Avocado Frosting Is The Super Easy Way To Jazz Up Your Desserts
Avocados can seem like a true miracle of nature. Not only are they delicious and nourishing in their purest form, but they are also one of the most versatile fruits, integrating seamlessly into countless dishes. They can be mashed into a zesty guacamole dip, diced into a sushi roll or salad, and spread onto a slice of toast. but their potential goes far beyond savory foods, as proven by avocado frosting.
There are many unique ways you can start using avocados, and avocado frosting is certainly among the most memorable. Whether you want to make the avocado flavor the star of the frosting or use it as a creamy base for other flavors, whipping up some avocado buttercream is a quick and easy way to bring a traditionally savory ingredient into the dessert food category. If you have ripe avocados and some other basic ingredients on hand, this could be the new frosting hack for you.
Why avocados work
It's fair to be skeptical that avocados might have a place in a frosting, but the fruit's properties build a solid case. Most traditional frostings have two base components: Powdered sugar and fat. Most are made with butter and cream, but swapping in avocado will yield a similar consistency with a greener hue. Just make sure to include an acidic ingredient like lemon juice, pineapple juice, or honey to prevent the avocado from browning.
Like butter, the high fat content of avocados gives their flesh a thick, creamy, and firm texture. With its silky, buttery consistency and mildly earthy and nutty taste, avocado makes an ideal frosting base, as it will generally hold its shape when whipped up and pairs well with other flavors. Moreover, avocados are packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, so an avocado frosting will add a bonus nutritional boost to any dessert they adorn.
Flavor-wise, avocado won't emulate the distinct sweetness of butter perfectly, but it also won't overpower other flavorings like cocoa powder. It carries its weight in the texture department and sets the stage for any frosting flavor you desire. If, however, you would like to focus on the avocado's flavor, consider staying simple by enhancing it with just a small amount of something tart or otherwise high in acid to balance the avocado's richness with some tanginess.
Incorporating avocados into the dessert world
No matter the flavor, avocados are undoubtedly fit for frostings. You can add it to any cake or cupcake recipe you like, or follow celebrity chef Alton Brown's lead and build a pancake cake with avocado frosting — literally a stack of flapjacks interspersed with generous swirls of gorgeous light green icing. Their ability to enhance sweets doesn't stop with edible decoration, though. There are many more dessert foods that benefit from avocado additions. For another dairy-free dessert that packs a double dose of avocado, you can swap out the butter in a conventional brownie recipe to make fudgy avocado brownies. then slather the top with avocado frosting.
Though avocado doesn't make an indistinguishable replacement for butter, cream, or margarine flavor-wise, it is definitely worth a shot. Even if you are not an avocado aficionado, with an open mind and a sweet craving, you may be surprised by how well the unsweet, unassuming fruit works in these recipes. Start with something as simple as an avocado frosting, and you'll never doubt the power of the plant food again.