I am a terrible blogger. My last post was way back in August!? Not cool, Ashleen. Not cool.

My apologies for the lack of consistency over the last few months. What can I say… life happens.

Anyways, let’s not dwell on my slacker ways and get right to the recipe.

These cupcakes are both delicious and healthy (well, a much healthier version of a typical chocolate cupcake, anyway). I love chocolate and I love avocados so why not put the two together? And since I was on a little bit of an avocado-kick I decided to avocado-fy the frosting as well.

I added a little bit of cayenne, cinnamon, and ginger, all of which complement the chocolate flavour really well. The spice is very subtle but gives the cupcakes a more complex flavour.

Ingredients

1 large avocado, mashed (125 g avocado meat)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper*
1 cup white sugar (200 g)
1 cup brown sugar (200 g)

1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups all purpose flour (420 g)

1/2 cup dark cocoa powder (50 g)
1 cup boiling water (250 mL)
1-1/2 cups soy milk (375 mL)
2 tbsp. white vinegar (30 mL)

*Note: The spice in this cake is quite subtle. If you want more of a kick try adding more cayenne pepper (~1/2 tsp.)

Click here for the avocado chocolate ganache recipe used to frost these bad boys.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C) and line cupcake tins with cupcake papers.

Mash the avocado until it is totally smooth (it is easiest if you use a food processor; however, you can also use an egg beater to beat it until smooth.)

Add the oil, vanilla, and spices to the avocado mixture and beat until completely mixed.

Add the sugar to the mixture and beat until uniform.

In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Boil the water and whisk together with cocoa powder until no lumps remain. Add in soy milk and vinegar.

Add the liquids and dry ingredients to the avocado/sugar mixture and mix until just combined.

Pour into cupcake tins (approx. 3/4 of the way full.) Bake at 350 F for ~16-18 min or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when touched lightly (a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake will come out clean when they are done.)

Allow to cool completely before frosting. For these ones I used a chocolate avocado ganache frosting.

After my last post on Homemade Speculoos Spread, I needed to find a use for all the leftover Speculoos (we are talking numerous jars from the various kitchen experiments.) I had already coerced many of my colleagues at work into helping me finish one jar, and in order to prevent myself from just eating the rest with a spoon, I decided to make a frosting to go along with some carrot cupcakes.

First, I would like to thank the Founder and Editor-in-chief of Framework Magazine, Miss Bria Lear, for providing me with the photographs for this post. Okay, I stole them from her Instagram, but she said I could! This is what happens when I’m too busy eating cupcakes to take my own photos.

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil (125 mL)
1 cup brown sugar (200 g)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour (140 g)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1-2 cups grated carrots (approx. 2 large carrots)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C.) Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Mix together the vegetable oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar.

Beat in eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the grated carrots with the dry ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until just combined.

Pour batter into muffin tins and bake at 350 F for 18-22 minutes.

Allow to cool before frosting with Speculoos Cream Cheese Frosting.

This frosting-cupcake combo is seriously addictive. I had to go back for seconds after eating a regular sized cupcake and ended up eating about a zillion mini ones. True story.

I’ve developed quite the love for avocados, a love which has grown during this vegan challenge I’m currently on. If I’m the only person in the history of veganism to gain weight on a plant-based diet, I’m blaming avocados (and maybe chocolate cake.)

Normally, I use avocados in savoury dishes (usually salads or on a sandwich.) My all time favourite way to eat avocado is on toast with almond butter, sunflower seeds, sprouts, and cucumber. Maybe a bit weird and pretty high in fat, but so so good. P.S avocado fat is good for you. At least that’s what I keep telling myself to justify eating so much of it.

So as an avocado addict, it was only natural for me to be very intrigued by this chocolate avocado cake recipe I stumbled across when searching for vegan recipes. This recipe happened to be on one of my favourite blogs (Joy the Baker… she is awesome!)  so I knew it would be good. Plus, avocado has such a nice buttery flavour, why not use it to make a buttercream too?

The original cake recipe is from Eat, write, think. I made a few slight modifications because I really have problems when it comes to following a recipe. I also ended up creating a vegan avocado cream cheese icing for these, which I liked a bit better than the avocado buttercream. This is because my cream cheese love is also right up there with my avocado love. And vegan cream cheese? Surprisingly tasty!

Ingredients

1/2 cup mashed avocado (125 g) (around 1 large avocado)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (60 mL)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups sugar (400 g)
3 cups AP flour (420 g)
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking poweder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cocoa powder (40 g)
2 tbsp. white vinegar
1 cup soy milk (or almond milk/other milk of your choice) (250 mL)
1 cup boiling water (250 mL)

Directions

Grease the sides of two 9-inch cake tins, three 8-inch cake tins, and line bottoms with parchment paper or line muffin tins with cupcake papers.

