AFTER THE over-indulgence of December's celebrations January is usually a month when everyone chooses to eat less.

They begin a new year with a new 'lose weight/be more healthy' ethos and generally try to be good to keep out bloated waistlines at bay.

Well on a personal level, I have decided to attempt a new regime this January and attempt living a Vegan lifestyle for a month.

As a vegetarian of over twenty five years, I am wanting to try a Vegan diet for a few ethical and environmental reasons, but also to see whether there are any health benefits to be had.

Of course being Vegan means no products derived from animals, so dairy products including eggs, milk, butter and cream are all off the menu.

For the last few weeks I have been researching foods that I can both cook with and bake with whilst still enjoying a Vegan diet.

I have been pleasantly surprised to see that a lot of cakes can be made without dairy products by replacing the butter with oils, and the eggs with banana, flax seed, chia seeds or avocado to help the mixture bind together and to add moisture.

With this in mind, I've decided to share with you a recipe that incorporates one of these ingredients, to establish just how well it works and how good it tastes – a Vegan chocolate and avocado cake!

I really like avocados. Tasty, smooth and indulgent, they're the good fats that our bodies need to stay healthy. The substitution of avocado in baked goods helps increase their nutritional value by contributing nearly twenty vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

In addition, over 75 per cent of the fat in avocados is unsaturated (mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats), making them a great substitute for foods or ingredients high in saturated fat. These types of fat can reduce the risk of stroke or heart attack along with the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood.

Thanks to its anti-inflammatory benefits, avocados may even relieve other sorts of inflammatory-related aches and pains too. Also, being extra useful for baking with, avocados contain a high water content, so they can also make recipes softer, chewier and less likely to crumble.

So what about the coupling of chocolate and avocado flavours? The avocado has a subtle flavour so in terms of the cake flavour, if you did not know it was included, you probably would not be able to guess.

Using a good quality cocoa powder ensures the chocolate overpowers the avocado, but leaves room for its creaminess to enhance the cake mixture. For the frosting, the avocado makes it thick and shiny, perfect for topping cakes.

For the recipe I used Green and Blacks Cocoa powder, which is Vegan friendly and is a luxurious way to enjoy cocoa powder in my opinion!

Made of 100 per cent organic cocoa powder, the product is also made using fairly traded ingredients, which makes me happy.

This lovely moist chocolate and avocado cake can be made two days ahead of any event or celebration too, so it's pretty handy to help yourself getting prepared!