Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Hummingbird Cake Recipe


This moist banana and pineapple cake with a hint of cinnamon is spread with a rich cream cheese frosting.

We purchase about 700 grams of bananas for this recipe.

If you use a 440 gram can of crushed pineapple, you should have more than enough pineapple and juice for this cake. We measure a second portion of pineapple and juice and freeze for later use in another hummingbird cake.

Preparation time: about 45 minutes (excludes cooking and cooling times)

Serves: at least 16. Cake is about 5.2cm tall when iced.

We use a 250ml measuring cup for all of our recipes.

440g can crushed pineapple in juice or syrup [or 62ml (1/4 cup) pineapple juice/syrup and 110g (1/2 cup) well-drained crushed pineapple]
150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
75g (1/2 cup) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
125ml (1/2 cup) oil (we use a mild-flavoured oil, such as sunflower)
390g (1 1/2 cups) mashed very ripe banana
226g (1 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
86g (2/3 cup) pecan nuts, broken or chopped into pieces

Cream Cheese Frosting
245g (1 3/4 cups) icing sugar
40g butter
80g cream cheese
2 1/2 teaspoons (12.5ml) lemon juice

If using a can of crushed pineapple, empty the contents into a strainer over a medium bowl. Set aside to drain.

Grease a deep 20cm square cake pan and line the base and sides with baking paper.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Celsius fan-forced). If you are not using a fan-forced oven, adjust the oven rack to the lower half of the oven so the centre of the cake will be in the centre of the oven.

Stir or whisk self-raising flour, plain flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon together in a large bowl until combined.

If you have drained a can of pineapple, measure 62ml (1/4 cup) pineapple juice/syrup and 110g (1/2 cup) pineapple flesh for this recipe and save the remaining juice and flesh for another use.

Place eggs, oil, banana, brown sugar, pecan nuts, crushed pineapple and pineapple juice in a large bowl. Stir the ingredients together until well combined. © exclusivelyfood.com.au

Add banana mixture to flour mixture and stir until combined.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

Bake cake for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, until a thin-bladed knife or wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out without any batter attached.

Allow cake to cool in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan.

When cake has cooled completely, spread with cream cheese frosting.

Store iced cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Allow slices of the cake to stand at room temperature for a few minutes before serving, if desired.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Place icing sugar in a food processor and process on high speed for a few seconds to remove any lumps. Add butter, cream cheese and lemon juice to the food processor. Process on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Stop the machine and use a spatula to scrape down the side of the bowl. Process for a further 15 seconds, or until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
© www.exclusivelyfood.com.au

Hummingbird Cake Ingredient Quantities for Various Pan Sizes (pdf)


19 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow...
It is mouth watering...
Thanks for sharing with us...

10/12/08 11:18 pm  
Blogger Dogma Central said...

omg.

I'm drooling.

11/12/08 12:42 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I would like to make this however is there another frosting that you recommend? Thank you very much

11/12/08 1:18 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oooo... this is my favourite cake! I'll definitely be trying this recipe!

11/12/08 10:01 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

this looks so good and it looks easy to bake it as home made dessert.

12/12/08 12:21 am  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

Hi Anonymous

You could try using a lemon or pineapple flavoured glace icing or a buttercream frosting.

12/12/08 7:20 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

made this last weekend, was a big hit, very yummy and moreish ...

8/1/09 8:53 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, Is this Cake suitable to freeze...I am baking for a fete and want to freeze sweets prior to the day...

2/3/09 3:46 pm  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

Yes, this cake is suitable to freeze.

7/3/09 11:34 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Made this yesterday.
Just delicious....
Very easy recipe.

9/3/09 10:50 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

looks like the one I had at Craft this week, so am going to try it. Hope it's the same one as it was beautiful. Will let you know.

21/3/09 9:27 am  
Blogger Kathy said...

I made this for a graduation party and it turned out beautifully. I pre-baked the cake a few days in advance and stored it in the freezer (cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap, al-foil and placed in a zip lock bag) until I was ready to frost & serve it. I don't have a food processor so I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer instead. I used the flat beater attachment and first creamed the butter and cream cheese until smooth, then stirred in the lemon juice before adding the powdered sugar (start with the stir speed then gradually increase it and beat in until smooth and creamy).

Thanks for such a delicious yet simple recipe!

12/5/09 3:07 am  
Blogger adam achterstraat said...

delicious! a very easy, super moist and extremely yummy cake. my fave on your site!

19/6/09 10:09 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was just wondering if i could use this recipe to make cupcakes.
And let me just say this turns out wonderful. A must try for everyone!

20/6/09 11:47 am  
Blogger Amanda and Debbie said...

We can't see any reason why this cake wouldn't work as cupcakes. We also have a hummingbird cupcake recipe that you might like to try.

14/7/09 4:02 pm  
Anonymous Lisa said...

Thank you so much for this gorgeous recipe! I made it on the weekend for my daughter's christening and evrybody commented on how delicious it was - a complete success. And my hubby ate the leftover cream cheese icing with a spoon!! :)

27/1/10 10:53 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The perfect Hummingbird cake recipe. I made this once for xmas and have been asked to make it twice since by the same group of work colleagues! Everyone loves it and a whole cake is gone in 1 day at my office. We're not pigs, we just love cakes!

31/1/11 8:14 pm  
Blogger valmac said...

Absolutely beautiful cake - my husband can't get enough of it! This will be a regular recipe used in our house! Thankyou.

9/11/11 1:31 pm  
Anonymous Jess Jo said...

Beautiful cake. Hummingbird Cake is one of my favourites, and this is a great recipe. The key is to use really ripe bananas.Thanks!

30/6/12 4:13 pm  

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