Hummingbird Cake

Hummingbird Cake

A delicious, soft banana and pineapple cake, spiced with cinnamon and with pecans for a little crunch. This is definitely one of my favourite cakes! 

Ingredients

Cake

• 250g plain flour
• 300g caster sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 175ml vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 250g drained, crushed pineapple
• 3 small bananas, mashed
• 75g toasted and chopped pecans

Cream Cheese Icing

• 60g butter (room temperature)
• 120g full fat cream cheese
• 400g icing sugar

Pineapple Flowers

• 1 pineapple
• Mint leaves

Method

Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (fan).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
3. Pour in the oil, then add the eggs and mix thoroughly.
4. Add the mushed banana and crushed pineapple, along with the chopped, toasted pecans and mix again.
5. Divide the mixture evenly between 3 6-inch cake tins.
6. Bake for around 20-25 minutes until risen.
7. Leave to cool in the tins for around 10 minutes, then remove from the tins and leave to cool fully on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Icing:

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth, then add the icing sugar, mixing in slowly until smooth.

Pineapple Flowers:

1. Preheat the oven to 100 C (fan)
2. Cut the top, bottom, and all the skin away from the pineapple, and then cut it into very fine slices, removing any of the eyes with a knife.
3. Place the slices on a lined baking tray and bake for around 3 hours - the thicker your slices, the longer they will take, so keep an eye on them. Make sure to flip the slices every hour.
4. If you want to create more of a flower shape, transfer the pineapple to a cupcake case for the last hour, which helps create the cupped shape. 

To Assemble:

1. With a serrated knife, level the cakes by cutting off the tops if they have domed in the oven. 
2. Layer up the sponges with a few dollops of icing in between, and then using a palette knife, smooth the icing around the edges of the cake, taking off any excess so you end up with a 'semi-naked' cake effect. 
3. If the sponges are sliding around too much, pop the cake in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up the icing. 
4. Add another few dollops on the top of the cake, and then use the pineapple flowers and mint leaves to decorate! 

Head to my Instagram Highlights @alice.fevronia for a video on how to make this cake and tag me if you give it a go, I'd love to see!