Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Avocado Frosting

Welcome to the first ever guest post on Dinner From Last Night! Kaanan is going to share an awesome recipe with all of us. And don't be scared of the title... these things rock! - Val

Hello Val's followers! I'm Kaanan!  We hosted a baby shower for our friend Jill a few weeks ago, and I was in charge of dessert.  I had some very specific requirements when I started looking for a cupcake recipe for the shower... they had to have green frosting, and they had to be egg-less (I'm vegetarian).  The baby's room is going to be green and brown, and color coordination is very important to me.  It only made sense that the cupcakes had to be green and brown too!  Since all I could come up with was spinach frosting, I turned to the internet for guidance.  After sifting through some of the weirder green frosting suggestions  (wheat grass? ew, no thanks), I landed on this gem: avocado butter cream!  The avocado replaces the butter in a traditional butter cream, so its both vegan AND green, not to mention delicious!  There is also an avocado in the cupcakes, and I don't know how, but this is hands down the best vegan cake recipe I've ever tried.  Whether you are in need of a color coordinated cupcake or just a fun dessert, these cupakes are a win!

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Avocado 

Source:  Joy The Backer

makes 2 dozen cupcakes

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 vegetable oil

1/2 cup soft avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado

2 cups water

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine all the dry ingredients except the sugar and set aside.  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 until smooth.  Pour batter into lined cupcake tin. Bake for ~30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cupcakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting with avocado buttercream.

Avocado Buttercream Frosting 
Source: Joy the Baker, originally from Alton Brown

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

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 pound powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

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.  The lemon juice should keep the avocados a nice bright green, but I wouldn't make this more than a few hours ahead of time.

Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!!

Lentil Soup with Vegetables and Kale

Mmmm lentils. I feel like I've been on a real lentil kick lately. They're so versatile, easy, healthy, delicious... where can you go wrong? Plus, they're cheap. Super win there, kiddos. Super win. I've only posted one other recipe for lentils here (which might be the absolute best vegan lentil recipe on the planet). Besides chopping up all the veggies for today's recipe, this cooks up really quickly. Perfect for a weeknight meal.  And it makes a ton of food - great for freezing or lunches all week. So go, cook lentils, and feel happy and healthy.

Lentil Stew with Vegetables and Kale
Adapted from Bon Appétit, March 2011

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 rutagaba, peeled and chopped
1 celery root, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 lb green lentils, rinsed
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
8 cups vegetable broth
1 large bunch kale, washed, ribs removed, leaves torn into small pieces

In a large pot, heat olive oil over high heat. Add onions, rutabaga, celery root, and carrots. Cook, stirring occaisionally, until lightly browned and softened, about 10 minutes. Add lentils, broth and spices. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you like your soup a little soupier, add more broth to thin. I like thick heartier soups, so I stuck with the 8 cups of broth, but it was a very tick stew-type soup.

Serve with crusty bread.

Enjoy!