Avocado Loaf with Raspberry Glaze

I bet you’re thinking, ‘Surely the flavour of the avocado will be lost. And surely the raspberry glaze will be too overpowering.’ But no – the two sit simply but beautifully together in every mouthful. A fab recipe for breathing a second life into those sad-looking avos sitting in the fruit bowl.

FEEDS UP TO 10

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs, separated

165 g (5¾ oz/¾ cup) caster (superfine) sugar

185 ml (6 fl oz/¾ cup) avocado purée

75 g (2½ oz) unsalted butter, softened

60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract OR vanilla essence

185 g (6½ oz/1 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted

¼ teaspoon salt

RASPBERRY GLAZE

40 g (1½ oz/¹/₃ cup) fresh OR frozen raspberries

90 g (3¼ oz/¾ cup) pure icing (confectioners’) sugar

25 g (1 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 1 cm (½ inch) dice

TO SERVE

1 quantity Vanilla Sour Cream OR Vanilla Crème Fraîche (for both, see here)

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 160°C (315°F) fan-forced. Grease and flour a 25 x 12 x 6 cm (10 x 4½ x 2½ inch) loaf tin.

Whisk the egg whites in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Add 2 tablespoons of the 165 g (5¾ oz/¾ cup) caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time, whisking until medium peaks form.

In a separate medium mixing bowl, combine the avocado purée, butter and remaining sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well between each addition, then add the milk and vanilla – don’t be concerned if the mixture curdles at this stage. With a whisk, gently stir in the flour, baking powder and salt, then half the egg white mixture. Fold in the remaining egg white mixture until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin, and bake for about 40 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Wait for 1 minute, before turning the cake out onto a wire rack to cool. Cool completely before glazing.

To make the raspberry glaze, combine the raspberries and icing sugar in a small saucepan, and bring to the boil. Stir briefly to ensure that the sugar has dissolved, then carefully blitz with a blender until smooth. Stir in the butter until melted.

Place the cake on a serving plate, and pour the glaze over the top. Serve with your choice of dolloping cream.