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We've had quite a bit of time this year to get in a festive and patriotic mood. Months, actually. We started back when the skies were a moody gray, tree branches bare and lonely, the now verdant, green grass a somber shade of tan and my lovely herb garden was a mass of lifeless twigs .................
................. but it was fun, back in January thinking about summer and its warm, lazy, seemingly neverending, sun-kissed days. We were commissioned by The California Avocado Commission to create, style and photograph a number of new avocado recipes. They requested two birthday-style cakes, one with a general, any-time-of-the-year theme and the other with a festive, Fourth of July theme.
So we went to town, scouring our attic, local stores and online sources for red, white and blue. It's not easy to find Independence Day-themed decorations in January, but with a bit of super sleuthing, we came up with some fun props.
If you're a follower of The Café, you may remember me posting the other avocado cake, a few months ago; California Avocado Cake with Raspberry Filling and Key Lime Buttercream. It was super delicious, but we wanted something a bit different this time. Though the cake itself is the same recipe, the icing on this one is in a category all it's own. Imagine a rich, decadent, fudgy, chocolate buttercream..... with very little butter!
How does that work, you may ask? Well, like many of the avocado recipes we've created, the avocado (a wonderfully heart-healthy fat) takes the place of other not-so-good-for-you fats. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical of substituting avocado for much of the traditional butter in this recipe, but the results are amazing; very moist and flavorful. The icing is lick-the-bowl-clean delicious and the addition of avocado makes it very creamy. It spreads, swirls and/or twirls (depending on how you like to decorate) like a dream!
I had fun with the decorating as you can see. The piping technique looks fancy, but it's really quite simple. You can find the recipe here on the California Avocado Commission's website and the piping particulars here. Check it out.... and while you're there, nose around a bit. You'll just be amazed at the wonderful recipes and the culinary versatility of the fabulous avocado. Move over, Guacamole!!!
P.S. Oh and btw, if you don't feel like fussing with a layer cake, this recipe can just as easily be made in a 9x13 inch pan with the icing spread on top. Just for fun, you might want to keep it your secret about the avocados, until they start raving about the cake, then you can spill the healthy beans avocados!
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