At first, I actually have doubts about this recipe. I mean, this is actually the first time I will be trying to bake a cake with avocados in it. But hey, there’s nothing wrong with trying right? This is actually a pretty good cake once you get the hang of it.

Here’s a recipe adapted from Joy The Baker and Alton Brown.

Ingredients: (makes a two-layer, 8-inch round cake or one thick, 9-inch square cake)

For the cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup butter (note: if you want your cake to be vegan, use 1/4 cup vegetable oil)

1/2 cup soft avocado (about 1 medium avocado), mashed until smooth and creamy

2 cups water

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the frosting:

8 ounces of avocado meat, about 2 small to medium, very ripe avocados

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 pound powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Malt balls or Malteasers, for garnish (optional)

Procedure:

- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour your cake pan or pans. Set aside.

- Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar. Set that aside too.

- Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super mashed avocado.

- Add sugar into the wet mix and stir. Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth.

- Pour batter into your prepared pan(s). Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (I baked mine for 40 minutes and probably could have baked it for about 5 more, but since there were no eggs I wasn’t too worried about the fudgy texture in the middle).

- Let cake or cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

- While the cake cools, make the buttercream. Peel and pit the soft avocados. It’s important to use the ripest avocados you can get your hands on. If the avocados have brown spots in the meat, avoid those spots when you scoop the meat into the bowl.

- Place the avocado meat into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment. Add lemon juice and whisk the avocado on medium speed, until slightly lightened in color and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.

- Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and beat. Add vanilla extract until combined. If not using right away, store in the refrigerator (it does not turn brown).

- Frost the cake with a liberal amount of the avocado buttercream (it’s good fat, after all). If desired, garnish with malt balls lining the edges.

With Super Bowl just around the corner, this is probably the best dessert you can concoct up for a night of watching with the guys.