I tried Kylie Jenner's controversial avocado toast and am surprised she got so much flak

Jenner shared a photo of her ingredients, as well as a close-up of her avocado toast glistening with honey.

The sweet and spicy recipe caused a stir. Hello! magazine even proclaimed that her "controversial" breakfast would "divide the nation."

When I interviewed Michelin-starred chefs to find out their favorite avocado dishes, California chef Suzette Gresham told me about a similar avocado toast experience.

Gresham — who runs Acquerello in San Francisco — discovered one of her favorite avocado dishes at OWL Bakery in North Carolina, where she ordered avocado toast topped with honey and sprinkles of smoked salt.

The flavor combination, Gresham recalled, was "revolutionary."

To whip up the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star's avocado toast, you'll need:

• Avocado (of course)
• Sourdough bread
• Honey
• Crushed red pepper flakes

Like Jenner, I opted for clover honey which — I later learned in my research — has a sweeter and lighter taste than natural pure honey.

I have to admit, reader, that the beautiful fruit you see in the picture above was not the first avocado I tried to use for this recipe.

I first cut into an avocado I had bought a few weeks ago from Costco, when it was hard as a rock. But the avocado, with its sad pale-green flesh and unsightly brown veins, was likely past its due date.

But this was supposed to be a replication of Jenner's toast, and I knew the Kardashian star would never eat a subpar avocado. So I dashed to the grocery store and prayed to the avocado gods that I'd somehow find one that was already perfectly ripe.

Thankfully, they were listening!

My sourdough was actually too big to fit into my toaster slots, so I cut two slices for this experiment.

It was time to get mashing.

The mash looked exactly as it had on Jenner's Instagram story.

The mash had a beautiful, vibrant hue and I couldn't wait to tuck into the toast. That long walk back to the grocery store had definitely been worth it.

I drizzled a generous amount of clover honey right on top of the toast.

I'm a huge fan of spicy food, so I made sure that I didn't miss a spot when it came to the red pepper flakes. Per Jenner's recipe, I also added a sprinkle of salt on top and got ready to dig in.

The honey adds a little oomph to the avocado toast, but there isn't actually a huge difference in taste — hardly one to divide the nation!

I thought there'd be a more dramatic contrast in flavors, but they actually blended together far more seamlessly than I had expected.

I'd also worried that adding honey on top would turn the toast into a mushy mess, but the textures paired well. I was glad that I had really toasted my sourdough bread, as it needed that big crunch to offset the soft avocado on top.

I've always loved pairing sweet with spicy, so I wish the flavor contrast in Jenner's avocado toast had been more dramatic. I actually tried some of my toast with beans that I had doused in hot sauce, and loved the added heat.

At the end of the day, Jenner's avocado toast is a great foundation for playing with flavors. I think this recipe could be a slam dunk with some hot honey, or a hot sauce that packs more of a kick than red pepper flakes. I'm also curious to see how it would pair with a spicy sweet chili sauce, or how the flavor could change with different types of honey.

"Keeping Up with the Kardashians" may be coming to an end, but, when it comes to avocado toast, the options are clearly infinite.

• Read more:
• 9 easy dishes you can make with an avocado, according to Michelin-starred chefs
• I tried Chrissy Teigen's controversial technique for making perfect eggs and found she doesn't deserve the hate
• I tried the breakfast smoothie that Reese Witherspoon has made every day for the last 9 years and it kept me full for hours
• I tried cooking eggs in a coffee machine like Martha Stewart, and it made the best omelette I've ever had
• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author(s).