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C.)

Beat avocado with hand mixer until as smooth as possible.

Cream together avocado, oil, vanilla, and sugar.

Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

Whisk vinegar into soy milk and set aside.

Dissolve cocoa powder in water and pour into avocado mixture. Add sifted ingredients and soy milk into bowl and mix until just combined.

Transfer batter to cake tins.

For cake, bake 30-40 minutes, for cupcakes, 16-20 minutes (toothpick inserted in middle will come out clean.)

Allow to cool 10 minutes in cake tin and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, frost with icing of your choice. An avocado cake goes nicely with an avocado buttercream, as seen here.

I actually preferred going the creamier route with my vegan avocado cream cheese icing. The choice is yours!

Avocado Buttercream

I ended up halving this recipe. This is probably a good idea, especially if the idea of avocado buttercream is a little scary. It is understandable to be a bit weirded out by this icing, but let me assure you that even though it is odd, it goes really nicely with this cake.

From Alton Brown

225 g avocado meat (approx. 2 avocados)
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
450 g icing sugar (3-1/4 cup)

Beat avocado and lemon juice until smooth and lighter in colour, approx. 2-3 minutes.

Add in vanilla extract and gradually mix in icing sugar.

Store icing in an airtight container in fridge. It won’t go brown!

Why does avocado go brown anyway?

The short answer is, because it is exposed to air. Avocados, as well as other plants, have molecules that have parts called phenol groups,  which are oxidized by an enzyme in the fruit called polyphenol oxidase. When these molecules are oxidized, this turns the avocado brown. The same thing happens with apples, bananas, and other fruits.

You could prevent this browning effect by not allowing the avocado to be exposed to air. But if you do that, have fun trying to make this icing. Luckily, there is a trick! You’ve probably already heard that lemon juice will help with the browning issue. This works because the acidity of the lemon juice will deactivate  the polyphenol oxidase enzyme. Also, the vitamin C found in lemon juice will oxidize more readily than the phenolic compounds in the fruit, which means no browning!

Now go make this incredibly delicious cake. And good luck eating just one piece.

Rich, decadent, chocolatey, moist… is how I would describe this one. Even though I’m pretty proud of this cake, it wasn’t too difficult to get right. Every single trial in developing this recipe tasted pretty good to me.

When I set out to create this recipe, despite it being my favourite cake, I didn’t actually know what Devil’s Food Cake was. I knew it was rich and chocolatey, but wasn’t sure what made it “Devil’s Food” instead of just good old chocolate cake. Apparently I’m not the only one who is unaware of the distinction between the two, but if I ever see a chocolate cake as dark and rich as this, I will call it Devil’s Food. It is definitely the exact opposite of Angel Food Cake.

Devil’s food is almost always paired with a chocolate frosting. Here are a few different options:

• Ganache (for this cake, I used a sour cream ganache.)
• Chocolate cream cheese icing (one of my favourites)
• Chocolate buttercream
• Or your own favourite chocolate frosting recipe

For this cake, I used a milk chocolate-caramel filling, which ended up being a bit gooier than planned. This resulted in an amazingly yummy, but really messy cake. Whatever you choose to frost/fill this cake, I’m sure it will be a huge hit.

Ingredients

For two  9-inch round cakes, three 8-inch cakes, or 24 cupcakes

2 cups cake flour (125 g)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt

½ cup butter, softened (113 g)
1 cup brown sugar (100 g)
1 cup white sugar (100 g)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs

1 cup milk (250 mL)
1 tbsp. white vinegar
¾ cup dark cocoa powder  (75 g)
1 cup boiling water (250 mL)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C.)

Grease cake tins with solid vegetable shortening and line bottoms with wax paper.

In medium bowl, sift together flour,  baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl,  beat butter, vanilla, and sugars on high speed until blended and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Mix cocoa powder and boiling water together. Mix this mixture with milk and vinegar. Add dry and wet ingredients into the butter/egg mixture and mix until blended.

Divide batter equally between pans. Bake 30-35 min, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (18-22 min for cupcakes.) Be careful not to over bake so the cake retains its moisture.

Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 min.

Run knife along sides of pans and invert cakes onto wire rack. Remove wax paper and cool completely.

Once cool, frost cake with desired frosting.

Remember my post on Red Velvet Cake and how I said I was experimenting to make my natural red velvet cake taste less like beets? Well, I’ve done it… I guess you could say I had a bakethrough.

