Healthy Chocolate Fudge Cake with Avocado Frosting

I’m sure you all have enjoyed a piece of a luscious Mocha fudge cake sometime in your culinary life. However, have you ever dreamt of trying some creamy avocado frosting to compliment the chocolate indulgence?? Perhaps not, and neither have I. That’s why when Janet from The Vegan Feast told me she had a lovely recipe for a Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake, albeit with a wonderful twist, I couldn’t help waiting to see what she came up with. And boy, was I so pleasantly surprised when I learnt that she had used Avocado to make the frosting. But the biggest whoop of approval came from the fact that neither the cake, nor the frosting contained any butter!!! OMG, how can anyone pass a recipe like that!

Avocado is a fruit that gives us the good fat (omega-3 fatty acids), and hence is healthy for our body, when consumed in smaller quantities. And thanks to its oily content, Avocado is enough to replace the butter in a normal baking recipe, including the frosting. We do use a little bit of vegetable oil to make the batter smooth and allow the cake to rise. I had previously seen a recipe for Vegan Avocado Chocolate Cake at Joy the Baker’s blog, and found it quite enticing. But now that I have Janet’s recipe, I am all set to using more and more Avocados in my baking!

Mocha Fudge Cake with Avocado Frosting and Toasted Almonds

Ingredients
Makes 1 8-inch or 4 bundt cakes

1/8 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup avocado
1 cup cake flour
5 tbsp cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup ground almonds or almond meal
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup sweetened chocolate

Avocado ButterCream Frosting
2 medium very ripe avocados – pulp removed
1 pound powdered/icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tsp lemon juice

Method
Combine all the ingredients for the cake batter in a standing mixer, except the sweetened chocolate, and beat to form a batter on medium speed. Pour into a “greased” pan of your choice.

Melt the sweetened chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and set aside.

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees and bake the cake for 15 minutes, then open the oven, and drizzle the melted chocolate onto the cake. Gently cut it into the batter using a knife, then return to the oven and bake for another 20-30 minutes, until the edges of the cake pull back from the pan, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.will pull back when done.

Make the Avocado Frosting
Blend and whip all the ingredients for the frosting until the icing is smooth and attains the consistency that you like.

Assembling the Cake
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely on the wire rack, before proceeding with the frosting. Spread a thick layer of the frosting on the top; you could even make a layered cake if you like. Ice the cake completely and garnish with a handful of toasted almonds. You can even dust the cake with some powdered sugar before applying the frosting, if you like.

This is a wonderful cake for cutting the unhealthy fat from a baked recipe and replacing it with good fats. A recipe for a perfectly soft and delicious cake that has neither butter nor eggs in the ingredient list is indeed a keeper. Avocado Frosting might not appeal to you at first, but I urge you to give it a try and there are very high chances that you would thoroughly enjoy it!

Sending this to Souffle Days who’s hosting SHF # 71, an event originally started by Jennifer at The Domestic Goddess.

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