Chocolate Habañero Cake With Chocolate Avocado Buttercream

Chocolate Habañero Cake With Chocolate Avocado Buttercream
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In Mexico, the pairing of chocolate and chile goes back hundreds of years. No news there. But the avocado buttercream is a new innovation. The avocado gives the frosting a really interesting vegetal note, and probably some nutritional value, yet it’s so rich it’s like throwing in an extra stick of butter. Chill the frosted cake before serving to allow the buttercream to set. At Hartwood, we bake the cake in a cast-iron skillet, but this recipe is for cake pans.This cake is quite spicy — you may want to use less chile powder the first time you make it. Excerpted from Hartwood by Eric Werner and Mya Henry (Artisan Books).
Servings
0
servings
Chocolate Habañero Cake with Chocolate Avocado Buttercream
Ingredients
  • 2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon finely ground coffee
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder, or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder, or to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon habañero powder, or to taste
  • 1 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1/2 pound unsalted butter, cubed, softened
  • 1 ripe hass avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and cut into chunks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms and sides with parchment paper and grease the parchment. Set aside.
  2. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, coffee, cinnamon, allspice, and chile powders together in a medium bowl.
  3. Whisk together the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Fold in the flour mixture, mixing until smooth.
  4. Pour the batter into the cake pans and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick or tester inserted in the center of a layer comes out clean. Set on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out of the pans onto racks, remove the parchment paper, and cool completely.
  5. Melt the chocolate slowly in the top of a double boiler set over medium-low heat. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
  6. With a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter in a medium bowl until fluffy. Beat in the avocado and vanilla. Slowly add the confectioners’ sugar, beating until fully combined. Add the cooled chocolate, mixing until fully incorporated.
  7. Put one cake layer on a serving plate and frost the top. Top with second layer and frost the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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