Too Many Avocados & Apples!

So I was making my menu plan and shopping list for next week (I shop on Monday mornings) and noticed that I had 3 very ripe avocados in the fridge that needed to be used very soon or thrown away. I don't like to throw away food (unless it is obviously gone bad) so I looked for some recipes that I might make using them.

We have also been getting a couple of apples every week in our CSA farm share so I needed to use some of them soon too. Here is what I came up with:

First, I made Avocado Fudge. It may sound weird, but since avocados basically take on the flavors that you pair them with, these are super rich chocolaty, fudgie fudge! 

*Note: I can't eat dairy, so the substitutions that I made are in brackets

Avocado Fudge:

1 Avocado-peeled and pitted

1/2 cup unsalted butter-melted [1/2 cup Earth Balance sticks]

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup chocolate chips-melted [1/2 cup Enjoy Life dairy free chocolate chips]

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 cups confectioners sugar

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Blend avocado and melted butter together in a blender until completely smooth; pour into a saucepan and place over low heat.

Stir cocoa powder, melted chocolate chips,and vanilla extract into the avocado mixture until smooth. Add 3 cups confectioners' sugar in small amounts, stirring each addition completely into the avocado mixture before introducing the next; cook and stir until thick and smooth, 5 to 10 minutes.

Grease a baking dish. Pour the fudge batter into the baking dish and smooth with a spatula into an even layer. Sprinkle chopped walnuts atop the fudge.

Refrigerate fudge until firmly set, at least 1 hour. Cut into squares. 

I found a recipe for Fresh Apple Cake and another recipe for Avocado Icing and thought that they would go together well. This cake takes a really long time to bake, so I was able to also make up batch of Apple Fritters as well as the icing while it baked. 

Here are those 3 recipes:

Fresh Apple Cake

1 1/2 Cups Vegetable oil

2 cups white sugar

3 eggs, beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 1/2 cups apples-cored and diced 

1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F Grease one 10 inch tube pan.

Beat together the oil, eggs, vanilla and sugar.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to egg mixture; stir in apples, and  nuts

Pour into prepared pan and bake at 325 degrees F for 1 1/2 hrs or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and frost with Avocado Icing (recipe below)

Avocado Icing

2 Avocados, peeled and pitted

1 Tbs fresh lime juice (lemon or orange juice can be used as a substitute)

3 cups confectioners sugar

1 Tbs vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine the avocado and lime juice in a bowl; mix with a hand mixer about 2 minutes. Add the sugar in small amounts while continually mixing until smooth. Mix in the vanilla extract.

Apple Fritters

1 Tbs Butter [Earth Balance]

2 large apples, cored and diced

1 Tbs white sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 large egg

1/4 cup white sugar

1 Tbs melted butter [Earth Balance]

1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice (you can use sparkling cider for lighter batter)

2 cups vegetable oil for frying

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Melt butter over medium-high heat and cook until it turns golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add apples and cook over medium-high heat until apples just begin to soften around the edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon sugar and continue cooking another 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Drain in a strainer; let cool to room temperature.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl until well combined.

.Whisk egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter together in a separate mixing bowl. Add cooled apple pieces and sparkling apple cider; add the flour mixture. Stir just until flour is incorporated.

Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spoon about 2 tablespoons batter per fritter, into hot oil, slightly flattening them out. Cook in batches. Fry on one side until small bubbles appear on the surface, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip fritters over and fry the other side until richly browned, about 2 more minutes.

Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain grease. Cool slightly.

Place slightly cooled fritters into a paper bag. Dump in powdered sugar. Shake the bag to coat the fritters with powdered sugar. 

I hope you will try one or more of these recipes!

Thanks for stopping by today! Comments and questions are always welcome!

Christina