Avocado Pound Cake with Blood Orange Glaze Recipe

March 1, 2013
Avocado Pound Cake with Blood Orange Glaze | Fake Food Free


I started the New Year off with a sense of adventure. After a long break from blogging due to our move, I was ready to jump right into some baking experiments. 

I did. And I failed. 

For a few weeks our apartment was filled with dry, gritty donuts and collapsed cakes. So I claimed 2013 the year of cooking, not baking. 

But then I got the bug again. The kind of bug that sees an avocado sitting on the counter and wonders if I can use it in place of butter or oil in a recipe. Not that I don’t fully embrace butter. I was simply up for a challenge. 

The first challenge was getting the right consistency. After blending the avocado and mixing it with sugar, eggs and flour I seemed to be on the right track. It even looked pretty when I took it out of the oven.

Avocado Pound Cake with Blood Orange Glaze
The next challenge was getting it out of the pan. Even though the avocado has a good amount of fat, I was using a non-stick pan and I greased it, given my track record, I wasn’t hopeful. I’m pretty sure I cheered when it slid right out of the pan.

Avocado Pound Cake with Blood Orange Glaze | Fake Food Free
 
The final result? You can replace the butter or oil with avocado. At least with this recipe you can. I ended up with a dense, sweet pound cake, with a tiny hint of avocado flavor and a burst of citrus from the glaze. 
 

Avocado Pound Cake with Blood Orange Glaze

Makes: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1 avocado, peeled and pitted, pureed
1 cup raw sugar (turbinado or Demerara)
¼ cup mascavo sugar (you might be able to substitute brown sugar)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
 
Glaze
1 tablespoon blood orange juice
½ teaspoon orange zest
5 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar 
 
Prep
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a small loaf pan. I used a mini loaf pan, the size that comes with a 4 piece set. The cake expands so this was easily enough for 6 to 8 slices once it was baked. 
 
Add the pureed avocado, the raw sugar and the mascavo sugar to the bowl of a mixer. Beat on medium for about 45 seconds. Add the eggs and beat for about 30 seconds. Mix in the vanilla. 
 
Add the baking powder and salt. Slowly mix in the flour just until all ingredients are combined. 
 
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
 
This is a dense pound cake so make sure to use the knife test to ensure it is baked through. The top of the bread will darken quite a bit.
 
Place the loaf pan on a cooling rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and allow to cool completely.
 
In a small dish, stir together the glaze ingredients, adding the powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time. You might decide you like a thinner or thicker consistency, so add more or less sugar to your liking. 
 
Poor the glaze over the cooled pound cake and let set before slicing and serving. 

Avocado Pound Cake with Blood Orange Glaze | Fake Food Free
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  • Danielle March 1, 2013 at 12:19 pm

    I can’t wait to try this! We are huge avocado fans and I love a good pound cake, so this should be right up our alley. I recently saw a margarita recipe using blood oranges, so I’ll just plan to buy them in bulk so I can use them for both recipes:) Hope Cali is treating you well!

  • Lori Drumm March 1, 2013 at 12:54 pm

    Absolutely gorgeous! If this tastes half as good as it looks…

  • Erica March 1, 2013 at 2:24 pm

    Sounds totally unique and delicious!

  • Sue/the view from great island March 1, 2013 at 2:37 pm

    I’m amazed that you were able to incorporate avocado into a pound cake—it looks beautiful!

  • Reeni Pisano March 1, 2013 at 6:42 pm

    Score! This is so pretty Lori! I really like these unique flavors paired with a pound cake.

  • Marianne (frenchfriestoflaxseeds) March 1, 2013 at 10:09 pm

    If avocados are on sale this week, I’m totally making this. I may have to go with just regular oranges, but that’s okay. Looks delicious 🙂

  • Rosie @ Coco Venice March 2, 2013 at 1:11 pm

    Yum this looks delicious, I love the idea of making it with avocado! I’ve used avocado in raw desserts before, but never tried baking with it, think that will change now though!

  • Rebecca Subbiah March 2, 2013 at 8:49 pm

    this looks great, congrats on the baking success and all the best for your new life in CA

  • Lana | MyHappyDessert March 2, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    Just found you through Foodgawker and have added your RSS to my blog reader – I love new blogs! And I can’t wait to try this recipe – it looks delicious.

  • Deb in Hawaii March 3, 2013 at 11:49 pm

    What a great idea and what great skill to get it to work well the first time. I love the colors in this cake. 😉

  • JJ - 84thand3rd March 5, 2013 at 2:04 am

    Gorgeous! I’m a huge fan of anything that uses avocado 🙂

  • Lori March 5, 2013 at 8:52 am

    Danielle – It is! Enjoy your blood oranges. They are one ingredient that I love having in bulk! 🙂

    Lori – Thanks so much!

    Erica – Thanks!

    Sue – I kind of was too! I love successful experiments.

    Reeni – Thanks!

    Marianne – Let me know how it turns out. I hope to make it again soon.

    Rosie – I bet its great in raw desserts. I need to try some.

    Rebecca – Thanks!

    Lana – Thanks so much for stopping by!

    Deb – I think it may have been beginners luck. 🙂

    JJ – Thanks so much! Me too!

  • Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover March 5, 2013 at 11:51 pm

    Your Avacado pound cake look perfect and I especially love the sweet color of glaze!

  • Lori March 6, 2013 at 11:03 am

    Sonia – Thanks so much. There is something about naturally pretty pink food! 🙂

  • Mercedes May 7, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    I have been dying to bake with avocado and this pound cake looks fantastic Lori! It was so great to meet you and spend the weekend getting to know each other in Napa! I look forward to following your blog!

  • Lori May 8, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    Thanks, Mercedes! I had such a great time over the weekend. It was so great to meet you! I’m looking forward to adding yours to my must-follow list too!

    • Thanks so much for reading!

    Thanks so much for reading!

    Hello! I'm Lori Rice, food photographer, writer, wanderer, pug-lover, and craft beer fan. This blog is my creative outlet for connecting with wonderful people like you! Have an interest in food styling and photography? Be sure to check out loririce.com

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