healthy avocado loaf with a lime glaze

HEAD’S UP if you’re a londoner – or will be in london come october – and love food fests: I have a giveaway happening later today!

let’s start by saying that this loaf is gorgeous. the loaf is a deep golden outside, and the most brilliant pastel green withine green, the icing is a brilliant white cover holding a sprinkle of green pepitas in place.

there isn’t any added fat in this recipe – it’s essentially a pound cake with the butter replaced by a fair amount of mashed avocado (rather deservedly termed nature’s butter) and with only four ingredients to it, it’s an easy task to churn this one out in an hour (and most of that’s spent baking, what’s more). if you’ve ever made a fat-free banana bread, the texture of this one will be pretty familiar – it’s got the sturdiness of a quickbread and a rather elastic crumb, and makes for a heck of a great tea accompainment.

.

I hopped onto the idea of an avocado cake on one of my travails through the blogosphere, and the idea took root. I’m not much of a butter eater, and that translates to a lack of avocado intake too – except in sushi, which it is brilliant with – but the whole genius of replacing the butter with avocado was too inspiring to ignore.

plus, it turns out a green cake – and that’s my favorite color. more than enough reason to proceed.

it’s not a sweet cake – so while I normally eschew the use of a glaze, I stuck with it here; especially since the citrusy sweetness brings a refreshing counterpoint to the cake. the elastic crumb is important to note here – it’s not one of those fluffy pound cakes, and reminds me a little more of bread than cake, but hey, that means it’s healthy, right? the pepitas provide just the right amount of contrasting texture, and I’m going to suggest that toasted pistachio nuts would do just as well – or even better.

actually come to think of it – if you don’t glaze this cake, then perhaps you could slice it, toast it, and serve warm with a dollop of citrus curd and a sprinkle of seeds. yum.

try it, eat it, tell me if you like it!

avocado loaf cake (adapted from undomestikated)

113g sugar
2 eggs
120g ripe avocado flesh, mashed (it really must be ripe) + a few drops of lime juice stirred through to prevent excessive oxidation
113g self-raising flour (or 113g plain flour minus 2 tsp plus 2 tsp baking powder plus 0.5 tsp salt)

1. preheat your oven to 180C, and line a loaf pan – I used my favorite liners.
2. whisk the sugar and eggs together until doubled in volume. then add the mashed avocado, and continue beating on high speed until fully incorporated and the mixture is a light (as in airy) and light (as in shade) green mixture.
3. sift the flour over the mixture, and gently but thoroughly fold in.
4. bake the cake for about 30-40 minutes, removing from the oven when a cake tester removes clean. let cool completely in pan.
5. when the cake is cool, you can make a simple glaze with lime juice and icing sugar (I used about half cup of icing sugar, and enough lime juice to make it drizzlable, but still thick enough to stay on top. sprinkle with pumpkin seeds or chopped pistachio nuts while the glaze is still sticky!

this is my contribution to the monthly link party, our growing edge, which connects food bloggers and inspires us to try new things. this month’s party is hosted by Marija at Palachinka – and if you’ve had any new food experiences this month, come and join us!