Joy the Baker

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

July 15, 2009

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

Ok… first of all, stop looking at me like that.

Yea, I can see that crazy look on your face.  But it’s me.  The same person that brought you amazing Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls and Perfect Lemon Pound Cake. We trust each other.  We have an understanding.  Just go with me on this.

Something about hot summer weather gets me to thinking (or melts my brain) and brings some strange recipes to the surface.  Remember last year’s Blueberry Ice Cream with Homemade Hot Fudge?  Yea… I got a few strange looks for that too.

Because I still see those raised eyebrows on your face, let me tell you a little about this beast of a cake.  Believe me, I was super skeptical too.

The vegan chocolate cake is dense and moist, and everything you might want from a chocolate cake minus the eggs and butter.  The fat in the cake is almond oil (or anything you have on hand) and one whole mashed avocado.  It’s lovely, and I didn’t taste a lick of avocado in the cake.

The avocado buttercream is a dash more strange.  Yes, it’s bright green.  Yes, the only fat in the buttercream is avocado meat.  It’s sweet with slight hints of citrus.  I had my doubts, but when combined with the chocolate cake… holy wow!  It actually worked!  It was honest-to-goodness delicious!  Not to mention vegan and full of healthy fats!

Your thoughts?  Have I scared you off?

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Avocado

makes 2 8-inch rounds or 2 thinner 9-inch rounds

from Vegetarian in the Middle East

Print this Recipe!

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 almond oil)

1/2 cup soft avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado

2 cups water

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch rounds.  Set aside.

Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar.  Set that aside too.

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super mashed avocado.

Add sugar into the wet mix and stir.

Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth.

Pour batter into a greased cake tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting with avocado buttercream.

Avocado Buttercream Frosting

from Alton Brown

8 ounces of avocado meat, about 2 small to medium, very ripe avocados

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 pound powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

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.

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.

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!

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake


393 Comments Add A Comment

  • I had an avocado mousse case once and it was delish! so I’ve passed this along to my vegan friend and am going to give it a try myself :)

    plus green is my favorite color so how could I not love it.

  • I adore avocado!!! I tell you what, I made a avocado/cocoa pudding last week and my husband thought I lost my mind until he tried it. This cake sounds fab!!! I am def going to try!! thanks!! :)

  • Thank you so much for posting a vegan recipe!
    I love your blog but I usually just make your recipes for other people since I am vegan. Now I can finally eat one of your ingenious recipes :)

  • EWWWWWWW! Totally can’t get past the green ‘buttercream’. This will haunt me.

    Good for you for trying something new, though. ;)

  • Huh. I’ll have to tell my sister and mother in law about this – they tend to go for the vegetarian/vegan options out there. They probably would like it!

  • Joy, you have once again proved to me that your site is never dull. hehe. I sign in tonight and at first I thought my eyes were gritty because of the green color. lol. Then, I read the title and went “Oh…kay….huh?” hehe. Avocado is something I’ve only learned to like as an adult and now I love it. It looks interesting. Right now the only thing we use avocados for in my house is guacamole or just on a burrito. I can’t wait to try it in a cake. I might even get my avocado hating brother to try a piece! As always, you ROCK!

  • Nooo!!! I baked a chocolate cake for a friend two days ago!! I wish you had posted this before :(
    Thanks for posting a vegan cake :D and giving us such a creative cake idea! Thanks!!!

  • OMG I’m not the only one who’s made avocado buttercream! lol I actually first saw it used that way on Alton Brown’s show and it was one of those experiments I had to try. (I do admit it did not go on vegan choco cupcakes…) I love good vegan recipes since they’re usually lower in sodium and maybe gluten free(that varies) since a couple friends r gluten intolerant. The Baby Cakes book is great and now I have to try this! I love vegan baking because to get it right its like playing mad scientist! lol. Keep the “Wierd” stuff coming joy!

