I have a brother and a cousin that live in San Francisco and I visit often. It is one of my all time favorite cities in the world. I love the culture, the carefree vibe, the food trends, and the weather. Every time I visit, I have to stop by one of my favorite bakeries called "Miette". It's the most adorable, charming, and whimsical bakery. I'm drawn to the pastels, the decor, the dish ware that all screams "Pinterest Me"! If I were to ever own a bakery, it would be modeled after Miette.

My favorite treat to get at Miette is this rich, chocolately mini Scharffen Berger cake.

Scharffen Berger is a chocolate company based out of San Francisco that makes high quality chocolate and cocoa. You can read more about their history here: http://www.scharffenberger.com/our-story/history/ This particular cocoa really makes this chocolate cake special. The taste is off the charts! Even if you don't have a strong palate for distinguishing high quality vs low quality chocolate, you could really taste the difference in this cake. This isn't your typical Nestle chocolate cake! You can purchase this specialty chocolate online or at high end grocery stores such as "Fox & Obel" here in Chicago.

I was craving this cake the other day, but I've been wanting to test out avocado in chocolate recipes. I know that avocados add a richness and fudgy texture to most baked goods and I thought this would be a good pairing. I also thought that a thick, rich chocolate poundcake would go nicely with a cup of coffee in the morning :). I decided to add a hint of cinnamon which I recently had in a Triple Chocolate Mexican brownie and it was amazing. Oh and if you're concerned if this recipe was consumed after my 30 day challenge..it wasn't! I made this recipe BEFORE our 30 day challenge started, I'm retro-posting. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Decadent Chocolate Avocado Pound Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup almond flour or coconut flour

1/2 cup Sharffen berger cocoa

1/4 tspn salt

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp Ground Saigon Cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 ripe avocado (about 1/2 cup)

3 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Optional Ganache Frosting:

16 oz bittersweet chocolate chips

2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Set butter and eggs on counter to warm up to room temperature.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together AP flour, almond flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder.

3. In a large mixing bowl (stand mixer), mix butter until light and fluffy (about 5-7 minutes). Then gradually add sugar until it is even lighter and fluffier.

4. Add in whole avocado, beat until well blended.

5. Add in eggs, one at a time and mix thoroughly in between each egg. Add in vanilla extract. My favorite vanilla extract is Neilsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract.

6. Add half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mix until dough-like. Add the milk and then the rest of the dry ingredients until combined.

7. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Lower oven heat to 325 degrees and bake for 50 minutes or until middle is firm. Once baked, place on cooling rack before frosting.

8. While the poundcake is baking and you are smelling the intoxicating aromas.. you can prepare a quick chocolate ganache frosting. In a small sauce pan, add 16 oz bittersweet chocolate and 2 cups of heavy whipping cream.

9. Melt the chocolate and cream on medium-low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and place in the refrigerator to firm slightly. (should be well chilled by the time cake is done baking and cooling).

10. Spread onto the top of the pound cake and enjoy!

Wish I had a picture of a cross section of this chocolate pound cake. It was rich, dense and fudge-like. All thanks to the avocado!