Chocolate cupcakes...with a secret

Remember how I was raving about avocado?

Food Network Magazine featured 31 ways (one for each day in the month of May) to use avocado, including replacing some of the butter and oil in baked goods with avocado. It makes sense. Avocado seems so rich. Of course it belongs in a dessert. I've wanted to try it since I saw this recipe, which is still on my to-do list. I did, however, put together these chocolate cupcakes. They're moist, and the lime juice in the icing is pleasantly unexpected and refreshing coming off a long winter.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing...and Avocado
(inspired by Food Network Magazine, May 2011, and The Weekend Baker by Abigail Dodge)

Cupcakes

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

¾ cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

3/4 cup hot water

½ avocado (smashed into a paste with a fork, yielding about ¼ cup)

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray or line with sprayed foil liners.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the water, avocado, oil, egg and vanilla. Stir until well blended.

Divide batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 16 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Icing

1/2 avocado

juice of two limes, divided

2 cups powdered sugar

¼ cup dark chocolate chips (microwave for 1 minute and stir until creamy)

Put 1/2 avocado in a food chopper with the juice of one and a half limes. Combine until a paste forms. Add avocado, powdered sugar and melted chocolate chips to a medium bowl. Stir to combine. Add one teaspoon of remaining lime juice at a time. Stir and add additional juice until icing is desired consistency.

Store cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Makes 12

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Note - The key is to puree the avocado into as smooth of a consistency as possible before adding it to the other ingredients.

Happy Easter weekend!