Recipe: Decadent Avocado Chocolate Torte!

Ok folks, so many of you asked for this recipe, and we just couldn’t hold off any longer. We’re sure it’s a lot to do with the crazy-delicious looking photos taken by Jude Allan, so a big shout out to him and his awesome photography! 

It’s always great for us to hear customers making ‘oooh’-ing and ‘ahhhh’-ing and ‘mmm’-ing sounds when they see this chocolate indulgence on the café counter, but the experience of making it is what brings it to life for us. There’s nothing quite like the smell of toasted nuts and oats as they come out of the oven, wafting through the kitchen stopping everyone in their tracks for just a moment. Or the sensational delight of pouring a silky chocolate filling into a perfectly formed base, followed by the satisfyingly creative task of decorating it with… well, anything you want.  It’s handmade with a whole lot of soul and heart. It’s decadent, it’s rich – it’s chocolate. But it also contains some truly wholesome ingredients that don’t have the bloaty and lethargic side-effects you get with supermarket-bought counterparts.

The whole thing is also so simple, making it so incredibly versatile to fit just about every dietary requirement. Vegan? Sure – just replace the dark chocolate with a vegan variety, or simply use cacao powder (by the way, we use Montezuma's Organic & Vegan dark chocolate). Gluten Free? It pretty much is. Oats are often produced in flour mills so cross-contamination can occur unless you use GF labelled oats, but oats themselves are actually gluten-free anyway. Sugar-free? Use honey, or make your own date paste. This recipe states coconut oil, but it works just as well to use half sunflower oil and half coconut oil.

You’ll also notice in the recipe that we use toasted nuts and oats. As well as giving the ingredients a much more flavoursome quality and texture, there’s a nutritional function to this as well. Ready? Here comes the science bomb:  raw wholegrains (such as rice, oats, and barley) nuts and seeds contain phytic acid and other enzymes that stop it from germinating or being eaten by insects before it lands itself in an environment in which it can grow into a plant. Phytic acid continues to protect the grain/nut whilst it’s in our system, which means we can only absorb a fraction of its nutritional profile and we miss out on nutrients such as calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc. Soaking or roasting nuts removes the phytic acid, thus allowing us to digest the food in a much more efficient way. In the case of rice, even the cooking process doesn’t get rid of the phytic acid completely, so it’s recommended to soak them for at least 8 hours prior to cooking. More about that some other time!

This is a treasured Star Anise Café recipe, but hey, no one has ever become poor by giving. Anne Frank said that, and it’s true. So, here’s our gift to you! Having said that, use it wisely. With great power comes great responsibility. Voltaire said that. Shut up, Raphy. Here’s the recipe. 

AVOCADO CHOCOLATE TORTE

INGREDIENTS

For the base:

-       Pre-soaked dates                                                      100g

-       Porridge oats, toasted                                               150g

-       Nuts (not peanuts), toasted                                                 200g

-       Sunflower seeds, toasted                                         50g

-       Cacao powder                                                            40g

-       Rapadura sugar                                                        70g

-       Rice syrup or maple syrup, or honey                      35ml

-       Coconut oil                                                                 70g

-       Salt                                                                              pinch

For the filling:

-       Dark chocolate (vegan optional)                             150g

-       Ripe avocado                                                             2 x large, or 3x small/medium

-       Cacao powder                                                            75g

-       Vanilla                                                                        1tsp

-       Rice syrup or maple syrup, or honey                      150ml (to taste)

-       Coconut oil                                                                 150g

-       Salt                                                                              pinch

METHOD

1.)  Put all the dry ingredients for the base in a food processor and blitz into a fine crumb.

2.)  Add the syrup, sunflower oil and coconut oil and blitz to combine.

3.)  Lightly brush your tray with oil – a metal pastry tray with a removable bottom is ideal.

4.)  Press the base mixture firmly on to the tray using your hands or the back of a spoon so that it’s compacted and level. Leave to one side

5.)  Melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie - boil some water in a saucepan on top of the stove and then take down to a simmer. Then, place a glass bowl on top of the saucepan so that it’s balanced but not touching the water. Place the broken up chocolate in the bowl and steam until melted. Avoid mixing or disturbing whilst melting so it retains a silky texture.

6.)  Once melted, pour in the syrup, coconut oil and sunflower oil.

7.)  Pour the mixture into the food processor and add the avocado flesh, cacao powder, vanilla and salt and blitz until smooth and ‘glistening’ (If it’s not ‘glistening’, add a dash of whatever syrup you’re using).

8.)  Pour the filling directly on to the tray, and decorate.

9.)  Let set at room temperature.

So, there you have it! Super simple, super slick, super easy. Make sure to post some photos of your creations and tag us on Facebook and Twitter – we’d love to see how you get on!