I’m going to give a warning in advance that this cake does not taste exactly like a typical RVC, but it is still delightful. Plus, my version contains nutrients and antioxidants that are thought to help prevent diseases such as cancer. Can your typical RVC do that?

(Ok I’m not suggesting you eat huge amounts of this cake to get your antioxidants because I’m pretty sure the sugar and butter counteract any health benefits this cake may have… but still.)

I used the Joy of Baking Red Velvet Cake and the Country Living Chocolate Pumpkin Cake (using beets instead of pumpkin) as starting points for my experimentation because both of these recipes are very yum.

I also did a bit of research on making a natural red velvet cake, and I found that many of the cakes containing beet juice for colour were turning brown during baking. After delving into the science behind some natural red pigments I learned some ways to keep a bright red colour in the cake, naturally.

Anthocyanins and Betalains
Anthocyanins are pigments that are found naturally in many plants. They are responsible for the colour of roses, red cabbage, raspberries,  and many others. While most red plants attribute their colour to anthocyanins, others, such as beets, have betalain pigments instead.

Betanin is a betalain pigment that is most often used as a natural food dye. I found a bottle of this natural red food dye at a health food store that was almost 20 dollars! I think I’d rather spend a couple dollars on some beetroot and make the dye myself. Like anthocyanins, the colour of betanin is pH sensitive. I did a little experiment with beet juice just to see how the colour would change with varying pH.

The pH sensitivity of beet pigments

On the left is some beet juice that I’ve mixed with cream of tartar (an acid) and then painted on a piece of paper. On the right is beet juice that has been mixed with baking soda (a base.) Clearly, we can see that if we are going to use beet pigments to make our cake red, we want to keep the batter acidic.

Stability and Degradation of Betanin
It isn’t just changes in pH that can affect the colour of betanin. There are various factors that can change its colour:

• pH
• Heat
• Salt
• Metal ions
• Water activity

All-Natural Red Velvet Cake. The Effect of Using Raw vs. Canned Beets on Colour.

I was surprised to see such a contrast between the two types of beets. After seeing the dull brownish-red colour from canned beets, I started thinking and consulted the ingredients list on the can. Second ingredient after beets? Salt, which is one of the factors that will promote the degradation of betanin.

Use Beet Puree Instead of Beet Juice
So we know that using fresh, raw beet puree works better than using canned beets. What about using beet juice instead of beet puree? While using beet juice would probably be much easier than pureeing the beets, it will not work as well. Water activity is one of the factors that contributes to betanin degradation. While I’m not going to go into what water activity actually means, the more water present, the less stable the betanin will be. You will probably have noticed this if you’ve ever boiled beets. The water always turns brown before the beets do.

Now that is enough pigment talk. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

Makes two 9-inch cakes or 24 cupcakes

2-1/2 cups cake flour (260 g)
3 tbsp. NATURAL cocoa powder (not dutch processed or dark)
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 cup butter (225 g)
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups white sugar (500 g)
4 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk (125 mL)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (125 g)
1/2 cup to 1 cup  beet puree (from raw beetroot) (100 to 200 g)
1/2 cup  raspberry juice (from frozen or fresh raspberries) (125 mL)
2 tbsp. white vinegar
2 tbsp. lemon juice

Now let me do a little explaining about my ingredients choices. I needed to use things that would keep the batter acidic (hence the cream of tartar, buttermilk, yogurt, raspberry juice, vinegar, and lemon juice.) Even cake flour is more acidic than all-purpose flour. Admittedly, it probably wasn’t necessary for me to use ALL these acids. However, I thought adding too much of one type would give the cake a funny flavour. For example, I thought adding 4 tbsp. of vinegar might be a bit much so I decided to use both vinegar and lemon juice. I encourage you to experiment with different combinations to suit your taste.

I used more cocoa powder and vanilla than I normally would in a Red Velvet Cake. This, along with the raspberry juice, was an attempt to mask the beet flavour.

You will also notice that I say 1/2 cup to 1 cup of beet puree. You will get a deeper red from using a full cup of beets, but also a slight beet flavour. You can get away with using a 1/2 cup, but any less and your cake will start going a more brownish red. It is all personal preference and how concerned you are with having a bright red colour. My taste testers went back for seconds even with a full cup of beets in the batter so either one tastes good.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C.) Grease two 9-inch cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper OR line cupcake tins with paper liners.

Prepare beet puree and raspberry juice beforehand. Grate raw beet and then puree it in food processor to as fine a texture as possible (adding water if necessary.) You don’t want any chunks, otherwise you might get a mouthful of beet while eating the cake. The colour of the cake will also be best with the finest texture of beet puree.
For the raspberry juice, heat up raspberries in microwave until they become mushy. Strain to remove seeds.

