Avocado Chocolate Ganache Cake

Serves 10
Preparation time 25 minutes
Cooking time 1 hour

Chocolate cake
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
2 cups self-raising flour
3/4 cup good quality cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (make sure there are no lumps – if there are, sift it)
3 large free-range eggs, whisked
1 cup coconut milk (reserve remaining tin of milk for ganache)
3/4 cup neutral flavoured oil (e.g. canola, grapeseed, or a light olive oil)
good pinch of salt
3/4 cup hot coffee (e.g. instant, filtered, percolator or espresso)

Avocado chocolate ganache
250 g good quality dark 60-75% cocoa chocolate
flesh of 2 large just-ripe avocados
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or sugar

Garnish
Fresh raspberries (or other berries) or berry compote

METHOD
1 Preheat oven to 170°C. Lightly grease and line a 20-23 cm spring-form cake tin with baking paper. Place all chocolate cake ingredients except coffee into a large mixing bowl and mix together well with a fork, then pour in coffee and continue mixing until a smooth batter. Pour into prepared cake tin and bake for about 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
2 Allow to cool in the tin for at least 20 minutes before releasing spring and removing from tin, then invert cake out onto a plate (so that the flat bottom is now facing up). Leave to cool completely before icing with ganache.
3 To make the avocado chocolate ganache, break chocolate up into pieces and melt in a double boiler or in a glass bowl set above a pot of simmering water (just make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl or else it will risk the chocolate burning or becoming grainy), whilst stirring every now and again. Place avocados, coconut milk, melted chocolate and maple syrup/sugar in a food processor and blend together until creamy and smooth.
4 When cake has completely cooled, use a large serrated knife to carefully cut in half horizontally, keeping equal thickness on both sides as best as you can. Place half on a serving plate and spread over about one third of the ganache, then place other half on top. Spread remaining ganache all over the top and sides of the cake. Garnish with berries or berry compote and it’s ready to serve!

Tip
If fresh berries aren’t in season, make a berry compote by boiling down 2 cups frozen raspberries or boysenberries with 2-3 tablespoons water and 2-3 tablespoons sugar in a pot for about 5 minutes until raspberries have broken down and you have a thick raspberry sauce. Stir in 1 cup of frozen berries. Allow to cool completely before drizzling over the cake.

The Carousel thanks New Zealand Avocado & Nadia Lim for this recipe