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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This looks amazing! I’ve started bookmarking green recipes for St. Patrick’s Day and it’s so refreshing to find one that doesn’t require pistachio pudding. Thanks!
Ohh so interesting! How in the world do you come up with something like this!
Now I’ve always wondered abou this and I am so excited about how this turned out – can’t wait to try it. Love the colour!
I am in love! I’ve always wondered about baking with avocados, they seem so meant for it! I am very excited and might put off a few other baking endeavors in order to make this.
Hi Joy the baker, awesome post! I would really like to make my own avocado pound cake since avocados are cheap here in the philippines. What can i substitute with cornmeal? i don’t think we have cornmeal here. thanks so much! =)
You can substitute polenta for cornmeal – it’s basically just coarser ground cornmeal (so, in theory, you could run it through a food processor to make it more finely ground, but i doubt that it’s necessary).
Sandy, cornmeal is VERY available here in the Philippines. Look for it in orange boxes in larger supermarkets like Landmark and Unimart.
I’d love to try this when I have an oven again. I currently live in Indonesia, and they classify avocados as fruits here. A common drink is “avocado juice,” which is really more like an avocado smoothie. They usually drizzle chocolate sauce into it too. Sounds strange to us Westerners at first, but the avocado drinks are actually delicious. Look into it – it’s worth playing around with!
How can I cut down the the refined sugar in this recipe? Can I use honey instead or applesauce?
http://www.ehow.com/how_2104497_replace-sugar-stevia.html
Check out this link.
I have not tried it yet, but I plan to.
Have you baked with Stevia, Joy?
Joy,
Slipper socks or not I’d marry you in a second ;-) I did already once propose to you via twitter….and you said yes….I still need to move out there so we can start planning!
Your future husband
Matt :-)
The citrus along side your cake is such a great idea. I love the combo of avovados and grapefruit so that looks wonderful! I wonder if a bit of grapefruit zest in the batter might be nice too…
I would love to read more on this website but the text on the sidebar is too light for me to read comfortably.
I baked the Avocado Chocolate Cake (for a Vegan friend) and we all loved it!! I can’t wait to try this one.
Yay for avocados in desserts! Love it.
I can’t wait to try out this recipe! Do you think you could add bananas to this cake as well?? The flavors go really well together; I recently tried creating a banana-avocado buttercream for a banana cupcake!
Sounds so moist! Can’t wait to try it, toast it, and smother it in honey…or butter…or both.
Joy, What fun this is! I love the idea of you in your slipper socks, eating supermarket cookies, watching the bachelor finale — simultaneously!
Question — I assume you use the yummy high fat Hass avocado or something similar. I wonder if this would be a good use for those enormous and cheaper ones that are advertised as “low fat.” Those are much cheaper around here, but I must say that they’re kind of nasty compared to the rich, lovely regular avocado… Any thoughts?
Sounds great! Avacados are one of my favorite things :o) Thanks for sharing!
This is an intriguing recipe – it sounds like it would go well with lemon or lime – lemon curd MAY be a bit too much, but then again…
oooh I can’t wait to try this Joy! Thanks for the great recipe!
This sounds so goooood! Thanks for sharing the recipe. The sugar content is way high – though it does make 2 loaves. Do you think the result will be messed up if 2 cups of sugar are used instead of 3?
slightly green tint is perfect for St. Patty’s day coming up!! Love the creative baking w/avocados, keep em coming!
Oh wow. I must admit this seems a bit strange to me, but I’ll bet it’s wonderful. It must be fun to eat green sweets!
Just so happens I have avocados and I am in crave for them!! Thanks for the afternoon baking project…I’ll let you know how it goes! ~Chris Ann
This cake looks positively delightful!
HUGE/BIG CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING CHOSEN FOR ONE OF 8 BEST FOOD BLOGGERS BY FORBES MAGAZINE. Although, I don’t always comment, I LOVE your site. I stalk it weekly.
my, that batter is absolutely beautiful.
Great Goodness–how cool is this?!
My sister in law made this for me and its So good. I wouldn’t think Avocado would work in sweet but its great.
Theres something about the way you photograph your pound cakes, they just look epic. I imagine every slice lands on your cutting board with some kind of slow motion thump..much like when astronaughts walk. I am going to give this a spin, as much as Mr Bake & Bloom will think I am a nut for making green cake.
I’m actually a little depressed that I have no avocados on hand at the moment . . . that’s how badly I want to make this cake RIGHT. NOW.
Wow!! This looks just amazing. It’s on my list for sure!
I must say, Joy, the pukish colored dough just looks…bizarre. But if you say so, I’ve got to try it. ;)
OMG! I love avacado and this looks amazing. A must try for sure. Thanks!!!
I made an avocado pie because my mother asked me too, and was absolutely surprised that it worked and tasted great! I’m sure she’s now going to request that I make Avocado Pound Cake!
Soo I made it!!! Quite delicous. Actually extremely deiclous…especially with honey.
Here are my thoughts:
#1. I love how brown it gets on the outside. It just maximizes on that thin crust everyone loves on loaves.
#2. The nutty taste is definately growing on me.
#3. The middle totally didn’t cook…but I kinda liked it…ok I really liked because the batters so tasty!
BUT if I wanted it to be more cooked in the middle what should I do?
And Joy, you rock my world. Just saying.
I love that you bake with avocados. LOVE!
I’ve never heard of this cake. It looks delicious!
iza:)
Love your website Joy! Well done. I just made the avocado pound cake and it turned out wonderful! My entire family loved it! Kind of wish it didn’t have so much sugar…but it is REALLY good! I had to bake mine an extra 10 minutes….FYI.
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it out for my super picky daughter who doesn’t believe in eating greens! Thank you! Btw – I LOVE your site. :)
ok, so I have it in the oven right now. I’m getting a little nervous, because it has already been 45 min. and it’s not done in the centers yet. I’m trying to be patient!!! I can’t wait to eat it and then take it to work for all to try.
What is funny about baking this is that I waited for the kids to turn their heads so I could dump in the avocado mash. I didn’t want any skeptics. LOL!!
Thanks Joy!
I can’t wait to try this out especially since Avocados will be in season soon here in the Philippines. What a wonderful idea!
PS I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love your blog. Thank you so much for sharing all these yummy stuff with us.
I made this today. It was quite tasty and very moist. Thanks again for another creative recipe.
Joy…I put your Avocado Pound Cake photo and a link to the recipe on my blog today. I’m calling it Green Pound Cake for St. Patrick’s Day. Thanks. Your blog is great.
Rosemary
How do you prevent the center of the bread from falling in ??? Any ideas? Help!
What’s a good way to cut down on the sugar? 3 cups is wayyy too much. Thanks.
I am allergic to wheat and dairy… do you have any suggestions for substitutions?
Now I know what else to do with my avacado.
avocado pound cake – wow wow wow !
I love this idea! Would you mind if I shared it on your blog, while providing credit and a link back to yours? Please let me know, thanks.
Courtney
courtney@thepicketfence.com
Avocado Pound Cake?!?! Okay, it’s official. I’m totally and utterly in love with you. =]
made this recipe last night = perfect! thank you! :)
Well I just made this, and it went down a treat with (rather suspicious) housemates! I used your flavour ideas and made a icing/glaze with a little of rosewater and some lemon zest, which was subtle but went beautifully.
Even as I type another friend’s just come in, and the lucky cake-testers are explaining:
‘DON’T judge the name, cause it’s a… a pound cake?- and it’s got avocados in. But it’s really good!’
‘We demanded buttercream and everything, but she made this green thing, and it was LUSH.’
… They have no faith in me, Joy.
Thanks for this recipe!
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