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.

Cream together butter, vanilla, and sugar.

Beat in eggs, one at a time.

In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk and yogurt. Whisk in the beet puree and the raspberry juice. Stir in the vinegar and lemon juice.

Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients to the butter/egg mixture, mixing until combined.

Pour batter into the prepared tins. Bake cakes for 25-35 min (18-22 for cupcakes) or until toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool 10 minutes in the pan, and then completely on a wire rack.

Decorate with cream cheese icing.

The first time I made Red Velvet Cake was in Edinburgh to celebrate Canada day. I used this recipe from Joy of Baking, but made cupcakes instead of a 9-inch cake. To make them Canadian, I topped them with little maple leaves cut out of strawberries. I had high hopes while I shaped the miniature leaves, but the end-result wasn’t quite what I envisioned. However, despite my “maple leaves” actually being little red blobs, my coworkers seemed impressed by my cupcakes. One of my coworkers even started making questionable noises while eating them, so they must have been decent.

Why Red?

For those who aren’t familiar with Red Velvet Cake, it is a blend between vanilla and chocolate cake that is almost always paired with cream cheese icing. Red Velvet recipes usually call for copious amounts of red food colouring; however, it is thought that the origins of the red colour came from pigments found in cocoa powder. These pigments are called anthocyanins and change in colour depending on pH. In acidic conditions, anthocyanins are a red colour so by ensuring that the pH of cake stays below 7, the cocoa should have a red-tinge to it. The type of cocoa powder you use will affect whether or not you get a red colour. Cocoa powder is naturally acidic but a lot of cocoa available in stores has been neutralized to become a “dutch-processed cocoa powder.” For instance, Fry’s cocoa, which is the brand I most often see in Canada, is dutch-processed. Because dutch-processed cocoa is no longer acidic, it won’t give you a red colour like natural cocoa powder can. Unfortunately, even when using natural cocoa, this red colour is not very pronounced so we must resort to other means to obtain the bright red colour of today’s Red Velvet Cake.

Red = Bad News

It really is too bad that we love the red colour of this cake so much. The sole purpose of the red colouring is to alter the appearance of the cake. The red doesn’t give the cake a nicer flavour, unless perhaps there is a psychological effect that makes pretty cake taste better. The downside to having a beautifully red cake is that artificial food dyes- red in particular- have been linked to various health defects such as hyperactivity in children and cancer, among others. My little sister also did a few science fair projects on food dye, and even though she is 11, I trust her scientific method. Her results suggested that red food colouring had more of a damaging effect on plants than the other colours did.

I’m just not sure I’m ok with using food colouring to make this cake anymore. But not to worry! I’m currently doing some kitchen experiments to make an all-natural Red Velvet Cake! So far my first attempt was…. BRIGHT RED with no artificial colouring:

All Natural Velvet Cake with Beets

Unfortunately, this cake may have tasted a bit like beets (Dwight K. Shrute would be proud.) I actually really like beets, and still enjoyed the cake, but I definitely was not thinking “yeah I really want this cake to taste like a beet!” Needless to say, I’m not ready to post an all-natural recipe just yet. I’ve got the colour down, but just need to work on the flavour.

Until then, I thought I would post my adapted version of the Joy of Baking Red Velvet Cake Recipe. If my sister’s science fair data isn’t enough to scare you away from red food dye, go ahead and try it. Otherwise, wait until I come up with a recipe that doesn’t taste so beety.

[Update: Yay! Success with a Natural Red Velvet Recipe!]

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups cake flour (260 g)
1 tbsp. cocoa powder (NATURAL not dutch-processed)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter (112 g)
2 cups white sugar (400 g)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk* (250 mL)
1 tsp. white vinegar
1/2 tsp. red food gel
1/4 cup boiling water (60 mL)

*You can substitute buttermilk by adding 1 tbsp. of white vinegar to 1 cup of milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Grease two 9-inch cake tins and line the bottom with parchment paper OR line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter, vanilla, and sugar. Mix in eggs, one at a time.

In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk and vinegar. Dissolve the red food gel in boiling water and stir into the milk mixture.

Slowly add the dry and wet ingredients to the butter mixture (alternating between dry/wet) and mix until just combined.

Pour batter  into prepared cake tins and bake at 350 F (175 C). For two 9-inch cakes bake 25-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. For cupcakes, bake 18-22 minutes.

Allow to cool in pan 10 minutes and let cool completely on wire rack.

Frost with cream cheese icing.

I chose to make cupcakes this time around because they are much easier to decorate: