Ok, sorry about that. So one day, I'm playing around on stumbleupon.com and I find this recipe: http://betchacanteatjustone.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/the-vegan-avocado-cake-as-a-cupcake/ . Whaaat? Yes, avocado chocolate cupcakes. Interesting, right? Well my almost-sister-in-law, Binya (over at http://heyhijabi.com/ ) , and I had been talking about having a cupcake date. Obviously I'm all over that, and Binya is vegan, so I was super interested in trying to make these cupcakes that she could actually eat.
I'm actually not the hugest fan of avocado, normally, but I've had it in some sweeter contexts before and really enjoyed it, i.e. BUBBLE TEA! yessss... So I had a little faith that these could be yummy.
Let's get down to it. First the batter. It looked... well... GROSS. There, I said it, gross. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little worried. Before we added the dry ingredients it looked like some sort of crazy swamp water or something. I kind of wish I'd been warned via the recipe. It's ok though, you're being warned here, once the dry stuff was added it wasn't as scary anymore. It did, however, take on a really strange consistency. It was similar to that of almost a pizza dough or something.
Again, I was a little worried. I was convinced they wouldn't bake, or rise correctly. It was really sticky and dense, and just kind of sat there in the cups. Apparently, though, I had no reason to worry. They came out perfectly! They were these lovely little chocolately domes. And they just popped right out of the papers. I was so excited!
Of course I had to do a tasting-well, two tastings... muahahaha. One pre-frosting, and one with frosting. They were so very, very interesting. There was almost this sort of little shell, or crust on the top, and the inside was wonderfully fluffy and really quite perfect. Not too mushy, not too dry. You could barely taste the avocado, and the chocolate wasn't overpowering (actually I put in a lot more cocoa than the recipe called for, so if you're into chocolate, I'd recommend going that route). They would be really good for people who like treats (and who doesn't?!) but aren't too big into super sweet stuff. Here's proof I took
a bite, you know, in case you needed it... So pretty.
NOW, on to the frosting. Oh boy, was that fun. I really, really regret that I didn't think to take a picture before I put the cocoa in, because it looked a whole lot like this... Yeah.
.. Nickelodeon slime, a little Double Dare, anyone?
Anyway, if you look at the picture of the frosting on the website where I found the recipe, mine didn't look ANYTHING LIKE THAT. Haha. I really have no idea how mine came out so different, I totally followed the recipe... Oh well, it was still totally delicious. It actually had the look and texture of a really dark, rich caramel- like the kind you'd dip an apple in to make caramel apples. So it didn't look like buttercream, but I'd say that's still pretty appealing.
It was kind of gooey and runny, so I added more sugar and cocoa to thicken it up a little, then stuck it in the freezer for maybe about 15 minutes? It set a little bit, and that's where the caramel thing happened. I definitely wasn't angry about it. It was super tasty, and actually pretty refreshing. It was also pretty, and when we tried to put it on the cupcakes it set really well. I kind of expected it to run all over the place and be a big disgusting ugly mess- but it wasn't... Hooray! The frosting tasted a lot more like avocado, but it was really, really good. So anyway, here we are, finished product (and yes they do sort of look like little pudding cups):
I would love to see how these work out for you, if anybody decides to try it out. Enjoy!
Of course I had to do a tasting-well, two tastings... muahahaha. One pre-frosting, and one with frosting. They were so very, very interesting. There was almost this sort of little shell, or crust on the top, and the inside was wonderfully fluffy and really quite perfect. Not too mushy, not too dry. You could barely taste the avocado, and the chocolate wasn't overpowering (actually I put in a lot more cocoa than the recipe called for, so if you're into chocolate, I'd recommend going that route). They would be really good for people who like treats (and who doesn't?!) but aren't too big into super sweet stuff. Here's proof I took
a bite, you know, in case you needed it... So pretty.NOW, on to the frosting. Oh boy, was that fun. I really, really regret that I didn't think to take a picture before I put the cocoa in, because it looked a whole lot like this... Yeah.
.. Nickelodeon slime, a little Double Dare, anyone?Anyway, if you look at the picture of the frosting on the website where I found the recipe, mine didn't look ANYTHING LIKE THAT. Haha. I really have no idea how mine came out so different, I totally followed the recipe... Oh well, it was still totally delicious. It actually had the look and texture of a really dark, rich caramel- like the kind you'd dip an apple in to make caramel apples. So it didn't look like buttercream, but I'd say that's still pretty appealing.
It was kind of gooey and runny, so I added more sugar and cocoa to thicken it up a little, then stuck it in the freezer for maybe about 15 minutes? It set a little bit, and that's where the caramel thing happened. I definitely wasn't angry about it. It was super tasty, and actually pretty refreshing. It was also pretty, and when we tried to put it on the cupcakes it set really well. I kind of expected it to run all over the place and be a big disgusting ugly mess- but it wasn't... Hooray! The frosting tasted a lot more like avocado, but it was really, really good. So anyway, here we are, finished product (and yes they do sort of look like little pudding cups):
I would love to see how these work out for you, if anybody decides to try it out. Enjoy!
Your cupcakes look fantastic and I'm so glad you continued past the "this looks so gross" stage and the recipe worked out in your favour!
ReplyDeleteKatie
thanks! and thanks for sharing that awesome recipe!
ReplyDelete