Chocolate and avocado cupcakes

I'll get to the cupcakes in a little bit, but first I have a confession to make: I'm a major fan of the Eurovision Song Contest. And yes, I do know it's a bit cheesy, but with a dad who has been composing songs for the Danish national version of the song contest (a.k.a. 'Melodi Grand prix') since 1983 (and who won in 2006 with this song) plus a brother who has been a contestant twice (here he is in 2002, isn't he cute?), it's hard not to fall in love with this somewhat tacky event. I love how so many countries can get together to celebrate music, despite differences in taste etc. - and that nothing is ever too much at the particular event; no skirt too short, no shirt too tight, no dance too inappropriate. Eveything goes and I absolutely love it. Yesterday was the grand finale, and I got together with the other Eurovision enthusiasts of my family to watch it (plus my boyfriend, who is not exactly an enthusiast - it seems to be growing on him though). You can imagine our excitement when Emmelie won for Denmark with 'Only Teardrops'. I was so thrilled, especially since I think it was very, very well-derserved. A champagne toast was in order.

Now on to the cupcakes, which I brought to our Eurovision get-together. I cannot believe I've never tried this before. When I stumbled upon this lovely recipe I was so excited and anxious to test it at once. How brilliant to replace butter with avocado, I thought. And now that I've tried it I suddenly see no reason to use butter in cakes ever again. Seriously. The avocado makes the texture so rich and smooth, and I can't wait to experiment some more and pair it with other flavors. I always like to reduce sugar what ever I'm baking or cooking, and for these cupcakes I left it out completely, replacing it with artificial sweetener. I made some other small alterations, like replacing the buttermilk with skimmed milk. Here's my version of the recipe:

Chocolate and avocado cupcakes (makes 16). Loosely adapted from Itsybitsyfoodies:

3 squares of unsweetened chocolate (85 % cocoa)

1,25 dl. boiling water

2 mashed avocados

Artificial sweetener (or 4,5 dl. sugar)

3 eggs

0,6 dl. skyr (i.e. low-fat cremefraiche)

4,8 dl. flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

2,4 dl. skimmed milk

Glaze:

3 dl. icing sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons skimmed milk

Start by pouring the hot water over the chocolate, and stir until the chocolate is melted and dissolved. In a large bowl, mix avocado, skyr (or cremefraiche), and sweetener. Then add eggs and the chocolate mixture, and stir mildly using a hand mixer. Add flour, baking soda, vanilla, and milk, and stir mildly with a hand mixer until you have a smooth and tender dough. Pour the batter into a cupcake pan (if not using paper cupcake forms, spread a thin layer of butter into the pan), and bake for 20 minutes at 175 degrees C. Mix the glaze ingredients until the texture is smooth and thick. You can adjust the amount of milk and sugar to reach the desired consistency, but I recommend you make it rather thick - that way it's easier to spread it onto the cupcakes. When the cupcakes have cooled, use a spoon to spread the glaze on top, and add sprinkles or which ever garnish you desire.

Dansk: IH, hvor er det fantastisk, vi vandt Eurovision! Jeg så det med min MGP-entusisastiske familie, og der blev skålet i champagne, da sejren var hjemme. Så fedt. Til vores lille komsammen medbragte jeg ovenviste cupcakes, som indeholder avocado i stedet for smør. Ja, den er god nok, og de smagte fantastisk. Jeg brugte denne opskrift men erstattede sukkeret med flydende sødemiddel og kærnemælken med skummetmælk.