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It’s time for the Secret Recipe Club once again! (Last month, in spite of my blogging break, I made Chocolate Coconut Oat Bars.)
This month my assigned blogger was Six Kilos of Pumpkin. Emily Jane is a university student in Australia. She moved away from home “to be able to study,” and now she’s learning how to cook on her own. She doesn’t post too often, but when she does the quick synopses of her life are cute and remind me of my own college days.
I decided to pick this recipe for Chocolate Avocado Caketo attempt because:
- It looked like something my family would eat
- Emily Jane made her own tweaks to it
- And the recipe wasn’t in metric!
I actually went back through the train of who made this cake. I believe it was created by Think Write Eat, then made by Joy the Baker, then Not Quite Nigella, and THEN Six Kilos of Pumpkin. And now me!
I went back and read each of those posts, taking tips from all of them. Joy the Baker and Not Quite Nigella actually made avocado buttercream for their cakes (Joy liked it; Nigella did not). I wasn’t feeling brave enough for that, so I decided to create a blackberry cream cheese frosting with the massive amounts of blackberries the kids and I picked at Crabtree Farms.
The cake is actually vegan; my frosting is not. So if you want to keep it vegan, you can always try the avocado buttercream.
The cake is fudgy and rich and I thought it went very well with the cream cheese frosting. If you have kids with an egg allergy, this would be a great recipe for a birthday cake!
(Vegan) Chocolate Avocado Cake with (UnVegan) Vanilla Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Cake
3 cups white whole wheat (or AP) flour
6 T dark cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 avocado, mashed
2 cups water
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp white vinegar
1 cup turbinado sugar (can sub regular sugar or sucanat)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans.
In one bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. In a large bowl, mix oil, avocado, water, vinegar, and vanilla. Stir in sugar. This will seem like a big watery mess; that’s OK.
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, combining until smooth. Pour into cake pans. I always whack my pans flat on the counter to release air bubbles, then make a shallow well in the middle by pushing batter to the outsides of the pan. This helps the cakes not to be as domed.
Bake 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pans; then remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.
Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup blackberries, crushed (if I did this again, I would probably strain the blackberries through a fine-mesh strainer to try to remove seeds)
Beat together cream cheese and butter with a mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time (until it’s as sweet as you prefer). Add blackberries and vanilla and continue beating until well-combined.
Frost cake with frosting; garnish with additional blackberries if desired.
Ingredient Spotlights: Avocado and Cream Cheese at Eat at Home
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awesome choice! I am thinking I will have to try the avocado chocolate combo before too long! beautiful cake!
That looks delicious! My kids love avocado too so we might just have to try this. Your pics are beautiful.
Avocado in a cake!! This is marvelous..love the frosting. Glad to be with you in SRC.
Your cake looks delicious! Sounds very interesting. I love chocolate. I love avacado! I just didn't know the two could make a cake
Can't belive I don't remember seeing this on J the B!!
Wow…I've never heard of avocado in a cake. I love all things chocolate so I will have to tuck this recipe away. Your frosting looks mouthwatering! I would love a big piece of this for my breakfast right about now.
I've always been curious about baking with avocado! It looks delicious and your blackberry frosting looks like it was the perfect pairing!
This is wonderful. I just wrote it down on my "to do" list so I don't forget about it. I LOVE avocados so I was hooked instantly. Great recipe from all bakers!
Avocado is really so versatile, your cake looks amazing! Great job!
I love avocado in baked goodies. This cake looks fabulous.
Guess who got YOU for the Secret Recipe Club this month
that looks amazing! Yummy!
I think the blackberry frosting looks wonderful!
This cake looks so delicious! I've been looking for a good avocado/chocolate cake recipe!
Jo-Anna
This is pretty intriguing. I'd try it but could never let Grumpy hear avocado or I'd be eating it all alone!
Avocado cake?! Let me rephrase, beautiful avocado cake! Intriguing combination of flavors.
Avocado, chocolate and blackberry – what tempting flavors, all in one cake! This recipe has a very interesting lineage and several tweaks to it, but I must say, yours is the best version. Great SRC contribution!
Love the idea of avocados with chocolate, I need to give it a try.
If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my SRC recipe this month: Holy Guacamole.
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
I saw this cake on Joy the Baker's blog and have had it saved ever since…I think you've finally inspired me to actually make it! Your frosting looks so good!
Really? You're not kidding, right? This cake looks delicious. I love tricking guests with weird ingredient based desserts and springing the "secret ingredient" on them after they have taken a bite. This looks awesome!
@A Pretty Life in the Suburbs – I didn't know anyone had HEARD of avocado/chocolate cake!
@Foodiva – Thank you! What a compliment!
@Taylor – Thanks! Definitely give it a try. The frosting IS really good! I actually started with double this recipe, so I have a ton left over … need to make some cupcakes to frost!
@Eliotseats – Yep, now that this is posted, I can tell my friends I served this to the secret!
This looks fabulous. Nice work on the Secret Recipe Club. Isn't it fun. I love finding new blogs and reading through them.
Something with such a long line of makers must be worth making! An excellent SRC choice. I've never made anything with avocado in a baked good… I'm intrigued!
I think this is the first time I've seen avocado used in a dessert but it makes sense that it would make a good substitute for eggs.
Hmmm I wonder how this would work with non-wheat flours to make a completely allergen-free cake for my little guy? IT sounds so moist and delicious!
This cake looks fantastic and is absolutely gorgeous! Your blog is so creative and super cute, so glad to be a new follower! xoxo
I bet no one would even be able to tell that there's avocados in this chocolatey deliciousness.
The use of avocado is absolutely fascinating to me. Sounds great!
Amy @ A Little Nosh
Wow avocado! Never would have thought of that, though I have make a chocolate sauerkraut cake before! So glad you are having fun with the SRC!
Yummy! This looks so good and I bet you can’t tell there’s avocado in it
I’ve got to admit, this is a weird one
I bet the avocado makes the chocolate super smooth though. And your blackberry frosting looks wonderful!
Tiffany, I know it sounds bizarre, but it’s a great cake for egg allergies! The avocado adds a ton of moisture and it’s super decadent!
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Thanks for your tweaks to the recipe. I was researching avocado chocolate cakes, and yours looked the easiest to make – and it was! Also very delicious.
My father-in-law has recently had to start following a strict vegan diet for health reasons, and he loved it – along with the rest of the family. I used coconut oil to make icing and it all worked beautifully. Now he won’t have to miss out on one of life’s foodie pleasures – rich chocolate cake.
Aw, thank you for taking the time to comment. I’m so glad your father-in-law was able to enjoy cake because of this recipe! Coconut oil in the frosting is a GREAT idea. I love that stuff.