  • God I’m dumb didn’t even see that good ole Alton is where you got the recipe! lol. Its a good one

  • I love this idea! I’m sceptical about the taste, too, but I trust Alton Brown and I love avocados, so something tells me it’s fantastic. I’ll add it to my repretoire for vegan friends coming over (along with his amazing Mooless Pie).

  • Do you actually taste the avocado in the chocolate cake?

  • First thought was, “Ew!”
    But how can I say that when I remember having experimented a few months ago in trying to make avocado cookies? I must say, though, that my cookies had a very odd and overly avocado flavor, as well as an unappetizing green tinge. :P However, I’ll take your word for it, Joy, that your cake turned out tasting really good! Good job!

  • Wow, what an awesome idea! I am going to have to try this. I never thought of using an avocado in a sweet cake.

  • While living in Mozambique my husband learned this recipe from the Mozambicans, it was avocados with sugar and it was something the Mozambicans loved. It wasnt bad, but the color sometimes was a bit hard to get past. It plays tricks on your mind. :)

  • I used to live in Brazil where they eat avocado ice cream and smoothies, so I think this sounds awesome!

  • Ok, this sounds doable (I’m always on the look out for something I can bake for those pesky vegans!), but that’s an awful lot of sugar in the frosting. Is there any way to reduce it? If I was just using it between the two layers and not too thickly spread on top of the cake, would I need the whole quantity?

  • This cake looks delish. I want to try this recipe next time I need to make a cake!!

  • The picture of the cake is great! I love how the avacado buttercream is oozing at the same place on both layers. Great picture – the recipe? well, it does scare me. But you sure make it appealing.

  • I love this idea! The colors look gorgeous together and I love vegan chocolate cakes, even though I’m not vegan. Thank you for sharing an “outta the box” recipe.

  • Wow! Now I know what to bake tomorrow! Thanks for the recipe. Looking forward to trying this out.

  • A friend made these and I’m in love! Going to give it a whirl myself.

  • I love working veggies into dessert…looks interesting and delicious!

  • Came across this in my google reader, a friend shared and she and another were kinda grossed out by it. So, of course, I’m going to make it and include their comments when I write it up (with due credit, of course).

    Question for you: Did you use vegan sugar? (otherwise it’s not truly vegan).

  • Yeah, I’m definitely scared…

  • Can’t wait to try this. You rock.

  • Haha, i laughed when i read the first line
    how do you know the disbelieving blank face i had!

    Great way to use up the avocado in my fridge!
    Thanks!

  • I made this cake, and it is amazing! So moist, might become my staple chocolate cake recipe from now on!

  • OMG this looks AMAZING! I love it when a seemingly weird combination of flavors works out so well. YUM!

  • Okay, Joy. I definitely had that look on my face. And I don’t know that I’m convinced. A girl once told me how much she loved avocado with sugar sprinkled on top. I tried it and that was gross.

    But, I love chocolate cake, I love avocado, and you haven’t steered me wrong yet. So, count me in amongst those who are going to make this recipe!

  • Heh… Yes, Joy, I found out about it from a Vegan friend. As it turns out most commercially available sugar is filtered through “Bone Char” which makes it decidedly UN-Vegan. There are few brands out there that use a different process, and are Vegan friendly.

    For the record, I am NOT a vegan, not even a Vegetarian, I love Cheeses, Duck, Lamb and Pork way too much for that nonsense; though I respect their choices, I will still, always, firmly believe, that vegans are best, slow roasted and served with a cream sauce. >:-)

    Chaz
    PS Bet you’re going to search for Vegan Sugar now.
    PPS I’ve got all the ingredients and will be attempting this in the morning.

  • dude! this sounds .. intriguing!!
    i like chocolate cake!!
    i like avocado!
    my dad always makes avocado smoothies using condensed milk and milk…so as a frosting, this may actually work! if you’re going to use condensed milk, you’re only going to need a couple tablespoons depending on your sweetness level.. dude i need to use up chocolate too! awesome recipe! :)

  • This cake is in the oven RIGHT NOW! The cake batter is delicious, so i’m expecting good things!! :)

  • I wonder if this would work without adding the cocoa powder? My husband doesn’t eat chocolate. And I’m guessing that without the cocoa powder, the cake would look more green. That would be okay….I’d just have to ‘market’ it to my kids as a St. Patrick’s day cake, or something. Maybe I’ll make a green cake with red frosting for Christmas….
    Anyway, the avocado idea is great! Thanks!

