Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The Tale of Avocado---or a Nanaimo Bar with a Twist


Avocado.

Grumpy and (sometimes) wrinkled on the outside, the green of spring within. There are several types available during the warmer months in Melbourne, but my favourite is the round, smooth-skinned Reed. Eating a Reed avocado is as close as you can get to total indulgence. Firmer in texture than the ubiquitous Hass, yet smooth and buttery at the same time, it is a luxury when you can find it.

Most people are surprised when they find out that I eat my avocados sweet. I think it's a South East Asian thing---avocado smoothie was one of the treats I had growing up. I would always order it whenever we sit down to lunch during our weekend expedition to the mall. My mom still makes it for me whenever they are in season when she comes over. 'Australian avocados are so much nicer to eat than the stringy ones we get back home', she said. I have to agree.

Avocado smoothie is essentially composed of condensed milk, avocado, and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Before you judge me, let me say that I still find the idea of eating avocado in a savoury dish very strange, the exception being a particular recipe for chicken, celery, avocado and mayo sandwich that I love.
Even J, who was skeptical at first when I ordered an avocado smoothie at a local Thai restaurant, fell in love with it at the first sip.

But have you eaten an avocado on its own, without any distracting adornment? Tell me what it tastes like. For me, theres that distinctive nutty taste, followed by the smooth, buttery and creamy texture. But is it salty, or sweet, or sour, or bitter? Maybe I don't have a very refined palate, but it doesn't taste like any of those to me. But therein lies the true value of the avocado. It adds a very desirable texture and a subtle nutty taste without compromising on the harmony of flavours. It is an enhancer; you know that the avocado won't upstage the real star of the show, whatever he/she may be.

Besides, in a world where beets, pumpkin, zuchinni and carrots are made into cakes, and where mangoes, apples and even plums are incorporated into salads and sauces, who's there to judge how I use my avocados?

This preamble was meant as an introduction to my January DB Challenge. This month's challenge was a Canadian treat called the Nanaimo Bar, which is quite similar to the Australian confection called Caramel Slice. I decided to combine the two---creating the traditional Nanaimo Bar base using GF graham crackers (yum!), cocoa powder, and dessicated coconut. I had ran out of Golden Syrup so opted instead for honey. I also reduced the amount of brown sugar used in the recipe by a quarter, having been tipped off by Y about the sweetness of the biscuit.

The middle layer is a result of my love for avocados. I used a traditional caramel slice recipe, where you cook condensed milk to a golden brown, but with my own twist with the addition of avocado puree. I first made this filling about 4 months ago when avocados started coming into season, and even contemplated its inclusion into my summer range. It was good, and I knew that the flavours would work even before I made it because caramel slice contains the exact ingredients it took to make an avocado smoothie: condensed milk and chocolate. The verdict from my co-workers: Yum! Most of them didn't even know there was avocado in it. The green made them think 'pistachio', they said.

But in the end I decided against it because 1. it will most likely be a hard-sell, as people are used to eating avocados in a savoury dish; and 2. I'm very new to the baking business scene, and therefore want to avoid being remembered as 'the strange one who puts avocado in her caramel slice'.

But I think I'll hang on to the recipe, because it is too good to give up on it just yet. And one summer day, it may even make it to my product range.

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

17 comments:

natalia said...

CIao ! How funny ! I used avocado too !! I thought it was too crazy but at least I'm not alone !!

natalia said...

CIao ! How funny ! I used avocado too !! I thought it was too crazy but at least I'm not alone !!

Gala said...

Wow, how creative!

minisuperbias said...

Avacado, that's awesome! I must admit, I didn't even try creativity, so this is great!

Cherie said...

Very exciting! Love avocadoes:)

Meeta K. Wolff said...

avocado? wow how intriguing and very creative!

Julia @Mélanger said...

FANTASTIC! Not for this challenge, but for my Tropical Fruit Month on my blog, I was thinking of using avocado in some way. What a totally creative idea. I'm sure it was delicious.

Anonymous said...

Hey there! I adore avocados. I think I tried to make it into a cupcake once, but found it a little hard to stomach since I reduced the sugar and it made it taste quite..queer. Im so glad to find a fellow Melbourne blogger. Well I lived there for 4 yrs and now I'm away.

Mallory Elise said...

savory avocados. hmmm. you better come to brazil, mhm. you'll fit in with the sweeties :)

Hannah said...

This is a brilliant idea! I'm not much of a fan of avocado but I can absolutely see it working as an added creamy texture/flavour in a sweet dish like this. Bravo!

Y said...

I love it's 'buttery-ness', and that's probably why I love it on toast. The colour of the avocado component in your Nanaimo bar is awesome!

Anonymous said...

Oohh yummm, this is a great twist on the caramel slice mmm creamy and sweet!

LittleRed said...

I had a friend from PI back in highschool who introduced me to avocado icecream. It was delicious and I bet your slice was as well. Great job!

Jill @ Jillicious Discoveries said...

I love the idea of an avocado smoothie--I think I would really like that! What a creative job you did on the Nanaimo Bars--excellent job! :)

Mary said...

Your bars look delicious! I made a more traditional version and found them too sweet and rich. I loved the graham crackers, though.
I like my avocados both sweet and savoury. My favourite smoothie is with avocado, cold water, lime juice and sugar. It blends up really creamy and delicious!

creampuff said...

Oh, bravo!!! I love that middle layer with avocado. Very creative ... well done!

Eyes Bigger Than Belly said...

Wow! Gorgeous post - I can't beleive you put avocado in there - but I would definately want to taste it if I had the chance!! They look so yummy! :)
This is only my 2nd Daring Bakers Challenge and I'm loving it so far! :)