VIDEO (and Recipe): Avocado Lavender Coffee Cake

Luz Desalesa, the owner and chief chef/baker of, is always conjuring up new recipes for customers at her downtown Half Moon Bay coffeehouse.

While she's known for her pumpkin oatmeal cookies, Oreo cookie-within-a-cookie, and all-day cookies, her latest concoction is sure to surprise: combining avocado and lavender together into a coffee cake.

Last week, Desalesa made the coffee cake for the first time -- a riff on her regular coffee cake (which she's spun into different variations, including a mango version) served at the café. "I was inspired by the many desserts we make in the Philippines [her native country] with avocado," she said, such as avocado shakes and flan with avocado.

The result is a dessert with a taste just right for spring -- and a hue-appropriate for St. Patrick's Day. A pleasant hint of lavender comes through in just the right amount, and the avocado's contribution is subtle yet integral to the cake's creamy texture and light green color.

Watch Desalesa make the recipe in this video (see media box to right). If you're so inspired, try making it at home with her recipe:

LUZ'S AVOCADO LAVENDER COFFEE CAKE

Reprinted with permission by Luz Desalesa

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (can use whole wheat for a healthy version)

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp. lavender

1 whole avocado

2 eggs (large)

1 tsp. water

2/3 cup low-fat or non-fat milk

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions: Combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.

Cut up the butter and add it to the flour and sugar mixture. Cream the remaining butter and dry ingredients in an electric mixer.

While the ingredients are mixing, grease the bottom of an 8-inch circular baking pan (Desalesa says she prefers to use Crisco).

Set aside 1 cup of the mixture in a separate bowl. (This is for the coffee cake's toppings).

Add the milk to the main mixture and stir. Add the eggs, the baking powder, the baking soda and the lavender. Mash one whole avocado, add it to the mixture, and stir again (or use an electric mixer). (For a variation on this recipe, try adding nuts at this stage).

Pour the mixture into the baking pan.

Pour the toppings mixture on top of the pan and bake for 30 minutes into an oven that has been preheated to 35o degrees.

Enjoy!

Download the movie