Vegan Chocolate Slime Cake

So maybe that's not the best name for this, but it's the one I like best. The real name is below in the link. But I made this as a Halloween cake and frankly the frosting reminded us of the movie Ghostbusters. More specifically, it reminded us of the ectoplasm or slime that covered Dr. Peter Venkman after his first encounter with the gluttonous hotel ghost (appropriately nicknamed "Slimer").

Perhaps this is not the best cake to take to a potluck, but with various people's allergies and other nutritional restrictions to consider... I thought I'd try it. Besides, it looked like a lot of fun and all I had to buy were avocados which we picked up at a little roadside stand on the way home. My favorite recipes are always the ones I don't have to go shopping for.

We later decorated the top with little rubber bats, rats and black cats, hoping to ensure the interest of the kids present... unnecessary really, with that bright green frosting! I won't repeat what the Hubs told them it was made from, but it was ironic that while they thought it was (insert name of gross stuff here), they ate it without a problem; once the mystery ingredient was revealed to be avocado*, they scraped it off. Kids! As far as I noticed, none of the adults scraped it off, and some even had seconds.

The frosting tasted a little like banana or kiwi, and not at all like avocado. Who knew that avocado mixed with lemon, sugar and vanilla made banana flavor? Alton Brown did, I guess. It's his frosting recipe. The cake itself tasted like chocolate, with not a hint of avocado (or banana for that matter).

• Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake from Joy The Baker

Notes: I used cocoa powder to dust the pans with instead of flour. Cakes tested done at 28 minutes. No problems releasing from pans. The cake could stand to be more chocolate-y but it's dark and moist and looks great. Maybe try the powdered espresso trick? Doubled the amount of vanilla in the frosting. If traveling with it again, either frost it upon arrival or stick skewers through both layers. There's a reason that sheet cakes and bar cookies are popular pot luck desserts.

*Did you know that in French, the word for avocado is the same as their word for lawyer? I don't know why, and I don't know which came first. But it is strange, no? And in case you're wondering, the French word is avocat (pronounced: ah-voh-caht).