Avocado Pound Cake
I’d really like to conjure up some useful information for you. That would be nice, right? I could tell you all about avocados. Where they came from. What a lovely shade of green they are. Why they’re so expensive at the grocery store… you know, things like that.
But you didn’t come here for boring old information… did you!?
I didn’t think so.
You came here because you want me to admit to eating Pepperidge Farm Soft Bake Cookies…which is totally happening right now. You came here because you want me to admit to rrreeeeaaaalllllyyyy wanting to watch the season finale of The Bachelor… it’s true… it’s a problem. You came here because you want me to admit to wearing my big fluffy slipper socks. The dreaded socks/shoes that will keep me single for eternity. Well… I’m wearing them and I’m loving it.
So there, friends. It’s all out on the table. Now can we talk about cake?
I’ve baked with avocado before. Remember the Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake with Avocado Buttercream? Yea… that was intense… and surprising… and bright green. Amazing.
I got my hands on another round of avocados and made some magic happen. This recipe makes two glorious loaves of cake. I’ve cut back on the butter and thrown in some ripe mashed avocados. The batter is moistened with buttermilk and bakes up with a lovely golden top and faintly green center.
Can you taste the avocado after the cake is baked? Heck yes you can! It’s subtle but distinct with a nice sweetness and a hint of crunch from cornmeal. I love this pound cake. It’s a home run.
We served this pound cake for The Violet Hour supper brunch with blood orange, pink grapefruit and pomelo segments and a lightly sweetened rose whipped cream. Whoa! Whole lotta yum.
Avocado Pound Cake
makes 2 9x4x3-inch loaves
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
flesh of 1 1/2 ripe avocados, just over a cup to a cup and a half of avocado, mashed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two loaf pans and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. Set the four eggs out on the counter to come to room temperature while you beat the butter and sugar.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until softened and pliable. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the avocado and beat another minute to incorporate. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is thoroughly mixed.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after the addition of each egg. Beat in vanilla extract.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the flour mixture, all of the buttermilk, and then the rest of the flour mixture. Beat just until combined.
Divide the dough between the two loaf pans and place in the oven. Turn the oven down to 325 degrees F. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. I checked my cakes every ten minutes or so after the 30 minute mark. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
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Wow, I love avocado and this sounds amazing, I really want to try it. I can’t wait to get enough ripe avo’s to do this!
Oh my, that looks amazing! I love the colour. I’m sooo trying this. Avocados are cheap cheap cheap here at the moment too. Thanks for sharing :)
I have never bake anything with avacado, this cake look interesting, must try one day. Thanks for sharing.
Lovely shade of green, really un unusual cake. Can one really bake pound cakes with everything, this sounds really interesting
Sounds interesting – looks really yummy with the orange segments and the cream! They can be so expensive though… Might try it one day if I get some cheap at the market
Yay! I was hoping you’d post this. The avocado cake is what brought me to your blog and I loved it! I’ve since had avocado gelato (also YUM), and thought it tasted kind of like green grapes, which is what the buttercream really reminded me of. Does this pound cake have that sort of flavor? It’s definitely going on my to-bake list!
i didn’t really get much green grape flavor from this cake. lots of yummy avocado though!
I love avocado but have never baked with it – definitely going to try this recipe. I also love the idea of serving it the rose whipped cream, gorgeous!
Avocados cost about $10 a piece around here right now, but I can totally make an exception for this cake!!
holy cow! $10 an avocado!? holy smokes!
terrific idea, gorgeous color! healthiest pound cake i’ve ever seen! p.s. i wear fluffy slipper socks too…
So GREEN!!!! I love it. I must give it a try as soon as I can.
thank you! I Love your blog.
Cheers from Spain.
I am so happy to see this recipe! Soumething else to make with my favorite fruit…condiment ingredient….sandwich stacker……soup topper and now cake! yum.
This is the neatest recipe! Looks great!
perfect for st.patrick’s day!
oooh! I love this idea! We are huge avocado fans over here and I will tell you I didn’t quite jump on your avocado buttercream (sorry, I was scared!) I will definitely be trying this!
I love your blog and this cake is a major reason why. I can’t wait to try it.
xo Carmen
You totally combined my favorite dessert with my wife’s new favorite food! That is such a great idea. Can’t wait to try it.
dooooo it!!!!!
Joy, you are awesome! I saw mention of this cake from your supper, and I was really hoping you would post the recipe. I made the chocolate cake with avocado icing for a picnic (as cupcakes), and they were a hit with the kids there. They were trying to get the adults to try them, saying “they’re actually good!” My b’day is on St. Patrick’s day, so I am looking forward to having some more of that green icing soon!
love it!!! this is your perfect cake!
Wow! I love everything about this pound cake and I love you Joy with your slipper socks! I have some…. they are REALLY warm.
i love that you can see the hint of green from the avocado in the cake! ive never used avocado in my baking but its such a great idea…must test out!