  • I made it. The cake is amazing, but I’m not a fan of the frosting. I ended up scraping as much as I could off the slice I ate. I’ll definitely make the cake again though.

    Here’s what I had to say: http://charlesfrench.com/?p=535

  • I loved reading this post…but am I game to try it…probably…when avocados are back in season here :)

  • Here’s my take on the take!
    http://betchacanteatjustone.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/vegan-chocolate-avocado-cake/
    I thought it turned out pretty darn good! :)

  • I adore avocados and was just telling my peeps on facebook I needed to find a sweet recipe for them!!! I NEVER would have thought of this!!! I CANNOT wait to try this!

    (All written as I am munching on some Whole Foods Guac!)

  • I love visiting this blog, but alas, I only bake vegan. But this doesn’t scare me at all! I’m happy to see a vegan cake with avocado to boot! I usually just make a low-fat vegan choco cake from Veganomicon but this will surely be a nice addition in my baking routine. Thanks!

  • Thanks for doing a vegan recipe Joy!! :D x

  • I saw this cake and had to make it, no questions asked. I loved everything about it. I made it for work and went it went really fast. People tried to guess what it was that made it green, and were pleasantly surprised on how moist and delicious it was. Thanks for sharing this cake.

  • I laughed when you said about the look on my face – that was totally me!! I have to admit though that I am intrigued and I’m going to have to make it because I can’t imagine what it’ll taste like. Hehe, it makes me smile just thinking about it, now to get some avocados!!

  • I love baking with avocado–it adds moistness without really alterning the flavors, I find. Chocolate and avo is a favorite–I’ve made brownies with avocado but never a light and fluffy cake! And while I’ve tested avocado ice cream (fabulous), I’ve never made frosting. Sounds great. If you’re interested in baking with avocado as an egg sub, you might want to try out these muffins as well (vegan too, of course) :)

  • Yum! I can’t wait to try and make this… but, uhm, how much is 8 ounces in cups or grams? I’ve tried to convert measurements in recipes from here before with disastrous results… Please help! I don’t really understand the Imperial system very well. :(

  • wow, just stumbled across your website after googling for “smores brownies” which i’m going to make this weekend for a girls’ only cabin trip. if you have an rss feed i’m pretty sure i’m subscribing :)

    this cake looks pretty cool- i’ve never thought to use avocado like this. . .and although i’m not vegan, its worth a try! you should re-post this when fall rolls around as this would be super festive for a fall or halloween themed party!

  • mmmm. I am pretty excited to make this. I made a recipe for Honey Avocado Cupcakes which was delicious, and have now decided to bake with avocados as frequently as I can because the consistency and the “positive” fat in the avocados is something that I simply cannot live without.

  • I absolutely love using avocado in desserts. Vegan baking is so much fun and I actually have used avocado in a vegan key lime pie dessert. Thanks for this post, I look forward to baking it!

  • Made this cake and it tastes great! Did not like the frosting though.. at all.. but the cake is DELICIOUS!

  • I made this for a dinner party and it was great! I loved the cake and you are absolutely right that you can’t taste the avocado. The icing was a bit sweet and a little was all you needed. I would definitely make this again. Thanks for the recipe!

  • this was quite delicious. the frosting was very refreshing. i really appreciated a new egg free and butter free recipe, as my mother-in-law is allergic to both eggs and cream. she really enjoyed it. if anyone has any other great recipes that might work for her i’d be most thankful.

  • i love both chocolate and avocado. I didn’t have a chance to make it yet. i made avocado milkshake before and loved it so i think i will love this as well. you also give me the idea of doing an avocado cream cheese frosting. i think they may go great together. thanks joy! great photos by the way ^ ^

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