Vegan Dark Chocolate Avocado Loaf

This vegan chocolate avocado loaf is all kinds of decadent. Think that chocolate cake scene from Matilda. This loaf is decadent, moist and will defintely satisfy any cocoa cravings.

Bonus: this is one of those chuck-in-a-blender recipes which makes it easy to rustle up in no time. It’s vegan, but the richness from the avocado makes a great subsitute for eggs or butter.

If you don’t have decent filter coffee at home, mix 1 tsp of instant coffee with 60ml of water for the same effect. You will not taste the coffee, it is just there to boost the richness of the chocolate flavour.

Source your best avocado (try not to press them all in the store #guilty) and let’s get baking.

Ingredients:

For the loaf:

• 1/2 a cup of mylk (I used coconut milk – not from the can but from a carton – almond or oat would work perfectly)
• 100g of dark chocolate – I used Lindt 70%
• 1 ripe avocado
• 150g of gluten-free self-raising flour – I used Dove’s Farm
• 70g of coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup or honey if you aren’t vegan
• 60ml of coffee
• 1 tsp of vanilla essence
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• a pinch of salt

For the ganache topping (yum):

• 100g of dark chocolate – I used Lindt 85%
• 1/3 cup of mylk ( any plant-based mylk will do for this)

Method:

Easy as can be. Set your oven to 180 ° C and line a loaf tin with some baking paper. Over a double boiler, melt your dark chocolate. If you’re unsure of how to do that – check out this video of me making my gluten-free lamingtons and skip to 5:30. Leave your chocolate to cool a little bit once melted. Sieve your flour, coconut sugar, salt and baking powder.

Add your mylk to your melted chocolate along with the maple syrup, coffee and vanilla essence. Whisk well to combine. Add this to your Nutribullet with your sieved dry ingredients along with one avocado peeled and de-pipped. Blitz this until well-combined but don’t overdo it.

Transfer the ingredients to the baking tin and bake for around 45-50 minutes. Bake for less if you want it to be super dense and fudgy! Once baked, leave to cool IN THE TIN.

To make the ganache:

Melt 100g of dark chocolate (85%) and 1/3 of a cup of plant-based mylk in a double boiler. Whisk so that a thick ganache forms whilst the chocolate is melting. Pour this mixture over the cooled loaf in the tin and put the tin in the fridge for the ganache to harden.

Slice and serve once set.