I love avocados soooo much! When I find them on sale, I try to snag some. I am wondering, is there a good way to halve this recipe for one loaf? I’ve read that just using half of the ingredients isn’t best because of something to do with ratios, or something so I’m afraid to try it with a recipe using avos! Have you tried this, or do you have some thoughts on it?
it’s super easy to make two loaves and just keep one in the freezer for a while. i haven’t tried this recipe halved.. it may work out just fine. i just found that baking two was easier for me.
avocados really are fascinating little things! love the rose cream with the loaf! great idea. :) i just went to this amazing, extravagant pâtisserie in sydney the other day where adriano zumbo, australias closest thing to a celeb chef, comes up with crazy creations. i spent a fortune and one of the pastries i bought was called “Is Anybody Working?”: Apricot mousse, avcocado crème, almond jelly, coconut dacquoise (gluten free). so many different layers of flavours and depths; bright orange and whimsical, totally awesome. havent blogged about it yet but will do in the next few days! avocados rock! :)
sounds absolutely amazing!
Avocados in cake?! I never would have thought of that.
Ohh how interesting and unusal. Never tried avocado before in a baked good. Love the colour. Longing to try a slice.
Yum!!! This looks spectacular! And cheers to the slipper socks, Joy! You won’t be single forever, because any man whose a real man will embrace your slipper socks and be forever thankful that he gets to be with you. And when you meet this said man, will you ask if he has a brother?
hahahaa! too funny elizabeth. don’t get me wrong… i know the whole husband thing will work out eventually. i just like to make fun of myself in my slipper socks.
This looks so moist and yummy. And Joy, I watched the season finale of the Bachelor. Totally worth all the shame I felt later. It was great.
Baking with avocado, who know?! Amazing! I love that the taste comes out in it because really, who doesn’t love the taste of avocado?!
Oh Joy! That looks amazing. how cool are you baking a cake with avocado? The green is amazing, such a gorgeous mix with citrus fruits. I’ll have to try it. Thanks for the great recipe. x Lilly
Will have to give this a try this weekend. I am in the South and avocados are about 3/$1 right now.
Ok, I have to admit, I’m a little afraid, but very intrigued. I love avocados, and I love baking things with “different” ingredients. Can’t wait to try it.
I’ve been finding a killer deal on avocados at a local grocery lately ($0.99/ea), and I’ll admit to eating A LOT of guacamole. This pound cake threaten to knock the guac out of the water, though. Avocado in a sweet? Heck yeah. I’m super excited to try this.
I love my slipper socks! And so does my boyfriend. How else could I skate around on the kitchen floor while waiting for the oven timer?
oh man, oh man. i have had that chocolate avocado cake bookmarked for a while now and still haven’t made the stinkin’ thing, and now you bring to me an avocado pound cake?? shame on you, joy :). maybe avocado will be the theme ingredient for my upcoming iron chef party, and then i can bust out both! i’ll keep my fingers crossed!
wow! thanks for sharing this with us. i can’t wait to try this out, sounds delicious!
Gorrrgeous colors! Sounds wonderful!!
Now all you need is a snuggie, Joy!
Would never have thought of avocado in cake . . . but this looks oddly scrumptious!
I remember that vegan avocado cake! I really want to try this recipe. I absolutely adore avocado so why not put it in a baked good!! Avocado with dinner and dessert. It’s a win-win situation :)
What a unique poundcake – it sounds fabulous with the avocado!
I am totally making this for my kids for St. Pattys Day. They will never know it has something healthy in it! Looks great Joy. Thanks again for a great recipe!
It’s recipes like this that really make me wish I had my own avocado tree. Most of the time I end up eating them before I could even get them into a cake, but this looks really, really good!
Husband loves LOVES loves avocados and I love cutting some butter outta the recipes. I can’t wait to try this. I know it’ll be a hit here at my house. I’d love to see more avocado recipes soon. Thanks,Joy! P.S. I swear I saw you in the DC airport around Christmastime. If it wasn’t you, your twin! Poor girl, I probably freaked her out with my staring scrutiny trying to decide whether or not it was you.
is cornmeal like polenta?
yes but ground finer. :)
Joy,
I am so excited that you posted this recipe. Since we had it the Violet Hour brunch Tracy and Thomas have wanted me to email you to get the recipe. I can not wait to make it. Now I just need to know how to make the Rose whipped cream to complete it. Tracy who does not really like whipped cream loved it. Thanks again for the wonderful food at the Violet Hour brunch and for posting this totally awesome recipe.
I’m so glad you guys came down! You were a treat! And yes… bake up this cake, enjoy it and then… bring me bourbon.
I love avocados and I’ve made avocado ice cream, which was surprisingly delicious. I’m going to have to come back to this recipe and the chocolate one too. I’m sure they are both delicious!
I love the idea of making sweet things with veggies. Have recently gotten in to red violet cake with beetroot. BTW I love your blog. Have been following it for awhile and it’s been an inspiration for me to start my own. Thanks!
Joy, you are the best! This is going into my oven, then my stomach very soon!
I already have this on my Menu for next week! Avocados are going on sale at our grocery store. Only $1.25 a piece :) So, I’ll definitely be making this. Oh, and I loved the tip in the comments above about freezing the second loaf. And I’m also making the Maple Syrup Pancake Muffins tonight. I may wear my slipper socks in tribute to you while I’m baking :) Thanks Joy!
But here’s my question — can you make this with avocados that aren’t quite pristine? That aren’t pretty enough to go on toast, and might make your guacamole slightly unappetizing? Can this be the avocado version of banana bread?
YUM! What a unique recipe!!
I love that you made green cake. :-) How very Dr. Seussian of you. :-)
Wow I’m in Canada(Southern Ontario)and our avacados are around 4 for $5 ….where are the $10 ones?? Anyways the pound cake looks totally scrumptious..it’ll be making it this weekend!!