Healthy Avocado Oil Chocolate Cake

By Teresa Cutter, The Healthy Chef

This chocolate cake is brimming with antioxidants to boost energy and promote wellbeing. I love that's its super-moist and rich in heart healthy essential fats from the avocado oil. This cake is gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free, making it the perfect healthy treat for everyone.

Makes 1 cake.

Ingredients
125 ml (½ cup/4 fl oz) Grove avocado oil
125 ml (½ cup/4 fl oz) almond milk
125 ml (½ cup/4 fl oz) pure maple syrup
4 organic eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
60 g (½ cup/2 oz) dark cocoa powder
300 g (3 cups/10½ oz) almond meal
avocado frosting to serve (see inspiration)

Method
PREHEAT your oven to 160°C (320°F) fan forced.
COMBINE avocado oil, almond milk, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla into a bowl.
ADD the baking powder, cocoa and almond meal and mix through until combined.
BAKE for 45 minutes until cooked then remove from the oven to cool.
COMBINE frosting ingredients until smooth then ice the cake generously.
STORE in the fridge until ready to serve.
ENJOY.

Inspiration:

To make the avocado frosting combine the flesh from 2 ripe avocados, 125 ml (½ cup/4 fl oz) pure maple syrup, 125 ml (½ cup/4 fl oz) coconut cream, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 60 g (½ cup/2 oz) dark cocoa powder and a generous pinch of sea salt. Blend until smooth and use as the frosting for the cake.

Seven Reasons Grove Avocado Oil Is Simply Smashing!

New healthy oil contains the goodness of 16 avocados in every bottle. 

With its nutritional abundance, culinary versatility and delicate and downright delicious flavour, cold-pressed Grove Avocado Oil has emerged as the purest and most unfiltered avocado oil on the market. 

Australia's love affair with the avocados is long-standing and unending: our avocado consumption has more than tripled in the last decade from 1.2kg per person to 3.5kg per person, making Australians one of the biggest consumers of avocados in the English-speaking world. 

But its greatest offering was right under our brunch-loving noses the whole time, we were already smashing our avos, we just needed to bottle them! The oil of this green, fleshy fruit is next-level nutritious and more stable to cook with than its shelf-mates – olive oil and coconut oil, kicking off a rapidly expanding market for the world's new "healthy oil". 

Packing a healthy punch, avocado oil is brimming with antioxidants, beneficial fats, vitamins and minerals, says Australia's Healthy Chef, Teresa Cutter, who has been a Grove Avocado Oil fan for years. 

The classically trained chef, nutritionist and accredited fitness trainer said it was not just the unique but mild flavour profile that appealed to her, but the nutritional value it added to her dishes, which ranged from salad dressings to cake bases. 

"The humble avocado has inserted its way into almost every dish imaginable, and now there's a new way to get that concentrated avocado goodness into your food," says Teresa. 

"Grove Avocado Oil is 100 percent unrefined and naturally cold pressed, ensuring only the finest oil extract from some of the world's best avocados is delivered in its purest and most nutritionally beneficial form. 

"Not only have the good fats in Avocado Oil been shown to lower blood pressure, boost 'good' cholesterol and enhance the absorption of other nutrients, but its versatility in the kitchen is unparalleled, she said. 

"It's amazing for fresh dishes such as salad dressings and dips, and due to its heat-stability and high smoke point, it's also ideal for use as a cooking oil," says Teresa, who uses Grove Avocado Oil to make salad dressings, for drizzling over vegetables, pan-frying, roasting and even baking. 

Here Teresa shares seven key reasons for switching to Grove Avocado Oil: 
1. The taste is just right. "Avocado Oil has a gorgeous flavour profile that lends itself to a huge variety of dishes, "says Teresa. "It has a mild, slightly buttery taste with a hint of fresh avocado that makes the most delicious salad dressings. I also love drizzling it over leafy salads, vegetables and fish. It really complements the natural aromatics from the food I create without overpowering anything." 
2. Reduces cholesterol and improves heart health. "Almost 70 percent of avocado oil consists of monounsaturated oleic acid content, an omega-9 fatty acid that has been shown to be making beneficial to heart health and increasing HDL, the 'good' cholesterol," she says. 
3. High smoke point. Avocado oil has a high smoke point (190-205 degrees C vs 175 degrees for coconut oil and 165-190 degrees for Extra Virgin Olive Oil). According to Teresa, the higher an oil's smoke point, the more versatile it is for cooking. "Once an oil reaches its smoke point, the structure of the oil starts to break down, releasing free radicals, while many beneficial nutrients are destroyed," she says. 
4. High in lutein, an antioxidant that has benefits for the eyes. "Avocado Oil is a good source of Lutein, a carotenoid that improves eye health and may lower the risk of age-related eye diseases. The body doesn't produce Lutein so you must obtain it from food," says Teresa. 
5. Enhances the absorption of important nutrients. "Studies show that the addition of avocado oil to a meal can boost the absorption of carotenoids (health-promoting antioxidants) in food," says Teresa. 

6. Enhances skin health. "The healthy monounsaturated fats in avocado oil keep my skin naturally hydrated and looking great. Avocado Oil has also been studied for its ability to treat skin injuries, and one study has shown that it may accelerate wound healing," she said. 
7. Better digestive health. "The healthy fats in avocado oil are essential for digestion and nutrient absorption because they nourish the lining of the gut," says Teresa. "Plus, its low FODMAP, making it the perfect choice for those with digestive issues."

Grove Avocado Oil can be found at Coles and Woolworths and leading supermarkets nationwide and retails at $12.00 per 250ml bottle. 
For more information visit www.groveavocadooil.com.au.