Avocado Pound Cake

The avocado pound cake recipe is scarcely more than a quick whizz in the food processor, a mix together and then pouring it in the tin. You can see how quick it is from the very simply instructions below with just two steps. And in about an hour's time you will be rewarded with a beautifully moist cake. Here, the avocado takes place of the butter and gets some goodness from using some almond meal in place of a portion of the flour. I really liked it served with butter, but then I think everything on earth is better with some butter, and it was perfect with a cup of tea. The cake itself isn't particularly sweet, in fact I thought it was about the right level of sweetness. But the texture is the star here-moist and juicy and worthy enough to let you forget noisy neighbours and apartment life.

I was at home one weekend afternoon when I went into our bathroom to have a shower. I stripped off and climbed into the shower only to face the new neighbours who were on their balcony, just metres away. They looked at me wide eyed, I looked at them even more wide eyed, we both smiled at each other tentatively and I slowly, gingerly shut the window a frozen smile plastered on my face.

So my neighbours have seen me naked now...don't you just love close quarter apartment living in Sydney?

That weekend afternoon it seemed as though every one of our neighbours were out on their balcony. I looked outside my kitchen window and three groups of neighbours faced me and of course I had my new "friends" (I think we've started dating after the flashing incident) across from the bathroom window and a group of kids were playing in the garden downstairs.

My first instinct was of course to close the window and pull down the blinds and have a bit of privacy and silence but I soon forgot about the neighbours once I set about making the avocado pound cake, a recipe I had been dying to try ever since I saw it on Leah's site The Home Empress site. Not only did it sound delicious and simple but I had some perfect avocados brought back from Ticoba Berries on the mid north coast.

So tell me Dear Reader, are you friendly with your neighbours? And do you have a sweet tooth or do you like cakes that are just moderately sweet?

I also wanted to share some more exciting news (this week has been very action packed!). My lovely blogging friend Linda from Bubble And Sweet has just released her new book Sweets on a Stick! She was kind enough to send me my very own copy autographed by Linda and when I opened up on the Acknowledgements page I was so touched to see that she had mentioned me which was such a sweet thing to do! If you want to buy a copy click on the link above to go to her story where she lists where you can buy copies xxx

Avocado Pound Cake

Adapted from the Home Empress

• 1  1/4 cups plain flour

• 1/4 cup cornflour/cornstarch

• 4 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/3 cup almond meal

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup light olive oil

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 2 eggs, at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 2 ripe medium avocados

• 1/2 cup milk soured with a tablespoon of lemon juice

• Good butter to serve

Step 1 - Preheat the oven 170C/340F and line a loaf tin with baking parchment. Blend the avocados, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and milk in a food processor until smooth. In another bowl mix the flours, baking powder, almond meal and salt well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a spatula. Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin.

Step 2 - Bake for about 55 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean. When slicing, turn upside down and slice into the smooth base with a serrated knife.  Serve with a good room temperature butter that spreads easily and forget about your neighbours.