Avocado cake? Not an unusual reaction as we are all so used to having avocado as is or in salad or in guacamole. My first taste of avocado was in Jakarta, Indonesia for their famous Es Alpukat in the early 1980s. In essence, an avocado smoothie made with palm sugar and coconut milk – truly divine!

My second taste was the whole fruit – I much confess it was my first time seeing the avocado! – was a prawn salad served in a half avocado in South Africa in the late 1990s.

Today, it is abundantly available on a daily basis in our local markets and supermarkets from Mexico, South Africa and ???

The first time I made my avocado loaf, it was to use up leftover Guacamole . That taste, more than 10 years now, still stays in my mind. Today’s recipe is not quite the same as I have substituted sour cream with plain yoghurt.

Ingredients: makes 2 x9″ loaves

1 cup mashed avocados (about 3 ripe avocados)

3 eggs

1/2 cup dark brown sugar or demerara sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups plain flour

1 tablespoon (3 teaspoon) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup plain yoghurt

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

quick cooking oats or rolled oats (for tops of loaves)

Method:

• Place eggs (shell removed!), sugar and oil in a mixing bowl. Beat well with whisk or mixer.
• Sieve flour, baking powder and salt into the mix.
• Add in the mashed avocados and yoghurt. Mix well.
• Add in the pumpkin seeds and mix.
• Split the mixture into two greased loaf pans. Top with the coats.
• Bake in a preheated oven 180ºC (375ºF) for 40-50 minutes. Test if cooked with a cake tester (or clean skewer).