When I was making this cake, my mom walked into the kitchen and asked what I was baking. After I told her it was a chocolate cake, she immediately asked me, “is it some crazy healthy version?” I just smiled and didn’t say a word, causing her to have a look of doubt and disappointment on her face. However, as soon as she took a bite into this cake, that doubt was immediately gone and replaced by, “wow! This is actually really good!”
When you open your mind to trying new foods, you might just be surprised by how much you like those foods! My parents are used to eating desserts made with traditional ingredients such as flour, white sugar, and butter, so when foods are “healthified”, they become a bit skeptical. Not that I blame them though, because I would be a little hesitant to try new foods if they were made with strange ingredients I had never heard of before. But luckily for my parents, they have a personal dietitian (aka me), who exposes them to these new foods!
Most of the time, I don’t tell others when I am baking something “healthy” because I want to see if people can genuinely taste a difference. Therefore, I decided not to tell my dad that this cake was completely gluten-free and dairy-free. When the moment came for my parents to try this cake, my dad took a bite and just continued to take more, acting like nothing was different at all. I very casually asked, “so how is it?” and he responded that it was really good. I then proceeded to tell him it was gluten-free and dairy-free, and he was honestly shocked. He couldn’t get over it and said it didn’t taste healthy at all!
Like I mentioned, my mom already knew this cake wasn’t your typical chocolate cake, so she was a bit skeptical before taking a bite. However, she was genuinely impressed and said that it tasted really great! The next day, my uncle was in town and staying with us, so we gave him a slice of this chocolate cake. He was genuinely amazed by the taste of the cake, but even more importantly, he just couldn’t get over the fact that the icing was made from avocado. (I believe his exact words were, “I would’ve never known this frosting had an avocado in it!”)
Just two days after making this cake, it was completely gone and finished off, and my parents said they would definitely eat it again! Success on my part! As a dietitian, one of my goals is to introduce people to more foods and make them realize that eating “healthy” foods doesn’t mean you have to compromise on taste. It seems like people always have such a negative attitude toward trying new foods, but when they actually taste those new foods, people are usually pretty darn surprised by how great they taste!
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder*
- ½ cup cacao powder
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- FROSTING:
- Flesh from 2 avocados
- ¼ cup + 1 TBSP cocoa powder
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 TBSP honey (or maple syrup)
- 1-2 TBSP unsweetened almond milk
- ½ tsp. coffee extract (or coffee granules)**
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8” baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Cake: Combine the coconut milk, honey, maple syrup, eggs, and extracts in a large bowl.
- Mix well, and then add the dry ingredients. Mix until everything is well-combined.
- Pour batter into greased baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove cake from the oven and let it cool completely.
- Once completely cooled, make the frosting: cut each avocado in half, scoop out the flesh, and add it to the bowl of a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and blend for about 20 seconds. Stop to scrape down the side of the bowl, blend, and then repeat.
- When everything is smooth and creamy, spread the frosting on top of the cooled cake.
**You can also use 1 tsp. vanilla extract instead of the coffee extract.
