipe, however if you want to make the avocado filling/topping I’ve added that too. The cake was lovely and moist and lasted about 5 days (it probably could have gone longer if we didn’t all scoff it).

Ingredients

For the cake

• 1 large, ripe avocado (about 150g)
• 300g light muscovado sugar
• 350g plain flour
• 50g good quality cocoa powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 400ml milk (soya milk, if you want to make this vegan/dairy free)
• 150ml vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the vegan frosting

• 85g ripe avocado flesh, mashed
• 85g dairy-free sunflower spread
• 200g dairy-free chocolate, 70% cocoa, broken into chunks
• 25g cocoa powder
• 125ml unsweetened soya milk
• 200g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• gluten-free and vegan sprinkles, to decorate

For the buttercream frosting

• 350g icing sugar
• 50g butter
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
• splash of milk
• 25g cocoa powder
• 200g dark chocolate (melted)

Method

1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease two 20cm sandwich tins with a little dairy-free sunflower spread, then line the bases with baking parchment.
2. Put 1 large avocado and 300g light muscovado sugar in a food processor and whizz until smooth.
3. Add 350g gluten-free plain flour, 50g cocoa powder, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 2 tsp gluten-free baking powder, 400ml unsweetened soya milk, 150ml vegetable oil and 2 tsp vanilla extract to the bowl with ½ tsp fine salt and process again to a velvety, liquid batter.
4. Divide between the tins and bake for 25 mins or until fully risen and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
5. Cool in the tins for 5 mins, then turn the cakes onto a rack to cool completely.

Vegan frosting

1. While you wait, start preparing the frosting. Beat together 85g ripe avocado flesh and 85g dairy-free sunflower spread with electric beaters until creamy and smooth. Pass through a sieve and set aside.
2. Melt 200g dairy-free chocolate, either over a bowl of water or in the microwave, then let it cool for a few mins.
3. Sift 25g cocoa powder into a large bowl. Bring 125ml unsweetened soya milk to a simmer, then gradually beat into the cocoa until smooth. Cool for a few mins.
4. Tip in the avocado mix, 200g sifted icing sugar, melted chocolate and 1 tsp vanilla, and keep mixing to make a shiny, thick frosting. Use this to sandwich and top the cake.
5. Cover with sprinkles or your own decoration, then leave to set for 10 mins before slicing. Can be made 2 days ahead.

Buttercream frosting

1. Leave your butter out at room temperature to soften a little
2. Melt the dark chocolate
3. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl or in your mixer
4. Add the softened butter, cocoa powder, melted chocolate and mix everything together