Super-Duper Birthday Zucchini & Avocado Chocolate Cake
Yep, zucchini and avocado!
Don’t get scared, rather believe me – you will love this cake!!!
Try to break away from prejudice and for once, bake a cake that sounds like anything just not a cake. You’ll be surprised with the result – and you won’t taste zucchini, nor avocado!
The zucchini gives the cake moist, smooth consistency while avocado turns into a rich chocolate frosting – the cocoa powder hides avocado’s taste completely, just the freshness of the fruit remains. Coconut oil will make your kitchen smell incredibly awesome and almonds in the cake give a bit of crunchiness to every single bite.
Moreover, don’t forget to enjoy the moment when you tell others that the chocolate frosting is actually an avocado! People won’t believe you, it’s so chocolatey!
If you are curious why I decided to bake this cake, the answer is simple – my boyfriend is on
But even if you are not on
Super-Duper Birthday Zucchini & Avocado Chocolate Cake
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE DOUGH
2 medium zucchini
230g (lactose free) milk
300g (lactose-free) sour cream
1 egg
200g sukrin (you can also use sugar, agave syrup, honey,… – just be aware of the taste of the sweetener you chose!)
1tsp vanilla extract
100g melted coconut oil
300g almond flour
100g unsweetened cocoa powder
3tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
AVOCADO FROSTING
2 ripe avocados (240g)
50g unsweetened cocoa powder
75g Sukrin melis (feel free to use 75 – 100g of maple or agave syrup – in case that your frosting is too liquid, add little more cocoa powder)
2tbsp melted coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Coat two 18cm cake pans with cooking spray, line with parchment paper and then spray again. (I used two small 18cm cake pans but you can, of course, use only one – bigger pan. Just remember that you will get a larger, lower cake.)
Peel the zucchini, cut into smaller chunks and
Into the food processor with zucchini puree, add coconut oil, eggs, milk, sour cream, vanilla extract, salt and
(When you start mixing ingredients for the batter, please do not get scared – it really doesn’t look appetizing! It’s all surprisingly liquid and its colour is…strange. But! Once you bake it, all worries will be gone, this batter turns into a moist, rich sponge cake with an awesome sweet-coconut smell!)
In a bowl, mix cocoa powder, baking soda and half of the almond flour.
Add the dry ingredients into the food processor and blend all together.
Pour this mixture onto the rest of almond flour in a large bowl and mix properly. (I do not add all almond flour into the food processor, because all ingredients together simply do not fit inside!)
Divide the batter into the two pans and place into the preheated oven.
Bake for 40-60 minutes. (Remember: This time, I used two smaller pans and divided the batter into them. I used the same baking time when I baked all batter at once in only one 27cm cake pan).
The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with little crumbs – from the outside, it might seem that the middle of the cake is not yet baked, but it is, it is just very moist due to the zucchini, cream and coconut oil!
Another sign of the cake being cooked enough is when its sides start to move away from the walls of the pan. And, if you are still not sure, do not worry to extend the baking time a bit – to dry the zucchini and coconut oil would take some time! 😀
When your cake is finally baked, let it cool down completely – I prefer to place it into the fridge for several hours, best overnight! Why? Because if it is not properly chilled, the cake breaks into small chunks, it is messy and you can hardly get a nice result!
MAKE THE FROSTING
Scoop out the avocado into a bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients and mix properly.
ASSEMBLE THE CAKE
When the cake is properly chilled and cold, cut it into nice circles and each part cut into two layers.
Divide the avocado frosting into parts – you will need just a little amount of it to be spread in between each layer of the cake and a bigger part for finishing – to cover the whole cake.
Place the first layer of the cake on a flat plate and spread the first part of the frosting on it. Place the second layer over, spread another part of the frosting on the top of it, and repeat until the whole cake is built.
At the end, use the last part of the frosting to cover the whole cake. At this point, you can fix imperfections by adding more or less frosting where needed.
For decoration, use various seeds, almonds, cacao nibs or dried coconut.
Well done! I hope you’ll enjoy this super-duper chocolatey avocado cake! And let me know how you liked it, or if there were any difficulties with the preparation! Or do you have any suggestions for improvement? I am listening!