Healthy Vegan Chocolate Mud Cake with Avocado Oil

I am sure I am not the only one that used to grab one of those supermarket mud cakes from Woolworths or coles. All my friends used to eat these, it was our thing at university while studying my undergrad, we used to eat it with vanilla custard. It was also something my husband and I loved to do in the first few years of marriage before I embarked on my health journey. I have really good memories of those chocolate mud cakes but after reading the ingredient list a few times decided it wasn’t worth it anymore. I have found it difficult to find a healthy vegan mud cake alternative over the years. Although there are many recipes out there, most still use quite a lot of refined sugar and are also very difficult to make. After blogging for 4 years and doing predominantly desserts for that long I have developed my own style and I simply won’t attempt a recipe if I deem it too complicated or hard. Although plant-based vegan desserts are a little different, for the most part, I find them much easier to make than a traditional dessert (especially the very involved European desserts that I grew up with). I am happy to say that I’ve had quite a few people mention that they like that my desserts are relatively simple and easy to make and this cake is no exception. It’s one of the easiest chocolate cakes I have made with only a handful of ingredients and it tastes very very similar, if not better than the supermarket mud cakes that I used to be so fond of.

I think the trick lies in avocado oil (I use Grove Avocado Oil. ) Avocado oil has become my new favourite oil to bake with because it has a really buttery taste, so makes things taste more like the traditional desserts that people are used. Avocado oil is also a wonderful anti-inflammatory oil that even contains some omega 3. Anti-inflammatory fats are so important for our hormones and overall well being especially as women.  I used the avocado oil in the cake and also in the icing. The icing firmed up just like the icing on the supermarket cakes once I popped it in the fridge. I am really happy to discover that avocado oil does firm up because it provides a more neutral alternative to coconut oil that is also lower in saturated fat. I personally don’t worry too much about my fats but it definitely is an issue for many people and so I get lots of questions about coconut oil swaps. Although avocado oil doesn’t firm up quite like coconut oil, it can still be used as an alternative in many recipes and has a much more neutral taste. I added a small amount of chickory/dandelion coffee alternative in this cake which I did not include in the recipe because it’s not needed (but it does add extra fibre and liver loving benefits). You can use this or use coffee granules for a richer taste. I also serve it with my homemade tofu custard.

Overall this recipe was a success. I was inspired by a similar recipe from Detoxinista. The recipe is low gluten but can easily be made gluten-free by swapping out the spelt flour with any gluten-free flour you like.